Price of Earning More: The Hidden Tax on Parents and Senior Canadians

November 3, 2025 – For some parents and seniors, taking a second income, working more or drawing extra pension income can mean losing most of every extra dollar of income to taxes and benefit clawbacks. This can significantly weaken incentives to work or save, according to a C.D. Howe Institute report. In “The Clawback Trap: […]

The Clawback Trap: How Canada’s Benefit System Can Undermine Work and Saving

The Clawback Trap: How Canada’s Benefit System Can Undermine Work and Saving by Alexandre Laurin and Nicholas Dahir Clawbacks of government benefits can create high marginal effective tax rates (METRs) on extra income, or high participation tax rates (PTRs) on prospective income from taking on a job, that have a negative impact on work incentives […]

Immigration Reform Begins with Simplifying the System

From: Parisa MahboubiTo: Immigration observersDate: October 8, 2025Re: Immigration Reform Begins with Simplifying the System Canada’s immigration policy has lost its way. Once a model for attracting skilled newcomers who drove growth and innovation, the system is now consumed with chasing numeric targets and competing objectives. The result is a complex web of programs that undermine wage […]

How the Canada Post Strike Plays Out is a Bellwether of our National Future

Published in Financial Post. Last week, the federal government ordered Canada Post to develop a transformation plan to put itself on a financially sustainable footing. It gave the Crown corporation a green light to trim and modernize its network, end most door-to-door delivery, expand community mailboxes and reduce delivery frequency and speed for non-priority items. […]

A Better Way to Measure School Performance

From: David R. JohnsonTo: Ontarians Concerned About EducationDate: September 19, 2025Re: A Better Way to Measure School Performance There is a great deal of variation in Ontario school performance as measured by the assessments of literacy and numeracy administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) at the end of Grade 3 and the […]

Immigration Policy Still in Need of a Course Correction

Second Meeting of the C.D. Howe Institute Immigration Targets Council The C.D. Howe Institute Immigration Targets Council held its second meeting on August 26, 2025, bringing together leading academics and policy experts to provide recommendations on Canada’s immigration-level targets and system design. Members agreed that Canada’s immigration policy has moved in the wrong direction and […]

Immigration Policy Needs Fundamental Reform, Council Warns

September 16, 2025 – Canada’s immigration policy continues to move in the wrong direction and requires a fundamental course correction, according to a new CommuniquĂ© from the C.D. Howe Institute’s Immigration Targets Council. In “Immigration Policy Still in Need of a Course Correction,” the Council – composed of leading academics and policy experts – stresses […]

Recruitment Challenges Linked to Housing Availability and Costs

Housing availability and affordability pose a notable barrier to recruitment in Canada, with about one in five businesses reporting “large or moderate” difficulties in the past year. The challenge varies across regions: businesses in the territories are most affected, while high-cost provinces like BC and Ontario also struggle. These constraints discourage workers from relocating, resulting in […]

Immigration Targets Council

The C.D. Howe Institute Immigration Targets Council is comprised of leading academics and policy experts who provide independent recommendations on Canada’s immigration-level targets and the design of its selection system. Meeting annually ahead of the federal government’s November 1st release of its Immigration Levels Plan, the Council reviews demographic, labour market, and policy considerations to […]

A Realistic Strategy to Wean Canadian Businesses Off Low-Skill Foreign Labour

From: Mikal SkuterudTo: Labour Market WatchersDate: September 9, 2025Re: A Realistic Strategy to Wean Canadian Businesses Off Low-Skill Foreign Labour Uprooting one’s life to settle in a new country is always daunting, but it’s particularly unnerving when immigration rules are in constant flux. Attracting foreign talent requires a system that is stable, transparent, and predictable. […]

Which Jobs Could Easily Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy?

September 9, 2025 – Canada’s labour market faces major shifts – from technological change to new trade models and the energy transition – making better planning essential to help workers adapt. A new C.D. Howe Institute report finds that while many of the skills needed to shift into emerging jobs in a lower-carbon economy are […]

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