Z - Rebuild Canada

On June 18th, 2021, the Public Policy Forum brought together over 30 experts and practitioners in the immigration space in Canada. The roundtable, Strengthening Canada’s Immigration Ecosystem, focused on a digitally enabled modernized immigration system. The consensus was clear: A modernized immigration system is necessary, and any such modernizations must be inclusive, immigrant centred, and must not perpetuate biases within the system. Katie Davey, Policy Lead at Public Policy Forum and Fatemah Ebrahim, Policy Associate at Public Policy Forum reflect on the roundtable conversation:

Past Event

As we move toward rebuilding our economy, policymakers should consider the success of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot as a model for regionally focused population and economic growth, especially in smaller cities and rural communities – likely to be hardest hit by the COVID-19 reduction in immigration.

by Jasmine Gill

COVID-19 has made it clear that Canada needs a strong domestic manufacturing sector to produce what it needs. Industrial production has been stagnant in the country for two decades and it’s a must for Canada to create and sustain a resilient manufacturing economy that will also be more competitive in a globalized economy and that will create good jobs while minimizing environmental impacts.

Our institutions must build uncertainty into policy-making and program design. This “uncertainty screen” will help ensure a vision of the future that reflects today’s uniquely complex environment.

Relations with the United States have been challenging for Canada in recent years. It’s become clear that Canada needs to move beyond its traditional trade-of-goods narrative with the U.S. and focus on factors that will be most important for its diplomatic assets in the coming years, namely culture and technology.

The pandemic is a financial crisis like none in recent years and governments now face the challenge of promoting economic growth and investment and getting people back to work, while also protecting the vulnerable and addressing ballooning debt and deficits. It’s time to use a scalpel, rather than a sledgehammer, to reduce spending by reconsidering the size and compensation levels in the public sector, reviewing the defined benefit pension programs and restructuring where possible.

COVID-19 has taken a high toll on film and television in Canada. To support a once-thriving industry, governments need to improve financial security for production companies and ensure a steady flow of business across the Canada-US border. Governments must also modernize regulations for industry success in the digital age.

No one strikes out to claim the middle ground and yet that may very well be the most prudent strategy for a balanced economic recovery. There is a path for Canada between unnecessary fiscal restraint that stymies growth and excessive large-scale spending.

COVID-19 has been a wake-up call for Canada’s entrepreneurial economy. This paper shows why some entrepreneurs have thrived while others are facing more barriers than ever.

Canada’s relationship has deteriorated since Canada arrested Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou and China retaliated by arresting Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. The Trudeau government has weighed the costs of human rights advocacy from an increasingly repressive China against commercial interest with the world’s second-biggest economy. It’s led to a stalemate of sorts, but there are some actions Canada could take.

As a presidential election looms in the United States, Canada is facing three possible scenarios for its outcome. Trade with the U.S. remains largely as healthy as it was 30 years ago, but that could change as the country’s neighbour to the south looks inward. To combat this, Canada must continue to diversify while also trading south.

The COVID-19 crisis has derailed the careers of millions of Canadians. To support them, workforce leaders, and policy and decision makers need to mobilize education and training systems in some key ways – starting with robust labour market information and laying the foundation for a national system of lifelong learning.

Canada must come to grips not just with a massive fiscal shortfall but also consecutive deficits in our current account, a broad measure of our trading and investment relationship with the rest of the world. A government plan must be growth oriented if we are to get the twin deficits under control without resorting to the drastic measures of 25 years ago.