Reports

The Public Policy Forum has produced hundreds of reports since our inception in 1987. This site features reports from 2012 and after, as well as our most popular and referenced publications from earlier years. If there is a report you cannot find, please contact us.

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The Atlantic Canada Momentum Index

Released: Wednesday March 22, 2023

The Public Policy Forum’s optimism about Atlantic Canada was reinforced during the pandemic, when its good governance and social cohesion served as a wake-up call to other Canadians. High vaccination and low infection rates, accompanied by an historic turnaround in population growth and significant inroads in the innovation economy, piqued...
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Health care professionals and people holding hands

Taking Back Health Care

How to Accelerate People-Centred Reform Now

Released: Monday January 23, 2023

We find ourselves in a moment of both opportunity and necessity — one demanding bold action. Governments and policymakers do not own the health-care system; they are entrusted with its stewardship. Health care belongs to all of us, and reform must empower its true owners. It must start with the...
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The $100 Billion Difference

Relative Costs of Two Net Zero Approaches

Released: Thursday May 11, 2023

In launching its Energy Future Forum in 2019, the Public Policy Forum set out as its mission “to develop practical measures that help Canada meet or exceed our 2030 emissions targets on the way to a net zero future, and that strengthen an innovative economy, deepen shared prosperity and enhance...
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The Strength of Green Steel

Boosting competitiveness, decarbonizing supply chains, seizing geopolitical advantage

Released: Thursday April 20, 2023

To reach net zero, the world—Canada included—will need a lot more product from one of its most emissions-intensive industries. Wind turbines, transmission towers and solar panels will require 2.8 billion tonnes of steel worldwide by 2050, or the equivalent of 40,221 Golden Gate bridges, Bloomberg projects. But at present, the...
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Primary Care for Everyone illustration

Primary Care for Everyone

An Urgent To-Do List for Reform

Released: Wednesday March 29, 2023

Worldwide, the health systems with the best outcomes are the ones that get primary care right. Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments are recognizing the critical importance of improving primary care in their recent funding agreements. The time for bold action is now. New federal funding is entering the system...
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The Urgent Case for a Supply Rebuild

Investing in a New Economic Compact for Canada

Released: Tuesday November 1, 2022

Time for a new, exciting, overarching idea. Canada needs to put an end to a decades-long period of policy zombie-ism with a renewed commitment to a coherent set of policy ideas capable of galvanizing the country, inspiring public confidence and forging an overarching policy consensus between left and right. A...
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On the Edge of Affordability: Increasing access to affordable housing for low-to-moderate income renters in Canada

An Action Canada Fellowship report

Authors: Anh-Khoi Trinh, Benjamin Sanders, Deanna Matthews, Merryn Maynard and Veronica Fynn Bruey
Released: Thursday September 15, 2022

This paper examines how policy could help low-to-moderate income earners living in urban areas across Canada to access affordable rental housing. This would help them move from financial and psychological anguish to fully participating and thriving in society.
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Girl laying on grass smiling

An Investment that Works for Child Care

Expanding the child care workforce nationwide

Released: Wednesday September 14, 2022

By Jessica Lue and Katie Davey Introduction More than 50 years after the first reference to a national child care program appeared in the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, Budget 2021 committed $30 billion over five years to achieve a child care system that offers an average charge...
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Tent Nation: Responding to the rise of housing encampments & the homelessness crisis in Canada

An Action Canada Fellowship report

Authors: Sakariya Ahmed, Sara French, Jasmine Irwin, Catherine Maurice, Naheda Sahtout and Ian Van Haren
Released: Tuesday September 13, 2022

The rise of encampments has led to polarized debates among Canadians. There is a pressing need and an opportunity for greater collaboration, knowledge sharing and national coordination to address this pan-Canadian challenge. This report presents seven recommendations to the three levels of government to find solutions for people in need.
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Heat-proofing community housing: Prioritizing extreme heat adaptation for vulnerable Canadians

An Action Canada Fellowship report

Authors: Jessie Gill, Aliza Moledina, Leslie Muñoz, Émily Soulières, Scott Stirrett and Trevor Tessier
Released: Monday September 12, 2022

The upcoming decades are likely to have more dangerous heat waves and community housing residents are at a heightened risk for heat-related morbidity and mortality. This report shares four key recommendations for policymakers to improve the livability of community housing units and to tenants’ quality of life.
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Growth, Innovation and the Organization of Science Policy in Canada

Released: Monday September 12, 2022

By Robert Asselin Scientific progress is, has been and — even more so — will continue to be a key economic determinant of our future. A defining feature of modern economic growth is the systematic application of science to advance technology. Put simply, translating intellectual capital and ideas into economic...
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Digital Health

Canadian Health Care’s Digital Future: Voices of Key Leaders

Released: Thursday August 25, 2022

Through digital health, Canada has a window of opportunity to transform the way its health-care system operates to better meet the needs of Canadians. Despite decades of reform and renewal initiatives and sustained increases in public spending, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the gap that exists between the expectations of...
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A Leadership Blueprint for Canada’s High-ESG Gas

Serving the Public and Global Good

Released: Thursday August 18, 2022

FOREWORD Climate actions, despite their obvious importance, aren’t as easily done, as said. That should be clear enough in looking at the stresses Europe, despite its best intentions, began experiencing even before the invasion of Ukraine. Like many others, Europe, in its quest to be a leader in emissions reductions,...
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NEXT STEPS: Pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy

What needs to happen following the Expert Advisory Group’s Final Report

Released: Wednesday August 10, 2022

Accurate and reliable health data has become imperative, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a growing recognition that data saves lives. Existing challenges facing Canada’s healthcare system have been exacerbated even as new ones surfaced. These present an opportunity for policy measures that result in meaningful impact...
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