Policy Topics | Policy Briefings

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• Agriculture
• Biotechnology
• Defence & Security
• Environment
• Finance
• Fisheries and Oceans

• Foreign Policy​
• Health
• Industry and Manufacturing
• Infrastructure and Transport
• Innovation
• Intergovernmental

• Indigenous Relations
• Justice
• Labour & Employment
• Lobbying
• Natural Resources and Energy
• Women, Gender and Diversity

Labour and employment

Health organizations have questions, but few answers about feds’ new $5-billion Health Infrastructure Fund

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

• The Canadian Association for Long Term Care says it will need an additional 382,400 to 454,000 beds by 2035 to keep up with demand. This is an increase of between 93 per cent and 121 per cent. 

Health organizations have questions, but few answers about feds’ new $5-billion Health Infrastructure Fund

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

• The Canadian Association for Long Term Care says it will need an additional 382,400 to 454,000 beds by 2035 to keep up with demand. This is an increase of between 93 per cent and 121 per cent. 

Trading values for access: Canada, China, and the cost of looking away

OpinionBY JOHN MCKAY, INDEPENDENT SENATOR JULIE MIVILLE-DECHêNE

Why all governments must follow Ontario in scrapping the ‘Canadian experience’ requirement

OpinionBY AKOLISA UFODIKE

Canada is falling behind in the global race for skilled workers

OpinionBY KUMARAN NADESAN

Work stoppages are crippling Canada’s economy—it’s time for Parliament to act

OpinionBY JASMIN GUéNETTE, CHRISTINA SANTINI

Can Build Canada Homes make a dent in the housing crisis?

OpinionBY ALAN BROADBENT

Government agencies are hardly trying when it comes to transparency

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

Effective nation-building starts with the people and places where it happens

OpinionBY SHAIMAA YASSIN, ABIGAIL JACKSON, NOEL BALDWIN

Time to strengthen Canada’s infrastructure planning 

OpinionBY JENNIFER ANGEL, PETER WELTMAN

MOST RECENT POLICY BRIEFINGS

Canada Part I: Interprovincial Trade & Labour

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Homebuilding & Affordable Housing

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University and College Research

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Feds must stay strong on restricting for-profit childcare

OpinionBY CANDACE RENNICK

• Prioritizing public and not-for-profit providers in the childcare program was intended to ensure that public money went to delivering services, not boosting the profit margins of commercial childcare operators

Feds must stay strong on restricting for-profit childcare

OpinionBY CANDACE RENNICK

• Prioritizing public and not-for-profit providers in the childcare program was intended to ensure that public money went to delivering services, not boosting the profit margins of commercial childcare operators

The missing 27 per cent: why disability is DEI’s greatest opportunity

OpinionBY LORIN MACDONALD

Demystifying the detection of fraud and coerced victims

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

Striking a balance

OpinionBY CSG SENATOR TODD LEWIS

Canada’s local infrastructure fund must be fair to workers

OpinionBY RENZE NAUTA

Scrap the Indo-Pacific Strategy: a pragmatic path for Canadian sovereignty

OpinionBY WENRAN JIANG

Bloc joins push for mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Dabrusin top-lobbied cabinet minister, Nature Canada pushes for nature strategy after absence of support in budget

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Scaling climate-resilient farming solutions for global impact

OpinionBY CAROL THIESSEN

AGRICULTURE

The easiest policy win in Ottawa might just be hiding in plain sight

OpinionBY ORVILLE BOVENSCHEN

Thinking clearly about the EV-canola tradeoff

OpinionBY BO CHEN, ISG SENATOR YUEN PAU WOO

Investing in the future of Canadian agriculture: a strategic imperative

OpinionBY TREVOR HECK

Canada can lead global efforts in tackling hunger

OpinionBY ANDY HARRINGTON

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Biotechnology

PMPRB closes all open drug-pricing investigations before implementing new guidelines on Jan. 1

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Canada’s research strength is world-class—now we need to all pull in the same direction

