Fraser Institute

Spending in public schools across Canada up 13% in recent years

Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, 2021 Edition finds that the spending in Canadian public schools is up 13 per cent, or $8.2 billion in nominal spending, since 2013/2014. After adjusting for inflation and changes in enrolment over the same five-year period, per-student spending on public schools increased in eight out of 10 provinces in Canada.

Trudeau government gets unlimited spending authority for six months

The COVID-19 bill effectively eliminates the need for all parties to work together to pass spending legislation for the next six months.

Boost EI but don’t create new wage subsidy program

The $3.8 billion program will provide up to $25,000 in subsidies per employer.

Trudeau government’s COVID-19 fiscal response avoid major mistakes

Ottawa will spend up to $27 billion supporting individual Canadians and businesses.

Report Card on Ontario's Elementary Schools 2020

The Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools ranks more than 3,000 anglophone and francophone public and Catholic schools (and a small number of independent schools) based on nine academic indicators from results of annual provincewide reading, writing and math tests.

Visit our interactive school rankings website

New book summarizes key ideas of John Locke, which underpin free societies of today

The Essential John Locke (by Eric Mack, professor emeritus of philosophy at Tulane University) and its accompanying website and animated videos provide an overview of the key ideas of John Locke, an English philosopher commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism” whose pioneering ideas about equality, individual rights and the role of the state helped lay the foundation for modern societies.

Visit the website

Adding UN declaration on Indigenous peoples on top of Canadian law will lead to legal chaos

Squaring the Circle: Adopting UNDRIP in Canada finds that the federal government's plan to legislate a recent United Nations declaration on Indigenous people conflicts with Canadian constitutional law and will likely cause legal chaos.

Alarming report finds more than 50 countries increased restrictions on women’s economic rights from 2016 to 2018

Women's Economic Rights—What's Changed and Why Does It Matter? is a new study that highlights how women benefit when they enjoy the same economic rights as men, and tracks changes in economic freedom for women around the world from 2016 to 2018, the most recent year of comparable data. During that time, 83 countries improved women’s economic rights, while 54 countries imposed greater restrictions on women’s economic freedom.

Visit our Women and Progress website

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Recent Commentaries & Blog Posts

Investors souring on Nova Scotia’s oil and gas sector

Alex Whalen, Jairo Yunis

Last year was the first in at least 25 years that the province derived no revenue from petroleum royalties.

Revisions to ‘wage subsidy’ program leave many questions unanswered

Niels Veldhuis, Jason Clemens, Tegan Hill

For now, the new wage subsidy program will cost $71 billion.

Crises—an ideal time for the state to grab power

Bruce Pardy

Appeared in the National Post, March 31, 2020

In response to the COVID crisis, Parliament granted sweeping powers to the finance minister.

Alberta should fund AER through general tax revenue

Steven Globerman, Jairo Yunis

Alberta’s energy sector supports more than 500,000 jobs across Canada.

New book calls for decriminalizing drug use in response to opioid crisis

Stephen T. Easton

There were 4,588 overdose deaths in Canada in 2018.

Alberta facing possible third recession in a little more than a decade

Ben Eisen

Once you adjust for inflation and population growth, Alberta’s economy barely grew at all between 2008 and 2018.

Modern Monetary Theory, Part 2: Will MMT hold down taxes?

Steven Globerman

Default risk and exchange-rate risk increase for foreign lenders as they increase their holdings of any government’s debt.

Ontario’s mini-budget shows provincial deficit will increase

Ben Eisen

Provincial government debt-service costs are set to reach $13.2 billion this year.

Employers must be allowed to temporarily lay off workers during COVID crisis

Alex Whalen, Niels Veldhuis

Appeared in National Newswatch, March 27, 2020

High regulatory and severance costs alongside legislative uncertainty will exacerbate an already bad situation.

Ottawa’s ‘Emergency Response Benefit’ leaves many unanswered questions

Tegan Hill, Milagros Palacios, Alex Whalen

Effectively, the CERB will now cost $40 billion, up from $15 billion.

Price controls and anti-gouging laws make matters worse

Steven Horwitz

Letting the price of scarce goods rise forces us to use the limited supply of the good for the most important purposes.

Finance minister can access ‘all money required’ without consulting Parliament

Lydia Miljan

When we learned that the first cases in Canada were from overseas flights, no measures were taken to screen passengers from infected areas.

Ontario reduces hydro rates yet fundamental problems still plague province’s electricity market

Elmira Aliakbari, Ashley Stedman, Jairo Yunis

Solar and bioenergy generators absorb 15 per cent of the surcharge yet generate only three per cent of Ontario’s electricity.

Don’t shoot the financial-market messenger

Stephen Kirchner

Financial markets are responding to an induced recession.

Trudeau government plan would have undermined Opposition ability to hold government to account

Bruce Pardy

The principle of no taxation without representation is central to the concept of democracy.

If history is any guide, COVID-19 will transform Canada in heretofore unknown ways

Livio Di Matteo

When the First World War began, there was no expectation that it would spawn an entirely new tax system.

An Affront to Democracy: New legislation proposed giving Liberals unprecedented powers

Niels Veldhuis, Jason Clemens

Canada’s economy was sputtering prior to the COVID-19 crisis.

Spending in public schools across Canada up 13% in recent years

Spending in public schools across Canada up 13% in recent years

Trudeau government gets unlimited spending authority for six months

Trudeau government gets unlimited spending authority for six months

Boost EI but don’t create new wage subsidy program

Boost EI but don’t create new wage subsidy program

Trudeau government’s COVID-19 fiscal response avoids major mistakes

Trudeau government’s COVID-19 fiscal response avoids major mistakes