Equipping Ourselves in Tough times: Canada's Improved Business Investment Performance

After trailing the average performance of G7 countries for 15 years, Canada’s relative business investment performance stands out in a promising light for 2009 and 2010. Amid the recession, new capital spending on tools for workers, in the form of machinery, equipment or buildings, has held up better in Canada than in many other countries, and particularly the United States. Investment per worker in Canada for 2010 should surpass that in other G7 and OECD countries.economic growth and innovation, business investment, capital investment

Freeing up Food: The Ongoing Cost, and Potential Reform, of Supply Management

Government-mandated cartels in eggs, dairy and poultry products impose high costs on consumers and harm Canada’s standing in international trade. The authors offer compelling evidence of the high costs to Canadian consumers and limited benefits to farmers arising from the supply management system. The study recommends phasing out Canada’s controversial supply management system through sales of new quota for the production and sale of these products.Governance and Public Institutions, Canadian agriculture, supply management policy, agricultural production quotas

Target Practice Needed: Canada’s 2010 Fiscal Accountability Rankings

Government spending overruns and missed revenue targets remain a common occurrence in Canada. Countrywide, spending overruns by the federal, provincial and territorial governments over the past decade exceeded $70 billion, limiting debt reduction and tax relief in earlier years, and materially adding to current deficits. This fourth annual fiscal accountability ranking measures each jurisdiction’s 10-year fiscal record for bias (the average difference between budget projections and actual results) and accuracy (over-shoots and under-shoots of budget targets).Fiscal Policy, Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments fiscal accountability rankings

Disarmed and Disadvantaged: Canada’s Workers Need More Physical Capital to Confront the Productivity Challenge

Canadian workers have enjoyed less robust investment in plant and equipment than their counterparts in the United States and other major developed countries over the past 15 years. And notwithstanding Canada’s relative economic resilience through the recent slump, the per-worker investment gap vis-à-vis other countries appears to have widened. The authors say if this pattern continues, Canadian businesses will continue equipping their workers less well than those in other countries, a setback in the quest for rising living standards in the coming expansion.Economic Growth and Innovation, Canadian workers, business investment per worker

Near Hits and Big Misses: Canada's 2009 Fiscal Accountability Rankings

Canadian governments are projecting large amounts of red ink in their 2009 budgets. Notwithstanding the impact of the economic slump on government finances, it is natural for Canadians to ask whether this new borrowing is partly the result of insufficient fiscal discipline during the good times, and whether the actual outcomes will be worse than the projections.fiscal policy, Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments fiscal accountability rankings

Off the Mark: Canada's 2008 Fiscal Accountability Ranking (also available in French)

Every year, legislators in Canada vote for budgets that set out targets for the coming fiscal year. But every year, governments tend to spend more than they promise at budget time. The result: accountability between legislators and voters breaks down. Canadians should demand better.fiscal policy, public accounts, Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments fiscal accountability rankings

Impulse Spending: Canada's 2011 Fiscal Accountability Rankings

Fiscal pressures and sovereign debt concerns around the world are intensifying scrutiny of government finances. Even in Canada, where these pressures and concerns are less acute, federal and provincial fiscal controls could be better. Some Canadian governments still present budgets to their legislatures using different accounting than appears in their public accounts at year-end. Some present their public accounts far too late. Auditors do not always give unqualified approval. Most, however, have improved their financial reporting – with Ottawa, Ontario and New Brunswick standing out – showing that progress is possible, and setting the mark for others to follow.Fiscal & Tax Competitiveness, Canada, Canadian provinces, fiscal accountability rankings

A Social Insurance Model for Pharmacare: Ontario's Options for a More Sustainable, Cost-Effective Drug Program

With annual spending of about $4.5 billion dollars in 2010, Canada’s largest drug plan – the Ontario Drug Program (ODB) – will become harder to afford as the babyboomers age and workforce growth slows. A business-as-usual approach to funding the plan, which provides publicly funded drug benefits to every Ontario resident aged 65 an older, presents a bleak prospect and amounts to wilfully passing on an exorbitant bill to future generations. Ontario, like all jurisdictions, faces tough challenges at the intersection of fiscal and health policy. Partial prefunding and benefit-payment reform of the ODB would put a key health program on a stronger and more sustainable footing.The Health Papers, Ontario Drug Program (ODB), Province of Ontario

The Retooling Challenge: Canada's Struggle to Close the Capital Investment Gap

Investment in plant and equipment per worker by business in Canada has long lagged that in the United States and other major developed countries, likely contributing to disappointing productivity growth in Canada. Fiscal and regulatory changes that would increase the rewards to investment and enhance competitive pressures to innovate would help ensure that Canadian workers in all provinces have the tools to keep pace with rivals abroad and achieve high and growing incomes in the years ahead.Fiscal and Tax Competitiveness, Economic Growth and Innovation, Canada, Canadian provinces, business investment, capital spending, new investment per worker, OECD countries

Unbalanced Books: How to Improve Toronto’s Fiscal Accountability

As Toronto gears up for a municipal election this fall, the city's poor record on fiscal accountability promises to be a central issue. As the sixth largest government in Canada, with a budget of over $11 billion annually, Toronto city hall should have its finances under better control. A 10-year comparison of planned spending changes announced in budgets with actual results reported after year-end reveals large deviations between planned and actual spending that are routine. To increase transparency and accountability, Toronto should consolidate its now separate capital and operating budgets, move to a uniform accounting basis for its budgets and year-end results, and provide multi-year budgets. City government should adhere more closely to the budgets Council votes every year.Governance and Public Institutions, Toronto, fiscal accountability