Over the past 30 years, sick days have risen in Canada’s workforce, overall, raising important questions about why days lost owing to reported illness are climbing, and how demographic and institutional change may have affected reported rates and may do so in the future. The data show striking...

Putting an end to Ontario’s archaic retail sales tax and adopting a value-added tax like the GST would sharply lower the effective tax rate on new business investment and offer the province a much-needed economic boost.

Over the past 30 years, sick days have risen in Canada’s workforce, overall, raising important questions about why days lost owing to reported illness are climbing, and how demographic and institutional change may have affected reported rates and may do so in the future. The data show striking...

Unusual economic and political circumstances surround the framing of the 2009 federal budget. A period of global spending outrunning productive capacity has ended with financial crisis and recession in much of the world, Canada included. The sudden slump has prompted demand for, and expectations...

Near-term turbulence should not distract Ottawa budget-makers from critical long-term tasks. This 2008 shadow federal budget will move Canada a key step forward by providing improved incentives and rewards for Canadians' work and saving, and a more congenial environment for investment and...

Most federal and provincial government benefits for families with children are sharply income-tested. Reductions in these benefits, as family income rises, mean that low-income families face much higher effective tax rates than most others do, and deny such families the full benefit of the...

Debate has intensified in recent years on the advantages and disadvantages of moving towards a full mark-to-market accounting system for banks and insurance companies. The debate has been heated by moves by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting...

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s March 19 budget included important — and unexpected — proposals that would dramatically reshape income tax rules affecting foreign investment by Canadian corporations. The budget’s proposal to withdraw tax deductibility for interest expenses...

Saving and investment are critical to Canada's economy. They underpin today's prosperity and will be critical to raising living standards in the future. Growth in Canada's workforce is slowing, and a larger population of older Canadians will soon need pensions and social services. Federal fiscal...

Ontario should scrap its antiquated retail sales tax, and opt for a made-in-Ontario valued-added tax (VAT) that would improve fairness, encourage investment and wage growth, and reduce administrative costs for government and for business.