Posts Tagged ‘economy’

« Older Entries | Newer Entries »

Taming inflation can be worse than inflation

Friday, December 17th, 2021

While Canadian inflation is running at 4.7 per cent, Canadian wages are also rising. For some of the most disadvantaged workers (new hires), average wages are growing at the impressive rate of 10 per cent a year — putting them well ahead of inflation… And this booming labour market may get better yet, as contracts expire and new ones are negotiated at a time when workers are wielding more power than they have in decades.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


Its critics call it ‘birth tourism.’ But is the practice real? COVID-19 is providing clues

Friday, December 17th, 2021

Griffith estimates that the percentage of “tourism births” has now reached one per cent of all births in Canada in an average year. “This is really a question of the integrity of the citizenship program… This is legal but it’s still a loophole that allows basically fairly affluent women and families to shortcut the process, find a backdoor entry and without going through the standard process of becoming a Canadian citizen.”

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »


The migrant worker floodgates have opened. It’s a decision we might come to regret

Wednesday, December 15th, 2021

… public policy is rowing against market forces and demographic trends, to keep things cheap. The larger the share of migrant workers in a job market, the lower the wage growth. In our endless search for a cheap deal, let’s not pit ourselves as consumers against ourselves as workers… This nation of immigrants, the tenth-largest economy in the world, has two wishes, one of which will be granted: lower prices or better jobs. 

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


New Brunswick gets a $10-a-day daycare deal, leaving Ontario as the lone holdout

Friday, December 10th, 2021

… licensed child care in Ontario remains “startlingly unaffordable” for many families, despite the existence of parental fee subsidies and a refundable tax credit…. economists… recommend… that special care be taken even after a deal is reached to ensure lower-income families are not at a disadvantage when it comes to getting the benefits of the new program… policymakers will need some kind of sliding scale… [and] dramatic expansion of non-profit child care

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »


Unchecked inequality is driving child poverty

Sunday, November 28th, 2021

Ontario was richer than ever.  Yet we still had half a million children in poverty… Canada’s Big Six banks… made $46.6 billion in profits in 2019. Their CEOs’ salaries averaged more than $11 million… Wealth and poverty sit side by side in every part of Ontario. There is money here, and it’s more than enough to wipe out child poverty — if we decide to… We need to increase transfers, boost parents’ wages, and make life more affordable… Good policy is not enough, though. What we need is political will.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »


Food banks are a blessing, but they’re no fix for poverty

Monday, November 22nd, 2021

“Until we address the systemic chronic stressors that are producing and reproducing vast inequalities in our communities, we will never be resilient to the acute shocks that occasionally arise,” the report said. “The time to act is now. We urgently need to protect low-income households who continue to struggle with job losses, reduced employment hours and precarious housing.”

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »


We Finally Seem Ready to Take on the One Per Cent

Saturday, November 20th, 2021

Starting in the early 1980s and especially in the mid-1990s, social programs were cut and never restored, and no one suffered more than those at the bottom while those at the very upper end saw their wages (and stock options) begin to soar… But things change, sometimes quickly, and sometimes for the better. A minimum tax on corporate wealth was long seen as a pipe dream. Not now. Some 140 countries have just agreed to a minimum global corporate tax of 15 per cent… The pandemic has been a major accelerant. 

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »


Labour shortage? The answer is to bring older adults back into the workforce

Monday, November 15th, 2021

Bringing older adults back into the workforce is one answer to the current talent shortage. Extended working lives create benefits for everyone. Individuals experience improved physical and mental well-being. Employers profit from loyal, engaged employees who bring guidance, expertise and balance. The economy enjoys increased spending, income tax and charitable contributions.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


The Care Economy Data Room: Eldercare

Friday, November 12th, 2021

Canada spends roughly 1.2% of GDP on eldercare. The OECD average is 1.7% of GDP… Nine out of ten older Canadians live at home. While care needs increase with age, even among those aged 85 and older, only 32 per cent live in residential care… There are currently 38,500 people in Ontario on waiting lists for long term care, with waits as long as 5 years… 3 million Canadians rely on unpaid, informal care – 39% rely exclusively on informal care – most of which is provided by women.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »


Alternative Federal Budget 2022

Tuesday, November 9th, 2021

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Alternative Federal Budget (AFB), now in its 26th year, calls for urgent policy priorities that would ensure a publicly led, inclusive pandemic recovery… Among the key issues in the AFB: implementing universal public child care, reforming Canada’s income security system, addressing the housing crisis, strengthening and expanding the existing health care system, stewarding a just transition away from the oil and gas economy, and moving foward on reconciliation. 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »


« Older Entries | Newer Entries »