Canada – The Progressive Economics Forum

Canada: Ten things to know about the federal role in housing policy

April 11, 2021 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written a 750-word overview of the federal role in housing policy. The English-language version is here: https://nickfalvo.ca/canada-ten-things-to-know-about-the-federal-role-in-housing-policy/ The French-language version is here: https://nickfalvo.ca/canada-dix-faits-saillants-sur-le-role-du-federal-en-matiere-de-politique-du-logement/ Nick FalvoNick Falvo is a Calgary-based research consultant with a PhD in Public Policy. He has academic affiliation at both Carleton University and Case Western Reserve University, and is Section Editor of the Canadian Review of […]

A primer on supportive housing and Housing First

February 21, 2021 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written a 900-word primer on supportive housing and Housing First. Here’s the link to the English-language version: https://nickfalvo.ca/a-primer-on-supportive-housing-and-housing-first/ Here’s the link to the French-language version: https://nickfalvo.ca/une-introduction-au-logement-supervise-et-le-logement-dabord/ Nick FalvoNick Falvo is a Calgary-based research consultant with a PhD in Public Policy. He has academic affiliation at both Carleton University and Case Western Reserve University, and is Section Editor of the […]

the recession’s likely long-term impact on homelessness

December 10, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve just written a report for Employment and Social Development Canada on the current recession’s likely long-term impact on homelessness in Canada. An overview of the report can be found here. Nick FalvoNick Falvo is a Calgary-based research consultant with a PhD in Public Policy. He has academic affiliation at both Carleton University and Case Western Reserve University, and is Section […]

Homelessness planning during covid

December 7, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

The Calgary Homeless Foundation has just released a 12-city scan of homelessness planning during COVID. It’s a national study (which I authored). My ‘top 10’ overview of the study can be found here. Nick FalvoNick Falvo is a Calgary-based research consultant with a PhD in Public Policy. He has academic affiliation at both Carleton University and Case Western Reserve University, […]

Homelessness in canada could rise due to recession

September 25, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I am currently writing a report for Employment and Social Development Canada looking at the long-term impact of the current recession on homelessness. It should be ready by early November. In the meantime, a teaser blog post I’ve just written on the same topic is available here. Nick FalvoNick Falvo is a Calgary-based research consultant with a PhD in Public […]

Trudeau government should spend more on affordable housing and homelessness

July 22, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

On July 21, the Alternative Federal Budget Recovery Plan was released. The document aims to provide public policy direction to Canada’s federal government, in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. I was author of the Recovery Plan’s chapter on affordable housing and homelessness, which can be accessed here. Nick FalvoNick Falvo is a Calgary-based research consultant with a PhD in Public […]

David Hulchanski class discussion

June 21, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I recently participated in a panel discussion in David Hulchanski’s graduate-level social housing and homelessness course at the University of Toronto. Points raised in the blog post include the fact that all English-speaking countries of the OECD have relatively low levels of public social spending, relatively low levels of taxation, and serious affordable housing challenges. The link to the full […]

My review of Robert Clark’s book on Canada’s prisons

January 17, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

Robert Clark has written a very good book about Canada’s prison system. Mr. Clark worked from 1980 until 2009 in seven different federal prisons, all located in Ontario. The book is a compilation of personal accounts based on the author’s various assignments. Since prisons can be a pipeline into homelessness, I’ve reviewed the book with great interest. My review is […]

Behind Chile’s political crisis

October 31, 2019 Edgardo Sepulveda One comment

More than one million people marched in Santiago on October 26 to protest the Government’s security response to Chile’s current political crisis and to demand structural economic reforms to reduce inequality and increase social services. In this post I analyze these grievances from a quantitative perspective and explore what it would take to translate them into policy. This is my […]

Electrification and Climate I: Scale of the Challenge

July 1, 2019 Edgardo Sepulveda 3 comments

Many elements have to come together if Canada is to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. There is now a technical consensus that “electrification” – the replacement of fossil fuels with electricity as an energy source – is a necessary condition for decarbonization, and that electrification will require that zero/low-emission electricity generation double or triple by 2050. In this […]

Income Inequality and Redistribution in Venezuela

February 17, 2019 Edgardo Sepulveda 2 comments

I had been waiting for last month’s publication of the book “Confronting Inequality” before preparing my annual update on income inequality and redistribution in Canada. I am glad I did because the book presents new and exciting empirical findings that shed light on the age-old equity/growth debate (more on that below), but also introduced me to the Standardized World Income […]

Newly-signed FPT housing framework agreement

April 12, 2018 Nick Falvo One comment

I’ve just written a blog post about the newly-signed federal-provincial-territorial housing framework agreement. This agreement builds on (and helps move forward) Canada’s National Housing Strategy, which was released last fall. One of the points made in the blog post is that the federal government’s stated objective of removing approximately half-a-million households from core housing need is very ambitious, in light […]

Inequality-redistribution in Canada update

March 18, 2018 Edgardo Sepulveda 2 comments

Two years ago I posted my first guest blog focused on income inequality, specifically how changes in Canada’s redistribution over the last three decades have increased after-tax income inequality, and how these changes compared to OECD trends. The figures and analysis in this post update the earlier blog, based on the most recent OECD data to 2015. I also look […]

Ten proposals from the 2018 Alternative Federal Budget

February 24, 2018 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written a blog post about this year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB). Points raised in the blog post include the following: -This year’s AFB would create 470,000 (full-time equivalent) jobs in its first year alone. By year 2 of the plan, 600,000 new (full-time equivalent) jobs will exist. -This year’s AFB will also bring in universal pharmacare, address involuntary part-time […]

Panel discussion at federal NDP policy convention

February 18, 2018 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

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 fiscal policy in historical perspective, […]

