In this article, John Lester describes the federal tax expenditures database developed as part of the Finances of the Nation data portal. He also uses the database to analyze trends in federal tax expenditures over a 21-year period ending in 2019 and to identify the beneficiaries and the...

The Canadian federal government has a surprisingly small number of business income tax measures that are intended to promote economic development. Nevertheless, the amount of tax revenue forgone is substantial, likely amounting to about $8 billion in 2016. Provincial governments have implemented...

In this chapter, I set out an approach for evaluating or assessing tax expenditures as part of an expenditure management system. I also make some recommendations on how tax expenditures should be included in one-off spending-control initiatives, and I discuss the merits of selected Canadian...

The federal government implemented a new expenditure management system in 2007. Under the new system, departments are required to review programs on a four-year cycle to determine if they are aligned with federal responsibilities and priorities, if they are efficiently delivered and if they are...

The federal and provincial governments spend almost half a billion dollars a year providing tax incentives to encourage the production of films, videos and television programs in Canada by foreign firms. Although the subsidies are successful in achieving their stated objective of increasing...

There is a sound public policy case for subsidizing R&D. When firms perform R&D, they create knowledge that allows them to introduce new products, improve existing goods and services or reduce production costs. However, some of the knowledge created inevitably leaks out or spills over to other...