We employ a methodology that distinguishes between discretionary and non-discretionary changes in provincial and federal fiscal policy. We find substantial variation in the discretionary policy of Canadian governments, across both time and jurisdictions. We uncover a marked asymmetry in the...

This paper exploits the fact that a confluence of events in the mid-1990s caused Canadian provincial governments to re-examine the design of their social-assistance programs. Three provinces in particular - Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario - chose to introduce substantial changes to the...

This paper reviews the recent history of federal and provincial deficits and debt in Canada with the purpose of investigating whether rules of behaviour need to be imposed on fiscal authorities as a way of controlling the growth of these deficits and debt. The evidence suggests that the need for...

Canada's federal government established the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905, making them approximately equal in area, population, and economy. Roughly one hundred years later, Alberta has three times the population of Saskatchewan and a gross domestic product (GDP) that is more...