Policy Topics | Policy Briefings

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• Agriculture
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• Defence & Security
• Environment
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• 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

More trade, not less protection for workers

OpinionBY LANA PAYNE

• Lower trade barriers cannot mean lower standards. If we harmonize, aim high or don’t bother.

More trade, not less protection for workers

OpinionBY LANA PAYNE

• Lower trade barriers cannot mean lower standards. If we harmonize, aim high or don’t bother.

The future of Canada depends on Indigenous leadership

OpinionBY CANDACE LARSEN

PM Carney’s failure to appoint disabilities minister is an error in judgement

OpinionBY LEN BAKER

Time to build—together

OpinionBY REBECCA BLIGH

A new Canadian economy must include everyone

OpinionBY BONNIE BRAYTON

In the face of insolvency and strike action, what does Canada Post’s future look like?

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Federal public service cut by nearly 10,000 jobs, new data shows

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

New housing minister’s ‘first-week jitters’ on home values needs clarification, says policy expert Mike Moffatt

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Federal disability benefit welcome, but its red tape will tax health system

OpinionBY JOSS REIMER

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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‘Really scared, anxious, and horrified’: advocates decry lack of voice for Canadians with disabilities in cabinet

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

• The gap comes at a crucial time for advocates, as a new disability benefit program is being criticized for not fulfilling its stated goal of lifting hundreds of thousands of Canadians out of poverty.

‘Really scared, anxious, and horrified’: advocates decry lack of voice for Canadians with disabilities in cabinet

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

• The gap comes at a crucial time for advocates, as a new disability benefit program is being criticized for not fulfilling its stated goal of lifting hundreds of thousands of Canadians out of poverty.

‘When we hear government efficiency from Carney, we’re worried we’ll see DOGE-lite’: public service unions react to new ministers Lightbound and Ali

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Time for NDP ‘soul searching’ and ‘reconnecting’ with workers, say labour leaders after electoral collapse

NewsBY RIDDHI KACHHELA

Parties’ housing platforms unlikely to significantly improve affordability: experts

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Collaboration is Canada’s innovation superpower

OpinionBY ANDREA NEMTIN

Rural Canada is finally getting its moment

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Canada can be an agriculture powerhouse if we meet the moment

OpinionBY SENATOR MARY ROBINSON

Supply management consensus emerges but Grits, Tories accuse each other of past capitulation

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

No more scraps: making the election about ending hunger in Canada

OpinionBY NICK SAUL, JASMINE RAMZE REZAEE

AGRICULTURE

Is Canada keeping pace with agricultural innovation?

OpinionBY ASIM BISWAS

Canada-U.S. farm ties in jeopardy

OpinionBY ASIM BISWAS

Digesting the need to eliminate internal trade barriers on food

OpinionBY JACQUES J.M. SHORE, SUZANNE SABOURIN

Fortifying Canada’s agricultural supply chains: a path forward

OpinionBY ASIM BISWAS

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Biotechnology

From momentum to leadership: securing Canada’s biotech future

OpinionBY WENDY ZATYLNY

Biotechnology momentum in Canada needs infusion of talent and anchor firms, say industry reps

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Canada needs to catch up in the biotech sector

OpinionBY NDP MP RICHARD CANNINGS

Unlocking Canada’s greatest economic potential: life sciences

OpinionBY ALISON SYMINGTON, JASON FIELD

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DEFENCE & SECURITY

Public safety or public suppression?

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Enlisting Coast Guard to buoy defence spending expected to hit choppy waters, say analysts

NewsBY STUART BENSON

All eyes on Trump: meet the top 50 foreign policy influencers navigating Canada’s role in a rocky world

NewsBY NEIL MOSS, STUART BENSON, IREM KOCA

Highlights from ‘fast-track’ Carney’s major defence pledge

NewsBY RIDDHI KACHHELA

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Environment

Nation building isn’t just about speed—it’s about vision

OpinionBY SANDRA SCHWARTZ

The urgency of confronting a warming world remains

OpinionBY SHAWN MCCARTHY

How will the Carney government navigate between fighting climate change and bending to corporate priorities? Only time will tell

OpinionBY BRUCE CAMPBELL

Visions of a gold rush in expanded oil exports fly in the face of a decades-old reality

