Messacar, Frenette, Handler – The Cost Of Graduating During Covid-19
From: Derek Messacar, Marc Frenette and Tomasz Handler To: Concerned Canadians Date: July 26, 2021 Re: The Cost of Graduating During COVID-19 Over the past year and a half, pandemic lockdowns have led to significant declines in economic activity across Canada and the effects have been particularly severe for young workers. The unemployment rate among 15 to 24 year […] Peter Glossop – A New Approach To Wage-fixing And Anti-poaching Employer Deals
From: Peter Glossop To: Canada’s competition law overseers Date: July 9, 2021 Re: A New Approach to Wage-Fixing and Anti-Poaching Employer Deals Canada is “out of sync” with the United States when it comes to punishing employers who agree to fix workers’ wages or agree not to poach employees from each other, Matthew Boswell, the Commissioner of Competition, told a […] Don Drummond – Breathing Life Into The Liberal Government’s Quality Of Life Index
From: Don Drummond To: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland Date: June 9, 2021 Re: Breathing Life into the Liberal Government’s Quality of Life Index Following the lead of a number of other countries, the Department of Finance and Statistics Canada are engaged in an investigation of and consultations on how to inform policymaking better with information on Canadians’ quality of […] Philip Oreopoulos – High-dosage Tutoring Stems Pandemic Learning Loss. Canada Should Get Going
From: Philip Oreopoulos To: Canada’s Education Ministers Date: May 26, 2021 Re: High-dosage Tutoring Stems Pandemic Learning Loss. Canada Should Get Going Over a year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, student learning loss remains a pressing policy concern. Inconsistent learning environments, low attendance rates, and inequitable access to educational technologies and resources have created an unprecedented […] Mahboubi, Ragab – Time To Recalibrate Alberta’s Social Assistance
From: Parisa Mahboubi and Mariam Ragab To: Alberta Social Assistance Policymakers Date: May 7, 2021 Re: Time to Recalibrate Alberta’s Social Assistance Effective social assistance systems should provide appropriate support for those in need while discouraging long-term dependency and easing transition to stable paid employment. Over the pre-pandemic decade, Alberta saw the largest increase in the total number […] Mackinnon, Mintz – Same Old Federal Thinking Hampers Childcare Plan
From: Janice MacKinnon and Jack Mintz To: Canadian Childcare Watchers Date: May 5, 2021 Re: Same Old Federal Thinking Hampers Childcare Plan The federal government’s 2021 budget introduces a childcare program, fashioned after Quebec’s, as a $10-a-day, 50/50 shared-cost conditional grant program with the provinces. By adopting a conditional grant program that requires a one-size-fits-all approach without recognizing […] Rosalie Wyonch on The Agenda – The Economics of Paid Sick Days
In Ontario, calls for paid sick days have come from all corners for months now – from public health, the province’s science table, opposition parties, social media, and labour. Rosalie Wyonch, senior policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute, chats with The Agenda’s Steve Paikin about why this seems so difficult to implement.
S3 E8: Strengthening Canada’s Childcare System
With vaccinations ramping up, our attention turns to the post-pandemic recovery. But how can the country recover without women in the workforce? Dr. Jennifer Robson of Carleton University and McGill’s Ken Boessenkool tell Michael Hainsworth that now is not the time to build a national childcare program from scratch, but work needs to begin now […] Le Québec Peut Montrer Au Canada La Voie à Suivre En Matière De Garde D’enfants
À partir des données de l’Enquête sur la population active que mène Statistique Canada adaptée par l’Institut de la statistique du Québec, les taux d’emploi des mères âgées de 25 à 54 ans qui ont un enfant de moins de 6 ans est analysé. Ce groupe est ciblé car il s’agit de celui qui est le plus […] Quebec Can Show The Way On Childcare
Based on data from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey adapted by Institut de la statistique du Québec we examined employment rates for mothers aged 25 to 54 with a child under the age of 6; those most likely to have used Quebec’s reduced-contribution daycare program. In 1996, prior to its introduction, Quebec’s employment rate of mothers aged 25 to […] Governments need to ensure the unemployed have the right skills for the postpandemic economy – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
A key to economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic will be targeted measures to address the possible long-term effects of this crisis on the labour market.
Bouncing back to employment from lockdown layoffs is becoming more challenging for many unemployed people as there is no job to return to, at least in the short term, or they lack sufficient or relevant skills to find employment. This has led to exceptionally high long-term unemployment rates that will need to be mitigated with labour market and skills development strategies.
Long-term unemployment (the number of unemployed people for six months or more) increased by 207 per cent to 462,100 Canadians between March, 2020, and February, 2021. This has boosted the…
Mending the Safety Net: Social Assistance Reform in Alberta
Alberta’s Path to Social Assistance Reform Alberta’s social assistance programs have been the fastest growing among provincial income support programs with caseloads doubling between 2008 and 2019. High clawback rates and low earnings exemptions decrease the likelihood of recipients bouncing out of the social safety net and back into the labour market. “Rather than improving […]