Disruption & Technology

Decision makers in all fields face intense challenges to keep up with geopolitical transformation, the sweeping innovations of the digital age, the impacts on work sparked by artificial intelligence, and the catastrophic effects of climate change. Edward Greenspon and Drew Fagan introduce the challenges that Canada Next addresses.

Canada is in flux. Technological, demographic and climate disruption will have a profound effect on the economy, the workforce, democracy, and on public services. In Canada Next: 12 Ways to Get Ahead of Disruption, top policy thinkers suggest how Canadians can not only adapt to change but embrace new possibilities in an age of uncertainty.

PPF’s three-year future of work initiative will bring government, employers, education providers, individuals and labour together to find pathways for Canadians and Canadian firms to prosper in a changing world of work.

Canada needs a clear, new program for competitiveness that accounts for classic economic challenges and a new set of disruptions such as intellectual property, data and labour participation.

The Digital Democracy Project is a multi-year project to analyze and respond to the increasing amounts of disinformation and hate in the digital public sphere. It will monitor digital and social media in real time, coordinate with international research and policy development projects, and develop public policy responses to counter these threats to democratic institutions and social cohesion.

The Public Policy Forum is pleased that the production of independent, original journalism for Canadians will be supported by new measures announced in the government’s fall economic statement.

Past Event

Deputy opposition leader, the Hon. Lisa Raitt and Minister Navdeep Bains of ISED, along with a stellar lineup of leaders such as BlackBerry's John Chen as we confront Canada's economic challenges and opportunities. Watch highlights from the Toronto Metro Convention Centre - More coming soon!

Past Event

How to create automated, cybersecure, traceable, verifiable and readily available records

Social media platforms provide unprecedented opportunities for citizens, political candidates, activists and civil society groups to communicate, but they also pose new challenges for democracy. One key problem is the rise of harmful speech online, which can undermine democratic participation and debate.

The rise of harmful speech online is a threat to Canada’s democracy. This report outlines how governments and digital platform companies can better address hate and harassment, including the creation of a Moderation Standards Council.

The rise of harmful speech online is a threat to Canada’s democracy. This report outlines how governments and digital platform companies can better address hate and harassment, including the creation of a Moderation Standards Council.

The digital transformation that governments are seeking and citizens are expecting is more than just 'a challenge,' says PPF's Prime Ministers of Canada Fellow Kent Aitken in this new report. After conducting almost 300 interviews over the course of a year, he concludes that governments are currently not set up for the complexities of the digital age and suggests four areas that they need to fundamentally change.

Many different approaches to support journalism, locally and beyond, have emerged in recent years in the wake of the sharp decline of traditional industry players. Public policy will play a crucial role in shaping the rules for ownership innovation and protected space for Canadian journalism.

In our study of 20 small and mid-sized Canadian communities, the number and depth of newspaper articles about civic affairs declined sharply between 2008 and 2017, leaving citizens less informed about their democratic institutions.