Stephen Clarkson: An Introduction to a special blog series

October 6, 2017 Marjorie Griffin Cohen Leave a comment

Stephen Clarkson: Political Economist with a Global Vision (1937 – 2016) Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Daniel Drache Stephen Clarkson died early in 2016 in Freiburg, Germany and Canada lost someone very special. Stephen was a Professor in Political Science at the University of Toronto and engaged in teaching, research and writing until his death. He has contributed, in an extraordinary […]

Book review: Social policy in Canada (2nd edition)

September 11, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

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 design and administer social policy, […]

Ontario’s Electricity Sector III: Legislative & Finance Update

May 22, 2017 Edgardo Sepulveda Leave a comment

My January and April posts on the Ontario electricity sector described how decisions by different Ontario governments gave rise to excess electricity generation with an inflated cost structure, leading to higher electricity prices. Here I discuss the latest development, the Liberal Government of Ontario’s proposed financial framework for its “Fair Hydro Plan” (FHP). In election mode, the Government tabled Bill […]

A tale book-ended by two Trudeaus: Canada’s foreign aid since 1970

May 3, 2017 Edgardo Sepulveda One comment

Soon after the 2015 federal election, Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau affirmed that Canada was back as a “compassionate and constructive voice in the world” after a decade of Conservative governments. One of the most important means by which any industrialized country interacts with the developing world is via the amount, composition and effectiveness of its foreign aid, which can help […]

Ten Things To Know About The 2017 Federal Budget

April 7, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve just written a blog post in which I review the recent federal budget. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The federal government is projecting deficits in the $20B-$30B range for roughly the next five years. -This was likely the most important federal budget for housing since 1993. -The budget contains important new announcements for homelessness (my […]

New book on the history of Canadian social housing policy

April 2, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

One of Canada’s foremost authorities on Canadian social housing, Dr. Greg Suttor, has just authored a book on the history of Canadian social housing policy. Titled Still renovating: A history of Canadian social housing policy, it’s published by McGill-Queen’s University Press and covers the period from the end of World War II to 2013. I’ve recently reviewed the book. Points […]

Canada after Trump: Harold Innis and What to Do When Empires Go Crazy

November 17, 2016 Brendan Haley 2 comments

The Americans shocked the rest of the world by electing Donald Trump last Tuesday. Pierre Trudeau suggested that Canada’s proximity to the US was like “sleeping with an elephant”, and thus Canadians are particularly concerned about what this means. Canada’s most preeminent political economist, Harold Innis, can offer some lessons. Innis is known for the “staples” approach, which examined the […]

Federal Income Support for Low-Income Seniors

August 29, 2016 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

Over at the Behind the Numbers web site, Allan Moscovitch, David Macdonald and I have a blog post titled “Ten Things to Know About Federal Income Support for Low-Income Seniors in Canada.” The blog post argues—among other things—that if the age of eligibility for Old Age Security were to move from 65 to 67, the percentage of Canadians aged 65 […]

Central Agencies in Canada

August 8, 2016 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

Do you ever lie awake wondering what it is that Finance Canada, the Privy Council Office and Treasury Board Secretariat actually do? Well, wonder no more my friends! Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’ve written a blog post titled “Ten things to know about central agencies in Canada.” Here’s the link to the post. […]

Boosting the economy for the rest of us

January 25, 2016 Michal Rozworski 2 comments

Elites and the talking heads in the media are arguing about how to respond to Canadaâ€™s soured economic outlook. Who should try to boost the economy, the federal government via fiscal stimulus or the Bank of Canada via monetary policy? But while elites argue amongst themselves, the overriding context is a transfer and concentration of economic power upwards. This, not […]

Ten Things to Know About Homelessness in Canada

September 17, 2015 Nick Falvo 2 comments

This afternoon I gave a presentation at Raising the Roofâ€™s Child & Family Homelessness Stakeholder Summit in Toronto. My slide deck can be downloaded here. To accompany the presentation, Iâ€™ve prepared the following list of â€œTen Things to Know About Homelessness in Canada.â€ 1.Efforts to enumerate persons experiencing homeless have generally been spotty, but it is reasonable to assert that […]

Canada’s failed experiment with corporate income tax cuts

September 11, 2015 Jordan Brennan 4 comments

After a generation of comparatively high corporate income tax (CIT) rates, in the late 1980s Canadian governments at the federal and provincial levels began a series of corporate income tax reforms. According to many mainstream (“neoclassical”) economists, reducing CIT rates was a wise public policy. A reduced CIT rate means a reduction in the cost of capital, thus inducing a […]

Would an NDP win mean the end of Canada?

August 14, 2015 Louis-Philippe Rochon 7 comments

Louis-Philippe Rochon Associate professor of Economics – Laurentian University Founding co-Editor – Review of Keynesian Economics Follow him on Twitter – @Lprochon This story from the CBC on August 14, 2015.Â See story here. With the NDP riding high in a number of national polls at the moment, there is an increasingly real possibility the New Democrats will form […]

Canada After Harper

August 11, 2015 Andrew Jackson Leave a comment

Here is the link to buy a new book, Canada After Harper,Â edited by Ed Finn and with an introduction by Ralph Nader, just published by Lorimer. Most Canadians know that Stephen Harper has had a tremendous impact on the country since becoming prime minister in 2006. But few have the in-depth knowledge of how far his transformation has gone […]

Canadaâ€™s new recession and the push for alternatives

July 31, 2015 Michal Rozworski 2 comments

The Bank of CanadaÂ cut its benchmark interest rate two weeks ago to nearly record lows, now just 0.5%. In the face of an oil shock and other weakness, monetary policy is expected to do the heavy lifting of beating an economic funk. Todayâ€™s move reflects a poverty of economic policy from the ruling Conservatives and much of the political class. […]

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