Search Results

Recently, the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) issued a report entitled “Could a National Long-Term Care Insurance Program be a Feasible Solution to Address Canada’s Growing Long-Term Care Crisis?” In the wake of the high COVID-19-related death rates in Canada’s long-term care (LTC) facilities and the aging of the population, the NIA report is a helpful avenue of interrogation,…

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea. Émile Chartier is credited with those words or similar, finishing with “…when it’s the only one we have.”  Canada has tried for nearly 80 years to implement “national pharmacare”—defined here as a fully public national drug insurance plan—without success. We should ask why.  One reason is an unrelenting insistence that only a fully public plan…

‘Tis the season for giving, and as the year ends, many Canadians are planning substantial donations. However, they should consider maximizing those donations in 2023 while full tax relief for charitable giving is still guaranteed. The federal government has yet to table its legislation for reforming the alternative minimum tax (AMT), but if it sticks to its commitments laid out in the 2023 budget…

The Liberal government’s 23-move cabinet shuffle last week missed out on one sensible extra move. As a major review of Canada’s competition policy continues, it’s a good time to highlight competition’s crucial importance in the economy by giving it its very own minister. An effective and dedicated competition minister might actually raise Canadians’ incomes by thousands of dollars a year. At the…

Recent years have seen an unprecedented increase in Canada’s non-permanent resident population, far surpassing increases in annual admissions of new permanent residents. The unbalanced growth in Canada’s temporary and permanent migration inflows will inevitably result in a growing undocumented population and forced deportations. Both developments risk inflaming Canada’s immigration politics and…

The decline of Canada’s labour productivity is making headlines across the country and raising concerns about the country’s economic prosperity. In real terms, per capita GDP has been stagnant since 2017. As University of Alberta economist Trevor Tombe has pointed out, Ontario’s output per capita is now on par with Alabama’s. More than ever, Canada needs tax reform to foster…