optimal size of government

4:30AM
Printer-friendly version
Growing the government won’t help Canada’s economy

The Trudeau government has recorded the five-highest years of federal spending in Canadian history.


1:34PM
Printer-friendly version
If provinces and states are too big (or too small) it’s a problem

Ontario is roughly three times larger than both B.C. and Alberta.


9:26AM
Printer-friendly version
Size of government—a pre-pandemic problem

Government spending represented 40.4 per cent of the country's economy in 2019, up from 37.4 per cent in 2007.


9:45AM
Printer-friendly version
Bigger government in Canada—there’s no free lunch

When tax rates increase, people often change their economic behaviour in ways that shrink the targeted tax base.


3:03PM
Printer-friendly version
Large governments in the Maritimes stifle economic growth

In the last year of reliable data before the pandemic, government spending in Nova Scotia represented 60.2 per cent of the economy.


5:00AM
Printer-friendly version
Are some provinces and states too big to succeed?

Subnational jurisdictions of around 9.5 million people seem to be the fastest-growing economies.


9:48AM
Printer-friendly version
Size of government matters for economic growth

Nova Scotia recorded the largest government sector at 61.6 per cent of the economy, more than double the optimal size.