The Toronto Land Transfer Tax, implemented nearly a year ago, has had significant negative effects on the housing market, reducing sales and lowering average house prices.

In nearly all Canada’s major municipalities, what should be a simple exercise – comparing the spending city council votes in its annual budget with the actual spending reported at year-end – will baffle any but the most expert reader. While most of Canada’s federal and provincial...

Federal government policies are a major cause of high costs throughout the aviation supply chain, often leading Canadians to waste time and money by seeking lower fares at nearby US airports, or not travel at all. High fuel taxes and onerous foreign ownership and airline-specific policies are...

Canada’s performance in business investment per worker relative to its peers is sliding, led by dismal performances in Quebec and Ontario, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Capital Needed: Canada Needs More Robust Business Investment,” authors Benjamin Dachis, William B.P....

The federal government should progressively allow new entrants to bid for some of the mail services currently provided by Canada Post, says a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “How Ottawa Can Deliver a Reformed Canada Post,” author Benjamin Dachis, Senior Policy Analyst at...

Numerous provinces and municipalities across Canada levy Land Transfer Taxes (LTTs). An LTT is a charge paid to a municipality or provincial government, upon the sale or transfer of real estate or similar immovable object. LTTs can be expensive, and make up a significant portion of the expenses...

Investment in plant and equipment per worker by Canadian businesses is picking up relative to counterparts elsewhere after years of underperformance. Canada’s relative improvement owes much to outperformance by resource-rich provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador being the most recent star,...

When politicians consider intervening in labour disputes, they should also consider the long-term, potentially unintended results of such action. In this study, the authors investigate the lessons from previous government legislative interventions, whether through compulsory arbitration,...

Cities save money through competitive tendering of waste services contracts. This study finds municipalities that have their waste services provided through contracted operations have substantially lower average costs per household than municipalities with few of their services provided through...

type="main" xml:id="irel12063-abs-0001" <p>We examine the effects of collective bargaining legislation, such as (among others) bans on replacement workers and reinstatement rights, on private sector strike activity and wage settlements using Canadian data from 1978 to 2008. Our estimates indicate...</p>