OpinionBY BENOIT-ANTOINE BACON

Canada could have access to more than 10,000 doctors if licensing were less complicated, House Health Committee hears

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Turning innovation into impact: Canada’s biotech advantage

OpinionBY WENDY ZATYLNY

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DEFENCE & SECURITY

Canada will have to expand trade with undemocratic countries to fight losses in U.S. trade war, say foreign policy experts

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

‘Very few truly understand how it currently works’: procurement watchdog puts defence contracting under microscope

NewsBY IREM KOCA

Building a stronger maritime defence industry partnership with Poland 

OpinionBY JEFFREY F. COLLINS, PAWEł MARKIEWICZ

To safeguard democracy in Canada, governments must modernize the way they engage with citizens

OpinionBY MATHEW MARKMAN, JOHN RICHARDSON

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Environment

Federal environmental impact assessments are in even more jeopardy   

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

Climate advisers ask feds to put Net-Zero Advisory Body on ‘pause,’ say they can’t fulfill mandate in ‘skeleton state’

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Brazil: a catalyst of plurilateralism

OpinionBY EDWARD JACKSON

Buried in the MOU: a licence to lie

OpinionBY LEAH TEMPER, SAMANTHA GREEN

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FINANCE

Canada now needs a backup plan for our auto industry

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

Women entrepreneurs are a crucial asset for Canada’s economy, they deserve a voice in shaping it

OpinionBY ROSALIND LOCKYER

Trump wants to squeeze us hard enough so we come begging

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

Holding two elected positions, B.C. Conservative MP Au is the highest paid backbencher in the House

NewsBY ABBAS RANA

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Fisheries and oceans

Nearly 2,000 jobs and $1.5-billion to be cut across five departments by 2030, PBO analysis shows

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Canada’s plan to boost its economy must include rebuilding wild fisheries

OpinionBY JOSH LAUGHREN

Coastal communities ‘running out of time’ without fisheries fund renewal, say opposition critics as DFO faces $544M in cuts

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Q&A | Cod quota ‘pressure is enormous’ on fisheries minister

NewsBY PETER MAZEREEUW

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FOREIGN POLICY

China is definitely a door worth opening

OpinionBY SHEILA COPPS

America lost justice when Renee Nicole Good was killed

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

Carney needs a much stronger communications strategy with Canadians at this hinge moment

OpinionBY EDITORIAL

Pope Leo is pouring old-fashioned sauce over the venomous Trump: it’s called diplomacy

OpinionBY DOUGLAS ROCHE

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health

PHAC says creating national vaccination registry would be ‘difficult’ as Canada contends with high measles count, loss of measles-free status

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

‘It’s like molasses in January’: pharmacare implementation stalled, say health-care groups, but others argue time needed to get deals right

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

When a parliamentary committee recently politicized EDI in research, they put Canadian science and patient care at risk

OpinionBY RACHEL REEVE

Canada’s reliance on U.S. health data under spotlight after federal health minister says she ‘cannot trust’ American vaccine policy

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

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Industry and Manufacturing

Canada’s auto sector ‘hangs in the balance’ as CUSMA review looms in 2026: ‘there’s no sugar-coating it, this is going to be a critical year for the industry’

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Renewable energy sector adds concerns about wind-tower costs to steel industry crisis talks: ‘there’s a ton of urgency’

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Steel tariff missteps threaten Canada’s energy future

OpinionBY VITTORIA BELLISSIMO, FERNANDO MELO

‘Quiet buzz’ on Bay Street about Carney’s ‘nation-building’ major projects, says Tobin

NewsBY CHRISTOPHER GULY

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infrastructure and transport

The joys of winter biking aren’t without politics

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Chief says feds’ engagement with First Nations ‘needs to improve’ after ‘very limited’ contact on major projects

