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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
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
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 »
EI Revisions Should Include More Flexibility in Its Work Incentives
Saturday, August 7th, 2021
Policymakers should revise WWC rules and set an earnings limit under which claimants won’t have EI benefits clawed back, and a modest clawback rate on earnings above that threshold – much like the CRB. Our review of Canadian and international evidence found that under these proposed rules more people, especially those displaced from lower paid jobs and who already have weaker labour force attachment, would be encouraged to work while collecting EI and to work more hours.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Closing Ottawa’s Tax Gap Not A Silver Bullet Post-Covid
Tuesday, May 18th, 2021
With the federal government projecting swelling budget deficits in the Fall Economic Statement and then the 2021 Budget due to pandemic relief measures, the debate is shifting to the revenue raising measures needed to pay for them. However, “closing the tax gap should not be considered a silver bullet to deal with burgeoning federal debt” notes Richard Bird, an eminent tax scholar.
Tags: budget, economy, tax
Posted in Delivery System | No Comments »
Same Old Federal Thinking Hampers Childcare Plan
Thursday, May 6th, 2021
It would have been simpler and more expedient for the federal government to directly fund childcare costs through grants or tax credits. And a focus on affordability for parents needing to work would have enabled the federal government to save some money for other health-related provincial transfers.
Tags: budget, child care, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
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