The intellectual property (IP) provisions of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union, and of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), were among their most controversial features. Critics focused notably on strengthened protection for...

Canada is widely considered to be an innovation under-achiever, despite decades-long attempts to address this gap. In light of this criticism, this Commentary reviews the range of policy tools that governments in advanced economies have at their disposal to foster innovation. It takes a holistic...

Retail shopping has become a many-faceted experience for both buyers and sellers. Already increasing in use before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on shopping habits, e-commerce continues to evolve, offering new ways for retailers to sell and consumers to buy their products. Consumers now...

Alberta should open its doors to job seekers with labour mobility reforms that will boost its economic fortunes post-COVID. The province has a unique opportunity to promote economic revival and longterm economic growth by ensuring that it is the most welcoming jurisdiction to talented workers...

Competition policy and enforcement need to be able to keep pace with business models that have emerged in the digital age. Fittingly, Canada is in the midst of a review of its Competition Act that is addressing this question.A key goal of any reform should be to deter anti-competitive practices...

Canada’s potential trade deal with the European Union, if it is ambitious, could generate far more opportunities than risks, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Uneasy Birth: What Canadians Should Expect from a Canada-EU Trade Deal,” author Daniel Schwanen outlines...

Two acquisition bids by foreign state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for Canadian resource companies have raised an array of concerns about their potential impact, ranging from worries about national security and governance standards to reciprocal access to markets. While Ottawa’s current screening...

In this chapter, Daniel Schwanen addresses the impact of the major trade liberalization efforts undertaken by Canada and its trading partners beginning with the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 1989. The author focuses in particular on the question of whether liberalized trade could...