Canada

In this first edition of our Brave New Work Newsletter: A new report on the strengths and weaknesses of Canada's training systems, what Canada’s associations see trending in the future of work, and students imagine how Canadians would learn if universities and colleges no longer existed.

From new ways of approaching lifelong learning to recognizing that technology is not the only driver of workplace change, representatives of Canadian associations shared their perspectives on the changing nature of work and how workers and employers are affected.

What happens when university students imagine how they would learn if universities and colleges no longer existed? As part of PPF’s Brave New Work project, we invited students from the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs at Carleton University to do a foresight exercise on the future of learning, skills and access. They had some fascinating ideas.

Training for working Canadians is scarce, and the people who most need it are the least able to get it. As global competition and technological change increase, Canada needs to create effective and inclusive systems of training, which are essential for innovation, growth, employment and good incomes. In this report, Daniel Munro looks at Canada's strengths and weaknesses, training models from around the world, and suggests improvements to lifelong learning systems.

Canada can stem the tide of the opioid crisis. Among Canadians, there is hope that hastening access to treatments that work, learning from and scaling up best practices, and continuing coordinated efforts between all stakeholders will positively impact the pathways to treatment services - beyond just overdose treatment. This report discusses opportunities for policy makers to engage on harm reduction, equitable access to treatment and support, and collaboration and coordination following a PPF roundtable on opioid misuse in December 2018.

Canada is a great sporting nation, but we need values-based sport to prevent unethical practices from undermining the integrity of sport. Concrete actions must be taken by stakeholders in Canadian sport to make values-based sport the foundation of their policies and practices. This report outlines the game plan for government, media, corporations, philanthropists, educators, coaches and athletes.

The Public Policy Forum is offering heartfelt condolences to the family of former Clerk of the Privy Council, Gordon F. Osbaldeston, who has passed away at age 88. Since 2006, our annual lecture on public service issues has honoured his name and legacy.

Our Task Force conducted a preliminary study of the feasibility of an Arctic Food Innovation Cluster in Canada. The intent of such a cluster is to advance increased access to affordable, culturally informed, healthy food across northern regions. The cluster’s secondary objective is to foster further innovations within the North’s commercial food production industry via new food production methods (e.g., full utilization of harvested fish), value chains, and/or governance models. This would, in turn, boost local economic development opportunities within these northern communities.

In this second edition of our Atlantic Immigration & Revitalization Newsletter, PPF research associate Kelly Toughill talks to leaders and refugees across Atlantic Canada to understand what we can learn from their higher retention rates and overall success

Access to more settlement services, easier family reunification and safety are among the myriad reasons refugees tend to stay where they settle in the Maritimes, writes Kelly Toughill

Our immigration system pits family reunification against Canada’s economic needs. That’s short-sighted and counterproductive, argues Kelly Toughill

Some employers and advocates want Canada to recruit refugees to fill local labour shortages, Kelly Toughill reports. Others worry that would dilute the humanitarian mission of resettling the world’s most vulnerable citizens.

Karyn Pugliese of APTN will be honoured with the Hyman Solomon Award for Public Policy Journalism at PPF’s 2019 Testimonial Dinner and Awards on April 11 in Toronto.

Past Event

Join us for the final task force report presentations from the 2018-2019 Action Canada cohort. After a 10-month study of the Future of Food that started last June in Ottawa and saw the group travel to from Laird, SK to St-Alexandre, QC and many places in between, the three Task Forces are nearly ready to present their final reports and recommendations.

Past Event

Action Canada’s 16 Fellows will gather in Ottawa where our first study tour took place. It’s the fifth and final study tour of the 10-month program and will provide opportunities to meet many of the experts that will inform the three research projects that are taking shape.