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$10-per-Day Child Care Plan Already Boosting Canada’s Economy
In 2021, Canada’s federal government announced a new $10-per-day national early learning and child care (ELCC) program, which began rolling out in 2022. It has increased the number of regulated child care spaces in Canada, and significantly reduced (by over 50%) average fees paid by parents.
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Capital Gains Tax Preferences Benefit Speculative Corporations and Very-High Income Individuals
Capital gains income is starkly concentrated among the richest 1.5% of Canadians, and corporate sectors with non-existent job-creation. They are the main beneficiaries of special loopholes which reduce taxes on capital gains.
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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.
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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…
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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...
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Building a Sustainable, High-Value-Added Forestry Sector in B.C.
B.C.’s economy has always depended on its rich forests—from First Nations communities, through the early settler economy, to modern forestry practices and technologies. But in recent years the industry has been buffeted by a perfect storm of environmental, economic, and geopolitical challenges. Total production has declined by up to half in recent years, with devastating effects on employment, output, exports, and taxes. Dozens of remote and regional forest communities are unsure of their future, unless a viable and sustainable future for forestry can be achieved.
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Canadian Corporate Profits Remain Elevated Despite Economic Slowdown
Statistics Canada has released year-end data on corporate financial performance for 2023. The new data confirm that corporate profits remain elevated relative to pre-COVID norms, despite the stalling of economic growth in 2023, largely due to weak consumer demand conditions caused by two years of high interest rates.