Council Reports

January 7, 2021 – Competition law enforcement should be the first defense for addressing anti-competitive behaviour in the digital marketplace, according to a report from a C.D. Howe Institute council.

Canada’s statutory framework for competition law enforcement continues to provide a robust and flexible toolkit to address anti-competitive behaviour. As such, in response to a growing movement both internationally and domestically for the regulation of “big data,” competition law should provide the framework for addressing concerns about the market conduct of digital platforms, and direct regulation should be the last resort.

This is the majority view of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council, which held its…

December 17, 2020 – Despite economic recovery since April, it is too early to call the end of the recession, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute Business Cycle Council report.

The Council, comprised of Canada’s preeminent economists in the field and co-chaired by Steve Ambler and Jeremy Kronick, is an arbiter of business cycle dates in Canada. The Council typically meets annually, but also when economic conditions indicate the possibility of entry to, or exit from, a recession.

The Council met on December 7 to review the case for calling April 2020 as the end of the recession based on signs of economic recovery since then.

Entering and exiting a recession implies a change in the direction of economic…

December 3, 2020 – The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) recommends that the Bank of Canada keep its target for the overnight rate, its benchmark policy interest rate, at 0.25 percent at least until December of 2021. A majority of MPC members recommend that the Bank of Canada scale back its quantitative easing program of Government of Canada bond purchases.

The MPC provides an independent assessment of the monetary stance consistent with the Bank of Canada’s 2 percent inflation target. William Robson, the Institute’s CEO, chairs the Council. The Council’s principal recommendations are about the overnight rate target. Members make recommendations for the Bank of Canada’s upcoming interest-rate…

November 27, 2020 – A GST hike could be looming on the horizon if Ottawa starts down the road of permanent post-pandemic spending increases, warns a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.

The Fiscal and Tax Working Group stressed that now is not the time for permanent post-pandemic spending increases or matching tax increases. However, if Canadians want to see a significant increase in the level of ongoing program spending post-pandemic, they must be aware that it will require an increase in taxes across the income spectrum to be fiscally sustainable.

The group of experts from the private sector and academia held their third and fourth meetings on October 6, 2020, and November 11, 2020. The group calculated that…

October 28, 2020 – Canada’s healthcare system must learn the lessons of the first wave of COVID-19 and make the changes required to improve our capacity to tackle infectious disease outbreaks in future, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.

The Public Health and Emergency Measures Working Group notes as case numbers grow across Canada, insights from the first wave can be applied to better manage infection risks, while also minimizing social and economic disruption caused by public health and social distancing-related restrictions on activity.

The group of health academics, professionals and business leaders is co-chaired by Janet Davidson, Chair of the Board of the Canadian Institute for Health Information and C.…