Ottawa Should Soften Bite Of Benefit Clawbacks For Low-Income Families
Wednesday, November 30th, 2022
… the “participation” tax rate (PTR)… is the cumulative effect of all taxes and loss of fiscal benefits on the entire prospective earnings from work. For a stay-at-home parent, it represents the financial penalty paid out of the total income derived from getting a job… The paper recommends the federal government: Implement “benefit shields”… Allow income averaging… [and] Replace the federal childcare expense tax deduction with a refundable credit
Tags: jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Correcting Course: Employment Insurance Needs a Redesign to Counter Recessions and Achieve Equity
Tuesday, October 11th, 2022
As a primary pillar of Canada’s social safety net, Employment Insurance (EI)… has also gone off track from its original main goal: to provide insurance against unpredictable job losses… The authors make three main policy recommendations: (i) Implement uniform or more universal entrance requirements. (ii) Sharply reduce the number of EI regions. (iii) Improve the responsiveness of the benefit duration formula to labour market downturns and recoveries.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
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EI Needs A Redesign To Be Recession-Ready
Thursday, October 6th, 2022
… Gray and Busby… propose implementing uniform or more universal entrance requirements across Canada… variations in the length of benefit entitlement periods would be driven by changes in unemployment rates instead of levels in given regions… [and that] the number of regions be sharply reduced… these changes may require a small increase to EI premiums.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
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Canada Underinvests In Community Care
Tuesday, May 24th, 2022
Canada’s per capita spending on homecare and other outpatient and day program services falls below the international average. In general, countries that direct higher proportions of health spending to seniors care than Canada also spend more per capita on home care, outpatient care and day programs for seniors.
Tags: disabilities, economy, ideology, Seniors, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Looming Healthcare Costs Threaten Tax Hikes Unless Focus Shifts to a New Approach
Thursday, March 31st, 2022
… focusing on alternatives to institutional long-term care such as improvements to homecare and community-living supports can help reduce costs (in addition to benefiting seniors). Improving Canadians’ overall health and controlling cost pressures will require substantial reform, with a renewed focus on good health promotion in lieu of the historic overemphasis on treating illness.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, mental Health
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Why Not 75 Years Old?
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022
… since the creation of the RRSP in 1957, the age limit of 71 has never been raised… Given the sharp increase in life expectancy, the age limit of 71 years for converting an RRSP into a RRIF needs to be lifted… this type of change would optimize the mechanics of pension plans, and also encourage Canadians to remain in the workforce, which improves health and also helps with Canada’s looming labour shortage.
Tags: budget, economy, participation, pensions, tax
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Digital Health Tools Must Remain a Core Part of Canada’s Post-pandemic Health Care Delivery System
Wednesday, January 19th, 2022
Doctors couldn’t access patient records, some systems were only available in facilities that were themselves not physically accessible, large data systems didn’t work, telemedicine networks didn’t scale. The health-care system itself hadn’t adequately planned for a pandemic! This broken system must end now… We can start with three: labs, drugs, and patient record summaries.
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Canada Underinvests In Community Care
Friday, December 17th, 2021
Canada’s per capita spending on homecare and other outpatient and day program services falls below the international average. In general, countries that direct higher proportions of health spending to seniors care than Canada also spend more per capita on home care, outpatient care and day programs for seniors.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Payments To Parents For Childcare Can Spur Supply Of New Spaces
Wednesday, September 8th, 2021
… non-subsidized spaces can be created quickly in response to an increase in demand (driven by generous childcare-related payments to parents). The Quebec experience shows that subsidized licensed care can coexist with a refundable tax credit system for non-subsidized care, and that increasing the supply of childcare can also originate from direct payments to parents.
Tags: budget, child care, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada Needs A Broader Vision Of Healthcare
Tuesday, August 10th, 2021
“Like others, Canada’s healthcare ‘system’ is reactive. It is focused on restoring to good health people who become ill or injured. It does relatively little to keep people healthy – to promote good health,”… The authors call for striking a balance between the two objectives, with policies and/or practices/procedures based on data that assess the health status of individuals and populations in all their diversity throughout the length and breadth of the country.
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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