Current Projects

The Public Policy Forum is engaged in ongoing work across a wide range of policy areas, including economic and financial inclusion, growth in Atlantic Canada, journalism, democracy, health care, life sciences, and the future of energy. Read up on our current projects, or access individual research on our reports page.
Project
Lighthouse at the edge of a brilliant blue sea

The Atlantic Initiative

Building a sustainable, technology-based knowledge economy to increase living standards for all Atlantic Canadians

The east coast of Canada is experiencing a moment. Now, it is critical to define what the opportunity will be, and how the region can capitalize on it. As a national applied think tank with long-standing connections to the region, and a base for activities available through our partnerships and...
Learn moreabout The Atlantic Initiative
Project
Hospital building on a hill

Taking Back Health Care

Three years of coping with COVID-19 has given Canadians a crash course in what’s right and wrong with their health-care system, particularly under stress. There is now an urgent opportunity to leverage that experience, together with existing knowledge about reforms needed in several fundamental areas, to secure the future of...
Learn moreabout Taking Back Health Care
Project

Energy Future Forum

What will it take for Canada, as a global leader in energy, to retain a leading position while managing change?
Learn moreabout Energy Future Forum
Project

How Polarization Manifests in Canada

The Canadian Commission on Democratic Expression and Digital Democracy Project was established in spring 2020 with a three-year mandate to better understand, anticipate, and respond to the effects of new digital technologies on public life and Canadian democracy. The first year focused on the reduction of online harms and other...
Learn moreabout How Polarization Manifests in Canada
Project

Accelerating the Indigenous Ownership Movement in Canada’s Economy

Project Overview  The Public Policy Forum, working in collaboration with a project advisory, will coordinate the release of a series of focused policy memos focused on need-to-know issues around Indigenous Ownership and economic reconciliation.   Today’s economy is on the precipice of a hopeful new era for Indigenous ownership, one where...
Learn moreabout Accelerating the Indigenous Ownership Movement in Canada’s Economy
Project
Vector artwork of a yellow path arch over a city

All-In: Pathways to Economic and Financial Inclusion for Canada

Canada is one of the most prosperous countries in the world by various measures, and yet many who live here face persistent barriers to economic opportunity and wealth accumulation for themselves, their families, and communities. The nation’s continued progress depends not only on how much prosperity we generate, but also...
Learn moreabout All-In: Pathways to Economic and Financial Inclusion for Canada
Project
Nursery children playing with teacher in the classroom

An Investment that Works for Child Care

In May 2021, Public Policy Forum in partnership with the YMCA Canada undertook a research project to examine how to achieve a child care system that focuses on quality, affordability, accessibility and inclusion, while also addressing key policy trade-offs. The final report’s, From Investment to Action: Building a Canada-wide Child...
Learn moreabout An Investment that Works for Child Care
Project
Brush stroke design with the word 'The Shattered Mirror' typed on it

The Shattered Mirror Revisited

On January 26, 2017, the Public Policy Forum released The Shattered Mirror – a report that detailed the troubling diagnostic of accelerating revenue declines among producers of original, public-interested journalism. The problem and the risks it posed to the vibrancy of our democracy has not gone away. And the world hasn’t stood still. Policies, even good...
Learn moreabout The Shattered Mirror Revisited
Project
Two people looking up standing under a wall of CCTV cameras

Debating the Right Balances for Privacy Law in Canada

Although stakeholders and experts hold diverse views on Bill C-11, there is consensus that Canada’s privacy legislation must be updated to reflect the reality of fast-paced technological advancement. Here lies an opportunity to convene interested parties from across the spectrum to engage in constructive dialogue about where to find effective and reasonable balances in Canada’s privacy laws.
Learn moreabout Debating the Right Balances for Privacy Law in Canada