PEF home page and weblog
Over at the Research Blog of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’ve written a ‘top 10’ overview of a study on which I’m co-author. It essentially asks the question: “When homeless people are placed into subsidized housing with social work support, for how many months/years do they require that social work support?” The study relies on […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, gender critique, homeless, housing, income, income support, Indigenous people, poverty, seniors, social policy, women.
September 7th, 2018
Comments: none
I recently wrote a ‘top 10’ overview blog post about the 2018 Saskatchewan budget. Following on the heels of that, I’ve now written an opinion piece about the budget’s announcement of a phase out a rental assistance program for low-income households. Points raised in the opinion piece include the following: -Across Saskatchewan, rental vacancy rates […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, health care, homeless, housing, income, income distribution, income support, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, oil and gas, potash, poverty, resources, social policy, unemployment.
May 2nd, 2018
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On March 22, the NDP government of Rachel Notley tabled the 2018 Alberta budget. I’ve written a blog post discussing some of the major ‘take aways’ from the standpoint of Calgary’s homeless-serving sector (where I work). Points made in the blog post include the following: this was very much a status quo budget; Alberta remains […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Alberta, budgets, debt, deficits, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, HST, income, income support, inequality, NDP, poverty, social policy, taxation.
March 26th, 2018
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The 2018 Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) was released yesterday—it can be downloaded here. An opinion piece I wrote about the AAB appeared yesterday in both the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal. Inspired by the Alternative Federal Budget exercise, this year’s AAB was drafted by a working group consisting of individuals from the non-profit sector, […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, budgets, Child Care, education, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, HST, income, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, macroeconomics, NDP, poverty, progressive economic strategies, public infrastructure, public sector procurement, public services, seniors, small business, social policy, student debt, taxation, user fees, women, workplace benefits.
March 21st, 2018
Comments: 3
I’ve just written a blog post about homelessness and employment, with a focus on Calgary (where I live and work). Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Persons experiencing homelessness usually have poor health outcomes, making it especially challenging to find and sustain employment. -There are several non-profits in Calgary that assist persons […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under addiction, Alberta, Child Care, employment, Employment Insurance, homeless, housing, income, income support, inequality, Job vacanices, labour market, poverty, skill shortages, social policy, unemployment.
March 17th, 2018
Comments: none
In anticipation of tomorrow’s provincial budget in British Columbia (BC), I’ve written a blog post about the state of homelessness in that province. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Public operating spending by BC’s provincial government has decreased over the past 20 years. -Even after controlling for inflation, average rent levels across […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under BC, budgets, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income, income support, inequality, NDP, poverty, privatization, progressive economic strategies, public services, Role of government, social policy, taxation.
February 19th, 2018
Comments: none
Yesterday I spoke on a panel discussion on economic inequality, along with Andrew Jackson and Armine Yalnizyan. We were guests at the federal NDP’s policy convention in Ottawa. The panel was moderated by Guy Caron. Topics covered included the minimum wage, basic income, affordable housing, the future of jobs, gender budgeting, poverty among seniors, Canadian […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, budgets, Canada, Child Care, debt, deficits, demographics, economic thought, education, federal budget, feminist economics, fiscal policy, free markets, gender critique, guaranteed annual income, health care, homeless, housing, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, minimum wage, NDP, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, Nordics, OECD, part time work, political economic thought, population aging, poverty, privatization, progressive economic strategies, public infrastructure, public services, Role of government, seniors, social policy, taxation, unemployment, unions, women, working time.
February 18th, 2018
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On November 17, the working group of the Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) sponsored a one-day workshop at the University of Alberta. The event’s main purpose was to discuss recent developments in Alberta public policy, as well as expectations for the upcoming Alberta budget. Twenty speakers presented in total. In light of what was discussed at […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, budgets, Child Care, cities, demographics, education, employment, environment, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, gender critique, homeless, housing, HST, income, income distribution, income support, Indigenous people, inflation, minimum wage, municipalities, NDP, oil and gas, poverty, privatization, progressive economic strategies, Role of government, social policy, taxation, wages, women.
November 29th, 2017
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Dr. Colin Phillips is an up-and-coming scholar in Canada’s homelessness sector. He has an opinion piece in today’s Toronto Star titled “Why Toronto needs a national housing strategy.” Points made in the opinion piece include the following: -The City of Toronto has worked hard to develop good practices on the ground to address homelessness. -But, […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under cities, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income, income support, municipalities, Ontario, poverty, public infrastructure, public services, social policy, Toronto.
November 11th, 2017
Comments: 1
In this second of a series of housing-related posts I analyze the income and geographic distribution of renter-occupied households in the City of Toronto. My first post focussed on affordability and inequality trends by analyzing time series (2001-16) data for Ontario by household income quintiles. As a complement, this blog studies the income and geographic […]
Posted by Edgardo Sepulveda under cities, GTA, homeless, housing, income, income distribution, inequality, poverty, StatCan, Toronto.
