Public and Private Sector Job Growth in the Provinces during the COVID-19 Era finds that from February 2020 to June 2023, in all ten provinces, the rate of job growth was faster in the government sector (including federal, provincial and municipal) than in the private sector (including the self-employed). Nationally, the number of government-sector jobs increased 11.8 per cent over that time period, while the number of private sector jobs increased only 3.3 per cent.

Fiscal Waste During the Pandemic in Canada and the United States is a new essay in the Fraser Institute’s series on the COVID-19 pandemic. It finds that the total cost of the Ottawa’s wasteful COVID spending—money that was poorly targeted or sent to ineligible recipients—will eclipse $110 billion by 2032/33, partly as a result of higher debt interest costs. In the United States, the total cost of wasted COVID spending will exceed $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.

Lockdown: A Final Assessment spotlights how government lockdowns during the pandemic did little to reduce COVID deaths yet imposed widespread economic and social costs including an increase in deaths not directly linked to COVID.