Search

Search results

1. Minimum wage hikes can hurt the people they’re supposed to help

   Recently, Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government said it will not proceed with a scheduled increase to Ontario’s minimum wage, which the previous government planned to implement next year. As a result, the minimum wage ...

2. The Great Employee Pay Divide in British Columbia

   As Premier John Horgan’s government negotiates nearly 200 new contracts for British Columbia’s government-sector employees, it’s important to understand the significant wage and benefit gap between government and private-sector workers. ...

3. Upcoming minimum wage hikes threaten younger and less-skilled Ontarians

   In January, Ontario’s minimum wage will increase to $14 an hour, up from $11.60 today. In January 2019, the wage floor will increase by another dollar to $15 per hour. There are good reasons to worry that such a rapid increase in the ...

4. Dispelling myths (Part 2): that worker choice "causes a widespread ‘free rider’ problem”

   This is the second of three blog posts responding to objections from those who oppose giving Canadian workers more choice when it comes to union membership and dues payment (see Part 1 here). A repeated concern is that, without mandatory ...

5. Raising the minimum wage is not the right policy to help struggling families

   Appeared in the Vancouver Sun The B.C. government recently announced it will increase the minimum wage in September to $10.45 per hour. Thereafter, annual increases will be automatically pegged at the rate of inflation. Shortly after the announcement, ...

6. How Compensation Spending Consumes Provincial Government Resources in Ontario

   This report measures the growth in provincial government compensation spending in Ontario and how such spending has consumed government resources from 2005/06 to 2013/14 (latest year of available data). Over the period, increases in compensation spending ...

7. Government compensation outpacing the private sector in Ontario

   Appeared in the Financial Post The Ontario government is currently neck deep in negotiations with public sector unions including those representing bureaucrats, teachers, and police officers. On compensation costs, finance minister Charles Sousa said: “We ...

8. Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Ontario

   Ontario’s serious fiscal challenges are well documented. As the provincial government struggles to eliminate its deficit and rein in growing government debt, it has signaled that managing public sector compensation (which totals over half of its program ...

9. Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Alberta

   With heightened interest in how wages and non-wage benefits in the government sector compare with those in the private sector, this study estimates wage differentials between the government and private sector in Alberta. It also evaluates four available ...

10. Government workers in B.C. make more, receive better pensions, and retire earlier than private sector workers in similar positions

    Appeared in the Windsor Star With declining energy prices and a vulnerable economy, the provincial and various municipal governments in British Columbia are facing important fiscal challenges. This warrants a sober review of government spending and an ...