September 20th, 2017
Comments: none
Oxford University Press has recently released the second edition of Social Policy in Canada, co-authored by the father-daughter duo of Ernie Lightman and Naomi Lightman. I recommend this book as an excellent resource for students of social policy. It will be useful for classroom instruction, while also being a handy reference for researchers, persons who […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Alberta, BC, budgets, Canada, child benefits, Child Care, Conservative government, demographics, education, election 2015, employment, Harper, housing, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, inequality, PEF, population aging, post-secondary education, poverty, privatization, progressive economic strategies, public services, Role of government, Saskatchewan, seniors, social policy, taxation, unemployment, user fees, workplace benefits.
September 11th, 2017
Comments: none
I’ve just written a blog post about social assistance in Alberta. Points raised in the post include the following: -It’s very difficult to quality for social assistance in Alberta (this is also the case in all other provinces and territories). Reasons why are discussed in this previous blog post of mine. -In the 1990s, there […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Alberta, economic thought, fiscal federalism, homeless, income, income support, labour market, poverty, social policy.
July 25th, 2017
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I’ve just written a blog post about the fiscal situation of Canada’s ‘oil rich’ provinces (i.e., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador). It consists of a summary of key points raised at a PEF-sponsored panel at this year’s Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, Balanced budgets, budgets, corporate income tax, corporate profits, debt, deficits, economic growth, economic thought, employment, energy, fiscal policy, heterodox economics, homeless, housing, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, industrial policy, inequality, labour adjustment, labour market, Newfoundland and Labrador, oil and gas, PEF, poverty, progressive economic strategies, public services, Role of government, Saskatchewan, social policy, taxation, transportation, unemployment.
June 19th, 2017
Comments: 1
I’ve just written a blog post about social assistance in Canada. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Social assistance has two contradictory objectives: 1) to give people enough money to live on; and 2) to not give people enough money to live on. -Very few immigrants receive social assistance (relative to the […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, Austerity, BC, economic history, economic thought, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, immigration, income, income distribution, income support, Indigenous people, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, Ontario, poverty, public services, Role of government, social indicators, social policy, unemployment.
May 9th, 2017
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Allan Moscovitch and I have co-authored a blog post that looks at the history of child benefits in Canada. Points made in the blog post include the following: -Child benefits can reduce both poverty and homelessness. -When child benefits began in Canada after World War II, one major motivating factor for the federal government was […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Austerity, child benefits, Conservative government, demographics, economic history, economic thought, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, Harper, Harper economics, history of economic thought, homeless, income, income distribution, income support, Indigenous people, labour market, poverty, Role of government, social policy, women.
April 30th, 2017
Comments: none
I have an opinion piece on Saskatchewan’s recent budget in the Regina Leader-Post. Points raised in the opinion piece include the following: -Reductions in personal and corporate income taxes help the rich more than the poor (and this budget cut both personal and corporate income taxes). -Increases in sales tax hurt the poor more than […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Austerity, budgets, Child Care, corporate income tax, debt, deficits, economic growth, economic models, economic thought, employment, fiscal policy, health care, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, population aging, post-secondary education, poverty, public infrastructure, public services, Saskatchewan, social policy, taxation, unemployment.
April 23rd, 2017
Comments: none
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’ve written a review of the recent Alberta budget. Points I make in the blog post include the following: -Alberta remains the lowest-taxed province in Canada. -Alberta’s net debt-to-GDP ratio remains the lowest in Canada. -For the third consecutive year, the Rachel Notley government announced […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, budgets, debt, education, homeless, housing, income, income support, Indigenous people, post-secondary education, poverty, social policy.
April 2nd, 2017
Comments: none
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’ve written a blog post titled “Public Policy and Homelessness: The Case of Calgary.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Calgary experienced explosive growth in the size of its homeless population from the mid-1990s until 2008. -Though causation is hard to establish, […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Alberta, cities, economic history, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income, income support, inequality, municipalities, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, poverty, public infrastructure, Role of government, social policy, taxation.
February 22nd, 2017
Comments: none
This fall, Canada’s Parliament will debate a proposal to expand the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). And over at the Behind the Numbers web site, I’m co-author of a blog post titled “Ten things to know about the CPP debate.” The blog post’s other co-authors are Allan Moscovitch and Richard Lochead. Points raised in the blog […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Austerity, CPP, demographics, employment, income, income support, inequality, labour market, media, OECD, Old Age Security, older workers, part time work, pensions, population aging, poverty, privatization, progressive economic strategies, retirement, Role of government, self-employed, seniors, small business, social policy, taxation, unions.
