New funding will fill key data gaps, create Canadian information centre
Thursday, March 21st, 2019
The federal budget is channelling tens of millions of dollars toward filling key data gaps in housing, gender equality, the labour force and Indigenous communities, areas where researchers say Canadians are often in the dark thanks to spotty or inaccessible numbers… the Liberal government declined to make any firm commitments to fill these data gaps, even while acknowledging that Canada has many… “But the funding is likely to be highly inadequate to develop the kinds of data required…”
Tags: budget, Health, housing, Indigenous, multiculturalism, standard of living, youth
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Could be worse: Family income stays steady
Monday, June 18th, 2012
Jun. 18 2012
… two-parent families with kids and families led by single moms fared a little better in 2010 from a year earlier, while seniors did a little worse… The number of Canadians in lower-income status also held steady. Three million Canadians, or 9 per cent of the population, fall into the low-income cut-off, similar to 2009 though an improvement from 12.5 per cent proportion in 2000. More than half a million children – or 546,000 kids aged 17 and under – lived in low-income families in 2010.
Tags: economy, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
CPI retooling could result in big savings for Ottawa, business
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Feb. 13, 2012
Canada’s statistics agency is refining the consumer price index, a key economic yardstick for matching pensions and salaries to the rising cost of living – and the result could mean sizable savings for governments and corporations that hike payments annually to keep pace with inflation.
Tags: budget, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
Statscan’s chief economic analyst quits
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
Feb. 05, 2012
Mr. Cross is concerned that the free exchange of ideas at the agency is diminishing, and that internal dissent is no longer being tolerated by senior managers – particularly when it comes to discussions about the 2011 census and new national household survey… discussion of the latter issues is limited by management’s insistence on being ‘on-message’ all the time about [2011] census and NHS being a success.”
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Canada’s wage gap at record high: OECD
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Dec. 05, 2011
“Income inequality increased during both recessionary and boom periods, and it has increased despite employment growth”… The richest 1 per cent of Canadians saw their share of total income rise to 13.3 per cent in 2007 from 8.1 per cent in 1980… Two factors explain Canada’s growing gap: a widening disparity in labour earnings between high- and low-paid workers, and less redistribution. “Taxes and benefits reduce inequality less in Canada than in most OECD countries”
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Stretched food banks a measure of Canada’s frail recovery
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Nov. 01, 2011
… recipients span the spectrum. Nearly 100,000 of them are first-time users and one in five actually has a job or has recently been employed. More than one in ten are immigrants or refugees – many of whom are highly educated, and usage is growing among seniors… The findings show 18 per cent of food-bank recipients are part of the working poor – people who have earnings from a current or recent job… Almost half of recipients are women and girls. One in ten is aboriginal. One in four are individuals from dual-parent families with kids.
Tags: budget, disabilities, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | 1 Comment »
New index pinpoints inequalities in Canadians’ quality of life
Friday, October 21st, 2011
Oct. 21, 2011
GDP has its limitations… While a robust tool, it is confined to tracking the value of goods and services traded in a month. Thus it rises when spending increases on war, oil spills or natural disasters. And it fails to capture many activities such as caring for a sick relative or volunteer work. The new index is meant to be more comprehensive, looking at housing affordability, voter turnout, life expectancy, crime, air quality and income inequality. It aims to help governments and communities design public policy and track progress.
Tags: economy, featured, Health, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | 2 Comments »
Income inequality rising quickly in Canada
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
September 13, 2011
Canada has had the fourth-largest increase in income inequality among its peers. Between the mid-nineties and late 2000s, income inequality rose in 10 of 17 peer countries — including Canada… “Even though the U.S. currently has the largest rich-poor income gap among these countries, the gap in Canada has been rising at a faster rate,” noted Anne Golden, president and chief executive, adding that high inequality raises both “a moral question about fairness and can contribute to social tensions.”
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Statistics Canada to stop tracking marriage and divorce rates
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Jul. 21, 2011
Statistics Canada will no longer collect and crunch numbers on the country’s annual marriage and divorce rates, a sign both of cost cuts at the agency and the changing nature of relationships, as definitions get fuzzier and harder to track… The absence of data will make it difficult to assess how the recession affected divorce rates because it ends at 2008. It will be harder to compare Canadian marriage or divorce rates… And policy makers say they will have a tougher time assessing where and how marital breakdown is affecting child poverty, housing, education and health care
Tags: Health, housing, poverty
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
New Statscan survey aims to pinpoint where the jobs are
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
Jun. 22, 2011
The agency will start an official index in the autumn that will track vacancies by province and industry and, eventually, how that changes over time… Statscan has also just completed a pilot project that gathered detailed data on job openings and, starting in the fall of 2012, plans to release an annual study that explores job vacancies by occupation, labour shortages and hard-to-fill positions.
Tags: economy, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Delivery System | No Comments »
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