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

B.C. offers a warning to Ottawa’s billion-dollar construction fund

OpinionBY RYAN MITTON

Living in Canada’s Arctic North: why federal investment matters

OpinionBY SOLOMON AWA

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innovation

Bill 13 is Alberta’s law—but all Canadians must pay attention

OpinionBY BUKOLA SALAMI, NNAMDI NDUBUKA, SUME NDUMBE EYOH, MODUPE TUNDE-BYASS

Canada is building AI infrastructure. Now it must build AI companies

OpinionBY DANIEL WIGDOR

Feds ‘on track’ to connect every household to high-speed internet by 2030, as critics point to gaps in rural and Northern Canada

NewsBY DAVIS LEGREE

Canada’s EV experience shows why our strategy needs new tools in an age of uncertainty

OpinionBY DAVID ABONYI, GEORGE ABONYI

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intergovernmental

Encore une fois: a constitution for Quebec?

OpinionBY NELSON WISEMAN

Legault’s resignation leaves ‘a big vacuum’ as Quebec gears up for an election amid two leadership races, say politicos

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Next year ‘an important one for Quebec’ as possibility of referendum looms, say Bloc MP, politicos

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Nothing is sacred in Doug Ford’s Ontario

OpinionBY JENN JEFFERYS

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justice

We need to go beyond criminal law reform to end gender-based violence

OpinionBY LANA WELLS

Bill C-16 ‘progress,’ but needs tougher language to codify femicide as a standalone crime, advocates say

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Ottawa set to revive online harms legislation in 2026: government source

NewsBY DAVIS LEGREE

Bill to create modern treaty commissioner wins Bloc, NDP, and Green support

NewsBY PETER MAZEREEUW

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Labour & employment

Canada at a crossroads as history repeats itself

OpinionBY JOSEPHINE GREY, SHEILA REGEHR

Unspinning the Trumpian disinformation on DEI: why it matters for all Canadians

OpinionBY KAIT LAFORCE, WILL SHELLING

‘Prices have to go down’: housing experts say new agency’s success must be measured in cost, not construction outcomes

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Federal childcare program falls far short as costs balloon 

OpinionBY PETER JON MITCHELL

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Lobbying

Joly top-lobbied minister in November, universities push to attract research talent driven away from U.S.

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Record-breaking November lobbying sees U.S. trade war and federal budget among top concerns

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

House Ethics Committee to review Lobbying Act in 2026 after AI study, says chair Brassard

NewsBY HUNTER CRESSWELL

Blanchard defends Carney’s ethics screen as a ‘rigorous process’

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

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natural resources and energy

Trump’s hit on Venezuela just gave Canada a bruise

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Canada’s rising disaster costs call for adaptive design

OpinionBY HOSSEIN BONAKDARI

Four key steps can help secure Canadian sovereignty

OpinionBY JON SHELL

2026: Another year on the edge for Carney and Canada

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

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Women, Gender and Diversity

Artificial action: feds offering tepid response to AI abuse

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Where is the real threat to Canadian security coming from?

OpinionBY CHRISTOPHER INGRAM, ERROL MENDES, JOSEPH INGRAM

The Elsie effect: women are essential to security

OpinionBY NATHALIE CHUARD

Democracy, like a Christmas gift, is best unwrapped

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

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Indigenous Relations

Poilievre praises a president who threatens democracies—including ours—on a daily basis

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

A decade of delays on Indigenous rights

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

No, Indigenous people are not coming for your privately owned land

OpinionBY COREY SHEFMAN

There’s no security without Indigenous sovereignty

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

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Take The Hill Times year-end news quiz

Take The Hill Times year-end news quiz

First-quarter expenses: MPs spent nearly $28-million

First-quarter expenses: MPs spent nearly $28-million

This Parliament’s ethics roundup: blind trusts, recusals, gifts, and more

This Parliament’s ethics roundup: blind trusts, recusals, gifts, and more

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Carney government bills: tracking their progress into law

Carney government bills: tracking their progress into law

The number of sick days claimed by bureaucrats, broken down by department

The number of sick days claimed by bureaucrats, broken down by department

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

MPs’ annual office budgets for 2025-26

MPs’ annual office budgets for 2025-26