October 29th, 2016
Comments: 1
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’ve written a blog post titled “Ten things to know about Canada’s guaranteed annual income debate.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -There are people and groups on both the left and right of the political spectrum who favour a Guaranteed Annual […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, Employment Insurance, fiscal federalism, gender critique, guaranteed annual income, income, income support, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, Old Age Security, Ontario, poverty, progressive economic strategies, Role of government, social policy, unemployment.
September 30th, 2016
Comments: 1
This afternoon I gave a presentation at Raising the Roof’s Child & Family Homelessness Stakeholder Summit in Toronto. My slide deck can be downloaded here. To accompany the presentation, I’ve prepared the following list of “Ten Things to Know About Homelessness in Canada.†1.Efforts to enumerate persons experiencing homeless have generally been spotty, but it […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, Canada, cities, demographics, employment, Employment Insurance, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income, income support, Indigenous people, labour market, macroeconomics, municipalities, Nunavut, Ontario, population aging, poverty, seniors, social policy, taxation, Toronto, unemployment.
September 17th, 2015
Comments: 2
Cet après-midi, j’ai fait une présentation au Child & Family Homelessness Stakeholder Summit, organisé par Chez Toit, à Toronto. Ma presentation, illustrée de diapositives, peut être téléchargée ici. Pour accompagner la présentation, je vous ai préparé la liste suivante: « Dix choses à savoir sur l’itinérance au Canada. » 1. Les tentatives de dénombrer les […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, cities, demographics, Employment Insurance, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income, income support, Indigenous people, labour market, macroeconomics, municipalities, Nunavut, population aging, poverty, seniors, social policy, taxation, Toronto, unemployment.
September 17th, 2015
Comments: 1
We’re coming up to a Federal Election, and one where “The Economy” will likely be a central battlefield. As such, we’re going to hear many claims and counter-claims that support the view that Stephen Harper is either the Greatest or Worst Prime Minister ever. One point of contention is wages. Part of the problem are the […]
Posted by Angella MacEwen under income, income distribution, inequality.
June 19th, 2015
Comments: 1
In our Climate Justice Project, our research has stressed structural changes and collective action to lower carbon footprints rather than individual behavioural change. The ability of many actors to respond to incentives like a carbon tax is constrained by their circumstances. Suburban households often have no realistic option but to keep driving. Renters have little agency over […]
Posted by Marc Lee under climate change, employment, happiness, income.
June 2nd, 2015
Comments: 1
2015 marks the sixth year of BC’s recovery from the recession. But it’s been a slow and largely jobless recovery in BC. 1. BC needs 93,000 more jobs to return to our pre-recession employment rate (the proportion of working age British Columbians who have jobs). Only 71.2% of working age British Columbians have jobs today. This […]
Posted by Iglika Ivanova under BC, employment, income.
February 16th, 2015
Comments: none
This op-ed by yours truly was published in The Province. The examples are BC-specific, but the message is much broader: donating to charity is not enough, we also have to change the status quo that forces so many people to turn to charity in a rich country like Canada. — It’s December, the season for […]
Posted by Iglika Ivanova under BC, food, homeless, income, minimum wage, poverty, Role of government, social policy, taxation.
December 18th, 2014
Comments: 2
This morning the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation released a new report about “motivational interviewing” for welfare recipients. The link to the full report is here, and the link to the executive summary is here. Authored by Reuben Ford, Jenn Dixon, Shek-wai Hui, Isaac Kwakye and Danielle Patry, the study reports on a recent randomized […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under BC, Conservative government, employment, immigration, income, income support, Indigenous people, Job vacanices, labour market, migrant workers, poverty, skill shortages, social policy, temporary workers, unemployment, wages, workplace benefits.
September 11th, 2014
Comments: 2
All the recent talk about the Canada’s shrinking middle class and rising income inequality got me thinking that it might be a good time to take a fresh look at a somewhat neglected economic concept: the labour share of income. The labour share of income hopes to measure the portion of the economic pie going […]
Posted by Michal Rozworski under income, inequality.
February 26th, 2014
Comments: 1
This piece was  published today in the Globe and Mail’s Economy Lab. Two findings stand out in the National Household Survey (NHS) data released Wednesday, both critical in this post-recession era of uncertainty: 1) A quarter of Canadian households spent 30 per cent or more of their pre-tax income on shelter, the official measure of housing affordability. […]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under Conservative government, democracy, household debt, housing, income, income distribution, inequality.
September 12th, 2013
Comments: 1
It has recently been reported that the University of Alberta wants to “reopen two-year collective agreements” with faculty and staff “to help the university balance its budget…” This appears to be in direct response to Alberta’s provincial government announcing in its March budget that there would be a “7% cut to operating grants to universities, […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Alberta, budgets, corporate profits, education, employment, fiscal policy, income, income distribution, income tax, inequality, post-secondary education, productivity, taxation, unions, wages.
August 7th, 2013
Comments: 2