Risk & Regulation

The Flight of Capital From Canada

— Nov 19, 2018

The Flight of Capital From Canada finds that a host of economic measures indicate that Canada continues to underperform when it comes to business investment, which is crucial for improving living standards and generating prosperity. Notably, from 2013 to 2017, Canadians increasingly invested abroad while at the same time, foreign direct investment in Canada dropped a staggering 55.1 per cent from 2013.

Read the Full Report

Natural Resource Regulation in Alberta

— Oct 23, 2018

Natural Resource Regulation in Alberta finds that the province’s investment attractiveness has diminished in the eyes of oil, gas and mining executives, primarily due to the province’s increasing regulatory burden. Specifically, environmental regulations and the cost of complying with Alberta’s red tape are increasingly cited as reasons not to invest in the province.

Strategies for Deregulation: Concepts and Evidence

— Oct 23, 2018

Strategies for Deregulation: Concepts and Evidence outlines how other jurisdictions—for example, British Columbia in 2001 and the federal government in 2015—successfully reduced outdated regulations. Best practices include broad public consultations to identify regulations for elimination, requiring a net reduction of existing regulations, and specifically tasking an independent agency or government department to reduce regulations.

Phasing Out Supply Management: Lessons from Australia's Dairy Industry

— Jul 17, 2018

Phasing Out Supply Management: Lessons from Australia’s Dairy Industry finds that Canadian consumers and the dairy industry could both benefit from phasing out supply management. In fact, immediately following deregulation of Australia’s dairy industry in 2000, the price of milk dropped 12 cents per litre, and farm gate prices—the price farmers receive for their product—increased 56 per cent. Australian milk farmers now export about half their product, making dairy the country’s third most important agricultural export after beef and wheat.

Federal Reforms and the Empty Shell of Environmental Assessment

— May 31, 2018

Federal Reforms and the Empty Shell of Environmental Assessment finds that environmental assessments for resource development projects, such as oil and gas pipelines, have always been arbitrary and political, and the federal government’s proposed reforms—contained in Bill C-69—do nothing to change that. If anything, the changes may increase uncertainty in the project approval process.

Technological Change and Its Implications for Regulating Canada's Television Broadcasting Sector

— May 25, 2016

Technological Change and Its Implications for Regulating Canada’s Television Broadcasting Sector finds that the low-cost methods of creating and distributing broadcasting content means that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) traditional policies to protect and subsidize Canadian content are increasingly unsustainable.

Recent Risk & Regulation Commentaries and Blog Posts

What happens when Canada ignores incentives and competitiveness

Jason Clemens, Niels Veldhuis

Appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, February 5, 2019

Investment in plant, machinery and equipment by private businesses has declined 18.2 per cent.

Help us because we’re big and successful, help us because we’re small and poor

William Watson

There are a number of services that seem unavoidably linked to homebuying.

The late great economist everyone should know

Vincent Geloso

Market leaders such as Amazon, Netflix and Google will fall by the wayside if they are unable to keep innovating and satisfying consumers.

As capital exits Canada, Ottawa continues to push unattractive policies

Elmira Aliakbari, Ashley Stedman

Appeared in the Brooks Weekend Regional, December 13, 2018

Washington eased federal vehicle emissions standards and repealed a regulation on hydraulic fracturing.

Saskatchewan drops out of world’s top 10 most attractive jurisdictions for oil and gas investment

Elmira Aliakbari, Ashley Stedman

Bill C-69 will add more subjective criteria to an already onerous regulatory process.

Morneau’s rhetoric on pipelines doesn’t match government’s record

Elmira Aliakbari, Ashley Stedman

Ottawa imposed new regulatory hurdles that led to TransCanada scuttling its Energy East project.

Regulatory reform in Canada should focus on streamlining deregulation

Steven Globerman

The government’s reliance on formal benefit-cost analysis will be a major barrier to the timely elimination of red tape.

Canada has fallen asleep and must wake up—fast

Jake Fuss, Milagros Palacios, Jason Clemens

Appeared in the National Newswatch, November 19, 2018

Canadian provinces comprise nine of the 10 jurisdictions with the highest combined personal income tax rates in Canada and the U.S.

To adapt to climate change, end supply management

William Watson

Canada’s supply management systems impose tariffs of up to 300 per cent on above-quota imports.

Canadian crude oil price differential continues to widen

Elmira Aliakbari, Ashley Stedman

Despite the global recovery in energy prices, Canadian oil prices dropped to US$27.

Risk & Regulation Research Experts

Pierre Desrochers

Associate Professor of Geography, University of Toronto
Kenneth P. Green

Resident Scholar and Chair in Energy and Environmental Studies, Fraser Institute
Marc Law

Associate Professor of Economics, University of Vermont
Ross McKitrick

Professor of Economics, University of Guelph
Joel Wood

Associate Professor of Economics, Thompson Rivers University
Moin Yahya

Associate Professor of Law, University of Alberta

Search form

Risk & Regulation

The Flight of Capital From Canada

Natural Resource Regulation in Alberta

Strategies for Deregulation: Concepts and Evidence

Phasing Out Supply Management: Lessons from Australia's Dairy Industry

Federal Reforms and the Empty Shell of Environmental Assessment

Technological Change and Its Implications for Regulating Canada's Television Broadcasting Sector

Risk & Regulation Research Experts