Policy Options

Canadian agriculture has had an insufficient and unstable labour supply for decades. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program was developed in 1973 to respond to labour shortages, as the number...

La pandémie de COVID-19 a mis au grand jour la question des demandeurs d’asile, qui sollicitent une protection à titre de réfugiés au Québec ou ailleurs au pays. Bien...

The 1971 Unemployment Insurance Act positioned unemployment insurance as both an insurance program and a social security program, and by doing so, it created an income floor accessible to...

Si la notion de « croissance inclusive » existe depuis longtemps dans le domaine du développement international, ce n’est qu’au cours de la dernière décennie qu’elle a émergé comme...

Canada’s recovery from what is anticipated to be the deepest global recession since the Second World War is at the forefront of public policy discussion and decision-makers’ minds. As...

Women’s health research is chronically underfunded, and women’s health receives little attention across the spectrum of health research, from funding to academic opportunities. Although steps have been taken to...

The following is an abridged version of a speech delivered on Sept. 22, 2020 at the Annual Opening of the Courts celebration. We are at a turning point in...

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted those who are homeless. The pandemic has resulted in the closure of daytime services like drop-in centres and the closure of public spaces...

Au Canada, les enfants et les jeunes sont bien malgré eux la source de l’un des problèmes politiques et sociaux les plus urgents de l’heure : les gouvernements doivent...

For six months now, the people of the Matawa First Nations have been living in a state of emergency. The communities of Webequie, Nibinamik, Neskantaga, Eabametoong, Marten Falls, Aroland,...

An important case for patients and health care access in Canada was released on September 10, 2020, and it has created some glaring inconsistencies in the law that will...

The year 2020 has become the year of rollbacks in gender equality in Canada and around the world. Women, particularly those with children, as well as those who are...

A person’s “net tax burden,” which is normally computed over the period of a year, can evolve drastically over the course of a lifetime. That burden, as we calculate...

No issue affects mobility, equity, and climate change more than public transit, which is essential to a green and socially inclusive recovery. If we don’t get our approach to...

La situation économique dans laquelle nous nous trouvons en est une de récession à l’échelle mondiale. Dans tous les pays du monde, sauf peut-être en Chine, le produit intérieur...

What’s next?” That is the question on the mind of every Canadian since the economic shutdown in March. While the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and subsequent extensions have...

Plusieurs économistes, dont moi-même, pensons qu’il est temps d’élargir le mandat de la Banque du Canada pour y inclure la poursuite de l’emploi maximum ou du plein emploi. L’Australie,...

COVID-19 has highlighted significant vulnerabilities and inequalities that were largely hidden in Canada prior to the pandemic. It has shown that Canadian families are unequal in their ability to...

While Canada struggles to keep COVID-19 infection rates down, government policy-makers have turned their minds to post-pandemic recovery and how to revive the economy. What has been made abundantly...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) made notable mistakes during the latter part of the 20th century. It allowed commercial fisheries to overexploit several stocks, ranging from Atlantic cod to...

D’un bout à l’autre du pays et partout dans le monde, les travailleuses et travailleurs de la santé sont mobilisés en première ligne contre la nouvelle pandémie de coronavirus....

Among the more discouraging aspects of the 2019 federal election was the failure of all major parties to take any meaningful stand against Quebec’s Bill 21. The legislation, which...

(This article has been translated into French.) For decades, Canada’s auto industry has relied on what I would call a “people advantage.” Canadian workers made better quality, innovative vehicles and, as...

Ce lundi 14 septembre, le premier ministre progressiste-conservateur du Nouveau-Brunswick Blaine Higgs vient encore une fois de gagner à la loterie politique. Il y a quatre ans, en 2016,...

The past 12 months have roiled the global oil and gas industry. A stunning crash in commodity prices, vocal resistance to megaprojects, and calls for stronger climate policies from...

A new Parliament is fast approaching, and the Trudeau government’s COVID plans will soon be put to the test. We don’t yet know what’s in next week’s Speech from...

Canada’s recent bid for membership in the United Nations Security Council was promoted with narratives such as “Canada is back” and “The world needs more Canada.” But one of...

This article has been translated into French. In their recent Policy Options article, “It’s time for Canada to follow Ontario’s critical care triage protocol,” Cal DeWolfe and Jocelyn Downie...

L’année 2020 marquera les esprits en raison de la pandémie de COVID-19, mais elle est aussi importante pour d’autres raisons : on y souligne les 40e et 25e anniversaires des...

By the height of our participation in Afghanistan, the Canadian Forces had adopted a rigorous after-action review and lessons-learned process, conducted immediately after every significant combat or training activity....

Le gouvernement fédéral est de nouveau sur le point de transférer des milliards de dollars aux provinces, essentiellement sans conditions. Ce n’est pas la première fois : 40 milliards ont été...

The installation of a new official Opposition leader into a minority parliament wouldn’t normally be a moment for thoughtful policy contributions across party lines. But we’re living in times...

On peut prétendre, sans risque de se tromper, que le monde entier souhaite que l’on découvre le plus rapidement possible un vaccin contre la COVID-19. Nous avons dû apprendre...

Canada’s school system was turned upside down by the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the first phase, the system-wide shutdown was much like a power outage that left...

To become a true global leader, Canada needs a world-class climate law. Much has been made of the dissonance between how Canada styles itself as a moral leader on...

In July, US President Donald Trump promised to send “a surge” of federal law enforcement forces into American cities as part of a crackdown on crime. The additional troops...

Swift and large-scale investments are being made to restart Canada’s economy in a context of disruption and uncertainty about the future. To ensure these investments have a real impact...

Dès le début de la pandémie, il est devenu évident que la COVID-19 représentait un grand risque pour les adultes plus âgés aux prises avec des maladies chroniques. Il...

It is rare that charities get headlines, try as they might to shine the light on their work. But for the last two weeks the opposite has been true...

In her recent Policy Options article “BC’s green stimulus needs to focus on fuel switching, not energy efficiency,” Katya Rhodes argued that fuel switching is the path to decarbonizing...

Few pieces of legislation during the COVID-19 pandemic have attracted as much attention as Ontario’s Bill 184, the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, which received royal assent...

In July 2020, the NGO International Penal Reform reported that most countries have failed to protect detained individuals against COVID-19. Their failure to adequately respond to the early calls...

The focus on the federal deficit has rightly been on the staggering scope of emergency spending, but there has been much less talk about the other big part of...

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the usefulness of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in decision-making. Models and data, however, should be governed thoughtfully in order to protect the...

It seems like every day, we’re seeing new changes that COVID-19 is bringing to the world of work. Firms are choosing to automate and digitize, and they’re turning increasingly...

En 15 ans, de 1980 à 1995, la part du Québec dans le marché canadien du capital de risque est passée de moins de 10 % à plus de...

In order to effectively battle pandemics, countries need to work together. But what mechanisms exist to ensure that this cooperation is forthcoming? The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the...

How a particular country allocates resources, or does not, during a pandemic affects how it evolves within the country, and sometimes in other countries and in the world. Yet,...

The debts of developing countries were at the highest level on record before the great lockdown. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the fiscal space for most of these countries...

Out of a party leadership race that seemed perpetually overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and protests for racial justice, Canada’s Conservatives elected as their leader a mild-mannered, former air...