Jim Stanford
Jim Stanford is Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work, based in Vancouver, Canada. Jim is one of Canada’s best-known economic commentators. He served for over 20 years as Economist and Director of Policy with Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector trade union.
-
The Importance of Unions in Reducing Racial Inequality
The Centre for Future Work has released new research regarding union coverage and wages across different racialized categories of Canadian workers. The report also contains a review of efforts by Canadian unions to improve their representation of Black and racialized workers, and recommendations for strengthening the union movement’s practices.
-
Self-Interest of Wealthy Investors Explains Over-the-Top Reaction to Capital Gains Reform
The federal government’s 2024-25 budget included an important reform to the taxation of capital gains. Capital gains occur when an asset is sold for more than it cost to acquire. Capital gains are heavily concentrated among high-income Canadians – more so than any other form of income. And making matters worse, they receive lucrative tax preferences: until this year, recipients only had to declare half their gains on their income tax (for a so-called ‘inclusion rate’ of 50%). The other half was entirely tax-free. In contrast, other forms of income (like wages and salaries) must all be reported on a tax return: that is, their ‘inclusion rate’ is 100%!
-
New Data on Link Between Profits and Inflation
Consumer price inflation has decelerated in Canada in the last year, as rapidly as it accelerated in the 2021-2022 period (sparking high interest rates which in turn caused a painful economic slowdown). At last reading (for April 2024), year-over-year CPI inflation had slowed to 2.7% (down from 8% less than two years earlier). That’s within the Bank of Canada’s target range (2% plus or minus a cushion of 1%). And low enough that the Bank cut its policy rate for the first time in this cycle in June. Many credit the Bank of Canada’s tough monetary medicine for this quick slowdown in inflation. But that assumes that the initial driving…
-
Alberta’s Disappearing Advantage for Workers
Alberta once boasted the highest wages in Canada. It was known as a place where working people could find a job, earn decent wages, and build a good life for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, this “Alberta Advantage” has mostly disappeared. Average wages have declined by 10% relative to inflation over the last decade, far more than in any other province. This negative result was not an accident: provincial policies in Alberta have worked to deliberately suppress wages, through measures like a six-year freeze in the minimum wage (now tied for lowest in Canada), restrictions on union organizing and collective bargaining, and very austere wage gains for public sector workers.
-
Submission to B.C. Labour Relations Code Review
The B.C. government is undertaking a regular five-year review of its labour relations code, that governs labour standards, union activity, and collective bargaining. As part of this review, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford was invited to appear before the review panel as an expert witness.
-
Commentary on 2024 Federal Budget
Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the 2024-25 federal budget on April 16. The one major revenue measures in the budget (a change in the partial inclusion rate for capital gains income above a threshold of $250,000 per year) has sparked great outrage from powerful financial interests – but will have no direct impact on 99.9% of personal tax filers...
-
New Report on the Benefits of Broader-Based and Sectoral Collective Bargaining
In recent years, labour relations experts have expressed growing interest in the potential of broader-based bargaining systems – which would cover workers in entre industries, regions, or occupations, rather than individual workplaces – to improve the effectiveness of union representation and collective bargaining. By negotiating common benchmarks for wages, benefits and working conditions that apply to all employers in a given segment of the economy, these sectoral or broader bargaining systems can prevent a ‘race to the bottom’ in job quality...
-
To Improve Productivity, Stop Paying People Nothing to Do Nothing
Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford argues that requiring platform businesses to pay their workers at least minimum wage for all hours worked, would not just be fair: it would also be a powerful spur to better productivity.
-
Comparing Deficits in Canada and the U.S.
Despite predictable Conservative and business complaints about ‘overspending’, Canada’s federal deficit is very small in macroeconomic terms – and one of the smallest among major industrial countries. In 2022, according to the most recent OECD cross-country data, the general government balance in Canada ranked 9th best among the OECD’s 37 member countries...
-
Documentary Shines Light on Excessive Food Prices in Canada
Rapidly rising food prices have been a major component of the cost-of-living crisis affecting Canadian households in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. Food price inflation was significantly faster than overall inflation in 2022 and 2023.