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Childcare Reform Key to Post-Covid Economic Recovery

Sunday, April 4th, 2021

Among a suite of reforms at the federal and provincial levels, the authors recommend: The existing Child Care Expense Deduction (CCED), a regressive tax deduction that reinforces patriarchal gender roles for parents, be replaced with a more generous, progressive and more frequently paid refundable tax credit… Provinces… increase childcare spaces… a single, dedicated and permanent [federal] transfer to provinces.

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Childcare Reform Key to Post-Covid Economic Recovery

Tuesday, March 30th, 2021

“We need immediate attention and incremental but aggressive reforms to get this right, for women, for families and for Canada as we emerge from the pandemic.” … the authors recommend… a more generous, progressive and more frequently paid refundable tax credit… increasing operating and/or capital grants for licensed providers… new federal dollars for childcare be consolidated into a single, dedicated and permanent transfer to provinces.

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COVID HIGHLIGHTS ACUTE SHORTAGE OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Thursday, February 11th, 2021

… paying higher rates for physician services would have a negative effect on the number of health services provided per capita as physicians tend to reduce the number of hours worked as their pay increases. Nurses, conversely, have a positive – though small – correlation between remuneration, numbers per capita and health outcomes… the report advocates shifting methods and modes of care delivery, or adapting scopes of practice… to address short-term healthcare labour supply gaps.

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Virtual Healthcare Revolution Here To Stay

Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

… virtual care… has been critical throughout the pandemic. During June 2020 virtual care represented over 70 percent of ambulatory care across the country. That is a massive increase from just five months before”… For patients, face-to-face appointments with healthcare providers have traditionally come with certain costs, such as lost income from time off work, childcare and transportation costs… The authors propose that care redesign starts with asking three simple questions…

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Unemployment in the 21st Century

Monday, October 12th, 2020

An overriding concern here is that an expansion of EI to insure earnings in a more flexible way may result in moving further away from a program that insures workers against job loss, towards an income-smoothing program that provides a predictable share of some individuals’ income. Overall, while an EI system that covers multiple job holders, gig workers, and the self-employed may be desirable in the 21st century, it is not clear how to build that system.

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Ontario Should Streamline Path Off Welfare With More Carrot, Less Stick

Thursday, July 30th, 2020

… the province of Ontario has the worst dependency rate on social assistance programs in Canada… Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) – have been characterized by high costs and poor recipient outcomes. With about one million Ontarians receiving social assistance benefits… the average dependency duration on OW has substantially increased from 19 months in 2009 to 35 months in 2018.

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Thoughts on forestalling the coming childcare crisis

Wednesday, June 24th, 2020

… the childcare sector requires an immediate injection of capital and a rapid expansion of space(s) in this critical phase of re-opening the economy… the Multilateral Early Learning and Childcare Framework… should immediately be boosted to pay some or all of the costs of a temporary injection of much-needed capital… provinces should actively support childcare providers to make use of community spaces that can accommodate satellite locations for childcare

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Nursing Home Fatalities Expose Weakness in Long-Term Care Provision

Wednesday, June 17th, 2020

While there is not a “one-size-fits-all” solution to improving the safety of residential care, some common factors should be addressed over the long-term: the dependence on part-time and contract workers, consistent underfunding relative to hospitals, lower wage rates, among others.

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Ontario Should Streamline Path Off Welfare With More Carrot, Less Stick

Friday, June 5th, 2020

The report recommends: Reducing the cost of working through less punitive benefit claw-back rates; and higher exemptions for earned employment income while on the program… Ensuring appropriate work requirements and support… Placing supplemental benefits outside social assistance… Shifting the focus in disability support programs from the inability to work to the ability to work.

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Ottawa has the Tools to Replace the CERB

Friday, May 15th, 2020

Two groups of Canadians face particular difficulties – low-income Canadians and families with children. Low-income Canadians have been hit hardest, as they make up the largest proportion of a service-sector led shutdown… Extending the CCB and GSTC boosts will allow low-income Canadians and families with children face the post-CERB knowing that they would have the income security they need to face the likelihood of a slow and uncertain recovery.

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