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1. Obstacles to business investment in Ontario—uncompetitive tax rates

   A recent study from the Fraser Institute highlights a substantial problem for Ontario’s economy—the fact that business investment to the province remains weak. In fact, business investment still hasn’t recovered to pre-recession levels. ...

2. Rising cost of doing business in Ontario chasing away business investment

   After more than a decade of comparatively weak economic performance, there are finally some green shoots for Ontario’s economy. Unemployment in the province is at its lowest in 16 years, and the province is expected to be near the top of ...

3. Dependence on housing leaves Ontario economy vulnerable

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, July 5, 2017 Ontario traditionally has been Canada’s engine of growth. However, over the past decade it has slipped to “have not” status that receives equalization payments. While housing recently has provided a temporary ...

4. Ontario's One Cylinder Economy: Housing in Toronto and Weak Business Investment

   Economic growth in Ontario has lagged Canada since 2003, reducing the province to ‘have-not’ status within Confederation. One theme that runs throughout the paper’s analysis is the persistent weakness of Ontario’s manufacturing sector, where output has ...

5. In Ontario, the cost of doing business is high

   Jon Dwyer, the managing director of an Ontario-based bio-tech company, recently took to the CBC to express his concern that doing business in Ontario was becoming increasingly difficult. In his column, Dwyer states that rising energy ...

6. Census results prove that Canada needs a strong Alberta economy

   Appeared in the Calgary Sun, February 16, 2017 The first batch of census data was released recently, giving Canadians a peek at how the country evolved between 2011 and 2016. One of the biggest stories is the substantial growth of Alberta. The province& ...

7. Business taxes in B.C.—ball now in Clark government’s court

   Appeared in the Vancouver Province, December 6, 2016 Earlier this year, the provincial government commissioned a group of experts to provide recommendations on how to make British Columbia’s business taxes more competitive and conducive to investment. ...

8. U.S. budget deficit: What it means for Canada?

   The U.S. Treasury Department recently announced that the U.S. government ran a deficit of US$461 billion from October 2015 to March 2016—up almost five per cent from the first half of fiscal 2015. This represents the first increase in ...

9. William Watson: When will our winning-cursed governments stop subsidizing free-agent firms?

   As a lifelong sports fan I was very envious this week when Charles Lammam, director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute, was quoted prominently in a National Post story about why in recent years Canadian NHL teams have been ...

10. Key policy areas for the new finance minister: Part 2—top tax rate

    The appointment of Bill Morneau as minister of finance is particularly interesting because of his involvement in the world of public policy think-tanks. In recent years, the Fraser Institute and the C.D. Howe Institute (where Mr. Morneau ...