As Canada’s society ages, more personal care and health support will be needed for people who, either as a consequence of disability or aging, require assistance to function independently. As this happens, policymakers face the daunting challenge of balancing the fiscal burden on taxpayers...

The limitations inherent in the traditional pension models – defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) – are facing increased scrutiny and new models are developing in response to these pressures. Due to extremely low interest rates and the volatility of equity markets, over the...

As Canada’s society ages, more personal care and health support will be needed for people who, either as a consequence of disability or aging, require assistance to function independently. As this happens, policymakers face the daunting challenge of balancing the fiscal burden on taxpayers...

The high dropout rate among francophone Quebec students, particularly boys, has recently received considerable attention in that province. Media coverage has been extensive, indicating widespread public concern. However, the high-school dropout-rate problem is not restricted to Quebec. Based on...

There exist very large gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal student performance in most B.C. schools. However, Aboriginal students in some school districts perform remarkably well. What are these districts doing right? The authors draw lessons that may well apply across Canada.

With annual spending of about $4.5 billion dollars in 2010, Canada’s largest drug plan – the Ontario Drug Program (ODB) – will become harder to afford as the babyboomers age and workforce growth slows. A business-as-usual approach to funding the plan, which provides publicly funded drug...

Canada’s federal and provincial governments spend a lot of money subsidizing postsecondary students. Tuition and education/textbook tax credits, in particular, cost the federal government around $1.6 billion in 2012 – a sum much greater than the net cost of the Canada Student Loan Program....

Spending control and greater reliance on their own revenues are more promising responses to provincial budget pressures than higher federal transfers, according to a new report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Adaptability, Accountability and Sustainability: Intergovernmental...

Canadian charities need a new regulatory system. Currently, charities are regulated primarily at the federal level by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). But because charities, by virtue of the donation tax credit, can reduce the tax base, the CRA’s regulating them conflicts with its mandate to...

While Canadian federal and provincial governments have made progress in reducing the tax burden on business investment in recent years, the 2009 budget season also saw more counterproductive tax policies that favour certain industries and disadvantage others. In this Commentary, the authors...