The Growing Debt Burden for Canadians: 2021 Edition

— Feb 2, 2021

The Growing Debt Burden for Canadians: 2021 Edition is a new study that finds combined federal and provincial government debt in Canada has doubled from $1.0 trillion in 2007/08 to a projected $2.0 trillion this year. And the combined debt now equals 91.6 per cent of the Canadian economy—up from 65.2 per cent last year.

Fiscal Federalism and the Dependency of Atlantic Canada

— Jan 28, 2021

Fiscal Federalism and the Dependency of Atlantic Canada is a new study that examines Atlantic Canada’s dependency on fiscal transfers from Ottawa, and highlights how the region is vulnerable to any significant changes in fiscal federalism. The study finds that from 2007 to 2019, federal spending (including Employment Insurance, equalization, health care, and various other subsidies and programs) in Atlantic Canada equaled more than a quarter—27.5 per cent—of the region’s economy

Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, 2021 Edition

— Jan 5, 2021

Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, 2021 Edition finds that the spending in Canadian public schools is up 13 per cent, or $8.2 billion in nominal spending, since 2013/2014. After adjusting for inflation and changes in enrolment over the same five-year period, per-student spending on public schools increased in eight out of 10 provinces in Canada.

Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2020 Generosity Index

— Dec 15, 2020

Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2020 Generosity Index finds that the total amount donated to registered charities by Canadians in 2018—just 0.54 per cent of their income—is the second lowest amount since at least 2000. By comparison, American tax-filers donated 1.97 per cent of their income to registered charities in 2018—nearly four times the percentage Canadians claimed.

Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2020 Report

— Dec 10, 2020

Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2020 is a new study that finds Canada’s health-care wait times reached 22.6 weeks in 2020—the longest ever recorded—and 143 per cent higher than the 9.3 weeks Canadians waited in 1993, when the Fraser Institute began tracking medical wait times. Before this year, the longest recorded wait time was 21.2 weeks in 2017. Atlantic Canada has the longest wait times in the country this year, and Ontario recorded the shortest wait time, which was still more than four months long.

The Great Convergence: Measuring the Fiscal Capacity Gap Between “Have” and “Have-Not” Provinces

— Dec 3, 2020

The Great Convergence: Measuring the Fiscal Gap Between “Have” and “Have-Not” Provinces

The Great Convergence: Measuring the Fiscal Capacity Gap Between “Have” and “Have-Not” Provinces is a new study that finds the gap between the ability of Canada’s richer and poorer provinces to raise revenues is shrinking rapidly. If Alberta’s fiscal capacity gap continues to shrink relative to the rest of Canada, the province could soon become eligible for equalization transfers, which would affect transfers to other so-called “have not” provinces.