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Government Spending

Interest Cost Risks to Government Budgets
— Jun 29, 2021
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Interest Cost Risks to Government Budgets

Interest Cost Risks to Government Budgets is a new study that examines what would happen to government interest costs (essentially the interest paid on outstanding debt) and government budgets if interest costs returned to the near-historically low levels of 2019-20. Crucially, government interest costs could increase to $35.2 billion in 2021-22, a rise of $13.1 billion from the current projection based on the latest government budgets.

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Understanding Universal Health Care Reform Options: Activity-Based Funding
— Jun 10, 2021
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Understanding Universal Health Care Reform Options: Activity-Based Funding

Understanding Universal Health Care Reform Options: Activity-Based Funding is a new study that finds paying hospitals for each patient they treat, also known as activity-based funding, instead of allocating pre-defined annual budgets could improve the quantity and quality of health care services while reducing wait times for Canadians. Nearly every other developed country with a universal health-care system has moved towards activity-based funding in recent decades, whereas Canada is among the last to continue to use lump sum payments.

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Caution Required When Comparing Canada’s Debt to that of Other Countries
— Jun 1, 2021
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Caution Required When Comparing Canada’s Debt to that of Other Countries

Caution Required When Comparing Canada’s Debt to that of Other Countries is a new study that finds Canada’s relative debt position is much worse than the federal government suggests when compared to a larger group of advanced countries. In fact, while Canada does have the lowest net debt to GDP in the G7, Canada’s position falls to 11th when the analysis is expanded to include 29 advanced countries, including many European countries and Australia. What’s more, when gross debt—and not net debt—are measured, Canada is the 25th most indebted country out of the 29 included in the study.

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Global Storm: The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Responses around the World
— May 26, 2021
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Global Storm: The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Responses Around the World

Global Storm: The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Responses around the World is a detailed statistical analysis of nearly 200 countries and their experiences with and responses to COVID-19. It found that Canada ranked poorly compared to other industrialized countries on testing and hospital beds, which were determined to be key in responding to COVID-19.

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Canada’s Aging Population and Income Support Programs
— May 6, 2021
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Canada’s Aging Population and Income Support Programs

Canada’s Aging Population and Income Support Programs is a new study that finds from 2020 to 2030, as a result of the growing number of seniors in Canada, the cost of Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement will increase by almost 70 per cent, from $60.8 billion to over $103 billion.

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Aging and Expenditures on Health Care
— Mar 25, 2021
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Aging and Expenditures on Health Care

Aging and Expenditures on Health Care is a new study that finds Canadians over the age of 65, who are projected to make up 23.4 per cent of the population by 2040, will account for 71.4 per cent of total health care expenditures in that year. And in fact, health care spending is projected to grow by 88 per cent from 2019 to 2040 as a result of the growing number of Canadians aged 65 and older.

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