Employment – The Progressive Economics Forum

Theory and homelessness

September 6, 2022 Nick Falvo One comment

I’m writing an open access e-textbook on homelessness. Chapter 2, focused on theory, has just been published. The full chapter is available here: https://nickfalvo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Falvo-Chapter-2-Theory-and-homelessness-19aug2022.pdf A ‘top 10’ overview of the chapter can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/theory-and-homelessness%ef%bf%bc/ A French version of the ‘top 10’ overview can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/theorie-et-itinerance/ All material related to the book is free of charge and […]

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.

Lifting singles out of poverty in canada

December 3, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written a report for the Institute for Research on Public Policy about social assistance—specifically, about social assistance for employable single adults without dependants. A ‘top 10’ overview of the report can be found here.

Social assistance: Do higher benefit levels lead to higher caseloads?

October 11, 2020 Nick Falvo One comment

As part of my PhD thesis, I did some statistical analysis in which I asked the question: “Do higher social assistance benefit levels lead to higher caseloads?” I have recently updated the data and had it published in a journal. Here’s a short summary of the journal article’s main findings.

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.

Affordable housing, homelessness and the upcoming federal budget

March 19, 2020 Nick Falvo One comment

I’ve written a ‘top 10’ overview of things to know about affordable housing and homelessness, as they relate to Canada’s upcoming federal budget. The overview is based on the affordable housing and homelessness chapter in the just-released Alternative Federal Budget. A link to the ‘top 10’ overview is here.

the 2020-21 Alberta budget

March 9, 2020 Nick Falvo One comment

I’ve written a ‘top 10’ overview of the 2020-21 Alberta budget, tabled on February 27. The link to the overview is here.

Assessing progress on St. John’s Plan to End Homelessness

December 29, 2019 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written an assessment of the 2014-2019 St. John’s Community Plan to End Homelessness. The full assessment can be found here. Points raised in the assessment include the following: -Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest unemployment rate of any Canadian province. This pulls people into homelessness, while also making it more challenging for the provincial government to finance policy asks […]

Ten things to know about the 2019-20 Alberta budget

November 4, 2019 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve just written a ‘top 10’ overview of the recent Alberta budget. Points raised in the post include the following: -The budget lays out a four-year strategy of spending cuts, letting population growth and inflation do much of the heavy lifting. -After one accounts for both population growth and inflation, annual provincial spending in Alberta by 2022 is projected to […]

Ten things to know about poverty measurement in Canada

October 31, 2019 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written a blog post providing an overview of poverty measurement in Canada. Points raised in the post include the following: -One’s choice of poverty measure has a major impact on whether poverty is seen to be increasing or decreasing over time. -Canada’s federal government recently chose the make the Market Basket Measure (MBM) its official poverty measure. -According to […]

Ten things to know about this year’s Alberta Alternative Budget

June 24, 2019 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

The Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) is an annual exercise whose working group consists of researchers, economists, and members of civil society (full disclosure: I’m the Editor). Our general mandate is to create a progressive vision for Alberta to boost economic growth and reduce income inequality. This year’s document was released today, and here are 10 things to know: The NDP […]

MEDIA RELEASE: Alberta should increase social spending; cuts are not the way to go

June 24, 2019 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

(June 24, 2019-Calgary) With Alberta’s economy still facing challenges and vulnerabilities, the Alberta government should not be doling out tax cuts or cutting social spending, according to the Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) released today. “Alberta still has, by far, the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio of any province,” says Nick Falvo, editor of the report. “We are in a good position to […]

Homelessness and employment: The case of Calgary

March 17, 2018 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

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 experiencing homelessness to find and […]

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 […]

Ten considerations for the next Alberta budget

November 29, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

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 the event, here are 10 […]

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

September 11, 2017 Nick Falvo One 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, […]

Canada Lags in Job Quality

June 27, 2017 Andrew Jackson One comment

The 2017 OECD Employment Outlook provides an assessment of member country performance in terms of the quantity and quality of employment as judged by a new set of key indicators. Overall, we do well in terms of job quantity. The employment rate (the proportion of the working age population with jobs) stands at 72.5% compared to an OECD average of […]

Fiscal situation of Canada’s ‘oil rich’ provinces

June 19, 2017 Nick Falvo One comment

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 price of oil is impossible […]

A Response to the 2017 Saskatchewan Budget

April 23, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

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 the rich (and this budget […]

The Alternative Federal Budget 2017

March 20, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

This year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) was released on March 9. I was proud to be the primary author of its housing chapter (that chapter is available in English here and in French here). The first AFB exercise began in 1994, with the first AFB being published in 1995. That involved a joint effort between the Canadian Centre for Policy […]

Foundations for an Alberta Alternative Budget

March 15, 2017 Nick Falvo One comment

An Alberta-based volunteer working group, of which I’m a part, recently released a document titled Foundations for an Alberta Alternative Budget (for media coverage, see this Metro article). Working group members include staff from Alberta’s non-profit sector, labour movement and advocacy sector. While our long-term goal is to emulate the great work of the Alternative Federal Budget, this year’s effort […]

Ten things to know about the CPP debate

October 29, 2016 Nick Falvo One comment

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 post include the following: -CPP […]

Is Slow “Growth” Inevitable?

July 21, 2016 Jim Stanford 2 comments

Most of the world economy (including Canada’s) has performed sluggishly since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09. And many economic and fiscal projections now accept this pattern of slow growth as more-or-less inevitable, as a “new normal.” This argument is typically invoked to justify a ratcheting down of expectations regarding job prospects, incomes, and public services. In my view it’s […]

Jobs and Growth after the Great Recession

December 23, 2015 Angella MacEwen One comment

This is the time of year when articles list their favourite things about last year, and their “things to watch” for the next year. Naturally, my “things to watch” list will always include the labour market. Where have we seen the strongest job growth or worst job losses, and what are the trends that might affect this in the coming […]

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 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 […]

Canada: World’s Next Superpower? Only If We Stop Relying On Temporary Foreign Workers

July 7, 2015 Armine Yalnizyan One comment

It’s only been a couple of weeks since Disney, that most iconic of American companies, moved to displace all its home grown techies with low-cost foreign temporary workers. But the company had to beat a hasty retreat in the face of an outpouring of criticism. Amid the deluge of commentary this story triggered about where America is headed, blogger and […]

The Myth of STEM Degrees: STEM as the Canary in the Coal Mine

July 3, 2015 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

What follow is a guest blog post from Glenn Burley: – If Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and professional fields like medicine, law, and dentistry are the so-called golden ticket to a good job in todayâ€™s labour market, what does that say about the current and future health of our economy? The myth of the â€˜skills gapâ€™ in Canada […]

Climate Justice and the Good Life, for Everyone

June 2, 2015 Marc Lee One comment

In our Climate Justice Project, ourÂ 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 taxÂ is constrained by their circumstances. Suburban households often have no realistic option but to keep driving. Renters have little agency over energy efficiency investments where they […]

3 worrisome facts about BC’s job market on the eve of Budget 2015

February 16, 2015 Iglika Ivanova Leave a comment

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.Â This is practically the same share […]

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