C.d. Howe Institute

When it comes to Canada's finances, the country is aging in more ways than one. With a shrinking workforce, government revenue growth slowing, and costs for healthcare, pensions, and seniors benefits escalating. This issue disproportionately affects provincial governments, who bear the brunt of healthcare spending. In the recent C.D. Howe Institute commentary "Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt: The Fiscal Implications of Demographic Change for Ottawa and the Provinces," we learn that over the next four decades governments face an implicit $2 trillion liability because of these demographic changes. Michael Hainsworth talks to commentary authors Parisa Mahboubi and Bill Robson about their research, their conclusions, and the possible solutions to problems caused by this aging trend.

Like it or not, Canada is living in interesting times. Our only neighbour and biggest trading partner is holding an election that could determine the global order for a generation and send shockwaves through the world economy. How should Canada handle its relationship with the US during such a volatile time? For answers, Michael Hainsworth speaks with US Ambassador to Canada David Cohen. They discuss how Canada should manage a number of irritants between the two countries, such as supply management and defence spending. Cohen also offers advice on how Canadians can advance their interests south of the border.

Should Canada be worried about a possible second Trump presidency, or excited? On September 24th, the C.D. Howe Institute hosted a Regent Debate – Be It Resolved: Canada can turn a Trump presidency from a threat into an opportunity. Podcast host Michael Hainsworth talks to two of the debaters, Conrad Black and Martha Hall Findlay, about what was said at the debate and delved further into their views about what Canada should do in the era of Trump. Hainsworth learns the two are closer on key issues than one might expect.

Since the mid-1980s, US labour productivity has grown by 100 percent. But in Canada, it's only grown by 40 percent. Lower productivity means the economy grows more slowly — and that means Canadians' paychecks grow more slowly as well. Why is Canada less productive? And what can be done about it? Michael Hainsworth speaks with the University of Toronto's Michelle Alexopoulos and the C.D. Howe Institute's Jeremy Kronick to get answers.

If Donald Trump returns to the White House in 2025, Canada needs to prepare to open its wallet wider to NATO, and ask itself it is willing to die on the hill of Supply Management in the dairy sector. In this episode of the CDHI Podcast with Michael Hainsworth, Wilbur Ross, who was U.S. Secretary of Commerce under Trump, shares his insights on how Canada can best position itself amid renewed economic tensions if Trump wins the upcoming election.

If the goal of a vacant-homes tax is to improve housing affordability, it doesn't work. But if its goal is to improve housing availability, it does. That's the conclusion of a new C.D. Howe Institute report called "Ripple Effects: The Impact of an Empty-Homes Tax on Canada's Housing Market". The authors used Vancouver's 2017 empty-homes tax as a case study for implementing the tax across the country. Michael Hainsworth speaks with Gherardo Caracciolo, one of the authors of the report, about the study and what it tells us about improving availability and affordability in the Canadian residential real-estate market.

Federal and provincial governments in Canada are too casual about deficits and public debt, according to Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne and economist Trevor Tombe of the University of Calgary. In our latest C.D. Howe Institute podcast episode, Coyne and Tombe discuss the long-term challenges to government balance sheets that we can see coming, and why they think cost-cutting is needed for Ottawa and the provinces to avoid a Greek-style debt crisis in the future. It's an informative conversation for anyone interested in Canadian politics, economic and fiscal policy, government deficits and debt, demographics, our aging population.

Canada needs to return to the immigration system that made us the envy of the world. Economists Mikal Skuterud and Christopher Worswick explain that choosing economic immigrants based on their likelihood of success is key to the long-term success of the country on the whole.

From cows to cars, Canada is at risk of entering the trilateral review of CUSMA from a position of weakness unless Ottawa steps up and encourages the private sector to do the same. Veteran trade lawyer and C.D. Howe Institute Senior Fellow Lawrence Herman joins Michael Hainsworth to explain why he’s raising the alarm two years ahead of the talks.

Solving Canada’s healthcare crisis requires a combination of strategic policy reforms, technological innovation, and a shift towards more collaborative care models. On this episode of the CDHI Podcast, policy analysts Tingting Zhang and Rosalie Wyonch tell host Michael Hainsworth about the five key strategies for success the provinces should be paying attention to.

Are Canadians Willing to Pay for Net Zero? with A.J. Goulding and Nik Nanos

How do we get global powers to work together to solve the world’s polycrisis? Financial Times Chief Economic Commentator Martin Wolf dives into the profound generational shifts in demographics, climate change, technology, and geopolitics responsible for the state of nations and the globe.

Building more LTC facilities won’t solve Canada’s long-term care crisis. The C.D. Howe Institute’s Rosalie Wyonch tells host Michael Hainsworth that the solution involves rethinking the way we deliver care, and each province could benefit from the lessons learned by their neighbours.

If you care about the direction of the country, you must care about tax reform. That’s the sentiment from the Canadian Tax Foundation’s Heather Evans who warns “fiscal pollution” is clouding our ability to attract business development. But is a 2 percent increase in the GST the solution?

Populist budgets don’t get A+ grades. But why? And what’s wrong with the budget Ontario’s Conservative government recently tabled? The C.D. Howe Institute’s Bill Robson tells Michael Hainsworth that it’s about more than just deficit spending.

Ottawa has rolled out the first stage of its national pharmacare program. But it’s a far cry from what the NDP required to prop-up the minority government. Former federal health minister Dr. Jane Philpott joins former Alberta health minister Fred Horne and the Institute’s Rosalie Wyonch to discuss why $1.5 billion isn’t anywhere near enough to pay for the medications Canadians consume today, and how likely the program is to survive.

Securing Canada’s supply chains comes with risk. HEC Montréal Professor and C.D. Howe Institute Fellow-In-Residence Ari Van Assche debunks COVID-era theories about why we ran out of masks, toilet paper, and bicycles as well as how we can avoid the same fate in the future.

Raise the GST and luxury taxes. Balance the budget. End Supply Management for the dairy industry. In the C.D. Howe Institute’s Shadow Budget 2024, Bill Robson and Don Drummond warn that we’ll suffer more later if we don’t take the fiscal medicine now.

Curing what ails Canada’s healthcare system requires us taking the financial bull by the privatization horns. Dalhousie University political science Professor Katherine Fierlbeck and host Michael Hainsworth discuss the importance of accurately framing the nature of our system so we can understand it’s expectations – and limitations.

The Deep Freeze has put Albertans on notice: The fear of rolling blackouts is real. As a recent massive cold front from the Northwest Territories that flooded the province and its neighbours led to concerns about its citizens' ability to keep the lights on, and the furnaces too. Kent Fellows, a C.D. Howe Institute Fellow-In-Residence, Assistant Professor of Economics and Associate Program Director of the Canadian Northern Corridor Research Program at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, joins us to discuss.