Canada’s economy is evolving, which will bring both positive and negative change. But transitions — such as moving toward a low-carbon economy, shifting trade relationships or the rise of AI — can disrupt specific workers in specific places. In some instances, people in affected sectors will keep their jobs or move into new, often similar, […]

Implementation considerations need to be at the heart of federal government decision-making. Sequencing of the cabinet review process needs to be altered so that implementation issues are canvassed from the beginning. Political parties should be able to consult departments on implementation issues when developing their campaign platforms. The “challenge” function of central agencies, focused on […]

Like many advanced economies, Canadian governments are increasingly turning to industrial strategies to try to strengthen their economic sovereignty — defined here as the capacity to protect and shape key domestic economic capabilities — and to support economic growth aligned with the global energy transition and net-zero emissions goals. This represents a shift from previous […]

For decades, Fort McMurray has been synonymous with one thing: the oil sands, a vast deposit of viscous, heavy oil mixed with fine sand that accounts for the fourth-largest proven oil reserves in the world. But to the more than 82,000 residents of this northern Alberta community, it is so much more. It is a […]

Prime Minister Mark Carney has indicated a desire for change in the federal public service to deliver on the Liberal government’s Make Canada Strong agenda. He hopes to realign the country’s economic and political relations to respond to new global and North American realities. The question is whether the public service has the capacity to […]

Canada’s employment insurance (EI) system is failing its first major stress test since the COVID-19 pandemic. Unemployment rates continue to rise, exacerbated by challenging trade wars with the U.S. and China. Yet, as more Canadians find themselves without a job, the share of the unemployed that access EI regular benefits — income support for those […]

The federal government’s unpredictable, fragmented approach to funding acts as a constraint on First Nations that are seeking to build long-term governance and community capacity. Predictable, flexible multi-year funding arrangements such as the New Fiscal Relationship grant should be expanded. First Nations should only have to communicate with a single “window” in Ottawa for their […]

Canada’s impact assessment process is structurally fragmented. A new AI-enabled Sovereign Impact Assessment Agent (SIAA) would speed up assessments and save money by using the federal government’s extensive but fragmented troves of data on Canadian land, water, wildlife and atmosphere to pre-populate assessment applications, identify information gaps and help inform regulators’ final decisions. Delivery requires […]

When you travel along Highway 132 in Quebec’s scenic Gaspé Peninsula, rose-hued Percé Rock appears dramatically just offshore. The iconic wall of stone, rising 80 metres from the water and running 400 metres long, seems constant but has been evolving along with the dynamic region around it. When French mariner Jacques Cartier arrived in the […]

In the fall of 2026, the Bank of Canada and Government of Canada will complete their regular review of Canada’s Monetary Policy Framework. It will include an assessment of how well the inflation targeting framework, which aims to keep inflation close to two per cent, has served the Canadian people. While the Bank of Canada has […]