Investment in plant and equipment per worker by Canadian businesses is picking up relative to counterparts elsewhere after years of underperformance. Canada’s relative improvement owes much to outperformance by resource-rich provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador being the most recent star,...

Canada’s performance in business investment per worker relative to its peers is sliding, led by dismal performances in Quebec and Ontario, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Capital Needed: Canada Needs More Robust Business Investment,” authors Benjamin Dachis, William B.P....

Saint John, Charlottetown and Montreal have the highest tax burdens on new business amongst major Canadian cities, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “The 2014 C.D. Howe Institute Business Tax Burden Ranking,” authors Adam Found, Benjamin Dachis and Peter Tomlinson conduct...

In pursuit of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, policymakers in some Canadian provinces are contemplating a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), a regulation that would require transportation fuel providers to distribute a mix of fuel that, on average, emitted a declining amount of GHG per...

The 2009 federal budget proposed a $40 billion economic stimulus package spanning two years and projecting a return to balanced budgets within five. The projected quick recovery of federal finances relies primarily on aggressive assumptions about future interest rates, growth of program...

As the federal government weighs policy options for reducing greenhouse gases, the question arises as to how to treat imported goods from countries with less stringent emission targets. One policy option is to impose a “carbon tariff” on imported goods from those countries.

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...

Ontario’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act subsidizes producers of renewable electricity by paying them far more for their output than the prevailing market price of electricity. Wind power receives a fixed electricity price of 13.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, and solar receives even larger...