Canada is on the cusp of a new chapter in its monetary history. The emergence of crypto assets like Bitcoin and stablecoins, such as Facebook’s Diem, offer the promise of major gains in the efficiency and safety with which Canadians pay for goods and services and invest their savings. But a...

Over a recent four-year period, Canadians paid $50 billion per year in premiums to insurers for property and casualty insurance, which includes liability, property and auto. The purpose of this Commentary is to seek to answer several core questions. How does Canada benchmark relative to its...

Leading up to the Bank of Canada’s 2021 renewal of its agreement with the government of Canada, this Commentary evaluates alternatives to the Bank’s current inflation-targeting agreement, and recommends that the agreement continue in its present form. The important elements of monetary...

Automation, digital innovation, globalization and demographic shifts have been reshaping the labor market, leading to some long-term structural changes and redefining the skills required to maintain a productive workforce – a trend that has been amplified by the effects of the COVID-19...

Homebuyers in Canadian cities face a multitude of taxes and charges that increase the cost of buying a home. Government policies whose affect is to limit the supply of the kinds of homes people want and can afford are among the key causes of higher property prices. Restrictions on housing supply...

In Budget 2018, the federal government announced that it would review the merits of open banking. In January 2020, the Advisory Committee on Open Banking determined that the benefits of open banking outweighed the cost and what was needed was a plan for implementation. In this Commentary, we...

Despite improvements over time, the quality of the financial information presented to legislators and the public by Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments remains uneven. Some governments stand out for the transparency, quality and timeliness of their financial documents;...

Multi-employer, contingent-benefit pension plans cover hundreds of thousands of current and former employees of Canadian governments, and millions more in Canada’s broader public sector – employers such as hospitals, school boards, and colleges. Understanding the value of these plans’...

The recent pandemic has highlighted just how economically interdependent Canadians are with one another, and the extent of the nation’s intertwined domestic supply chains. As the economy re-opens, and with global protectionism looming, interprovincial trade barriers take on heightened...

Banking is the bedrock supporting all other Canadian industries. Without a robust, healthy banking industry, liquidity and investment in other industries will dry up. Stability is therefore a key pillar of financial sector policy. Regulatory barriers to entry have to a significant degree...