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

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FINANCE

Digging into the One Canadian Economy Act

NewsBY PETER MAZEREEUW

Canada cannot waste its best chance for internal trade reform since Confederation

OpinionBY RYAN MANUCHA

Unlocking Canada’s full economic potential by harmonizing regulations

OpinionBY DANIEL GALLE

Despite the hype, transforming the Canadian economy requires more than modest reform

OpinionBY CHRISTOPHER COTTON

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Fisheries and oceans

Oceans must take centre stage in nation-building projects

OpinionBY DEREK ARMITAGE, TREVOR SWERDFAGER

Rebuilding Canada’s fisheries for climate and economic security

OpinionBY JOSH LAUGHREN

B.C. suit says feds used consultations to justify ‘bad-faith’ Discovery Island salmon farming ban

NewsBY STUART BENSON

To protect nature, Canada must ratify the High Seas Treaty

OpinionBY SUSANNA FULLER

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FOREIGN POLICY

‘These events are big challenges’: Carney faces tough road to G7 joint communiqué in Kananaksis

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

The cost of coming home: are tariffs and trade deficits really so bad?

OpinionBY LUIS NAPOLES MEDINA

Canadians deserve more than economic explanation for questionable G7 invites

OpinionBY EDITORIAL

The art of the deal: Ambassador Kirsten Hillman a deft hand in navigating Canada’s relationship with Trump

NewsBY CHRISTOPHER GULY

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health

From Haiti to the PMO to cabinet: Canada’s new Health Minister Michel reflects on her front-row seat in politics

FeatureBY TESSIE SANCI

From reactive to proactive: Canada’s hidden health-care crisis and why physical activity should be central to policy

OpinionBY JOHN WESTON

Health minister says mental health and access to care are on her list of priorities

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Is Carney’s mandate for technocracy or transformation?

OpinionBY LEAH TEMPER

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Industry and Manufacturing

Why the right to repair needs to be a priority for the new government 

OpinionBY EMILY HOLTBY

Climate policy is economic policy

OpinionBY SARAH HOUDE, SIMON DONNER

Researcher, advocacy group hoping for ‘cabinet co-ordination’ on digital files with new AI and digital innovation ministry

NewsBY PHALEN TYNES-MACDONALD, PAUL PARK, HANNAH DALEY

Future-proofing our manufacturing sector

OpinionBY GREG MOFFATT

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infrastructure and transport

Trade barriers and trucking: unified political fortitude needed to push through the noise

OpinionBY STEPHEN LASKOWSKI

Canada can’t move forward without Indigenous-led solutions

OpinionBY MICHAEL FOX

So are we getting high-speed trains or not?

OpinionBY MATT GURNEY

Environment implications for proposed Liberal energy corridor unclear; ‘the devil is in the details,’ says uWaterloo academic

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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innovation

Let Canada’s telecom builders keep building

OpinionBY ROBERT GHIZ

Canada could lead on AI—if we’re willing to train for it

OpinionBY MATTHIAS OSCHINSKI, RUHANI WALIA

King Charles delivered the message, now Carney’s got to deliver the goods

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

International trade, the economy top-lobbied issues in April, and Ford, GM led the way

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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intergovernmental

Bitumen skepticism not a blanket ‘no’ to pipelines, says B.C. Liberal MP Greaves

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Can Rodriguez dodge the ‘Anyone But Pablo’ movement developing in Quebec’s Liberal race?

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Carney must be rigorous and not succumb to extortion on viability of new nation-building projects

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

Internal trade a complement, not a solution, to reduced trade with U.S., say economists

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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justice

Senate throws a lifeline to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

OpinionBY ERROL MENDES

Kelly looks at how governments react to judicial invalidation in Constraining the Court

FeatureBY JAMES B. KELLY

‘This is a book about gender-based violence, with a focus on intimate partner abuse,’ says Donner-nominated author of And Sometimes They Kill You

FeatureBY PAMELA CROSS

DEI: love it or hate it, it’s more profitable

OpinionBY JORY COHEN

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Labour & employment

Cost of living, housing the top priority for young voters, not Trump

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Modernizing EI: an imperative in this era of uncertainty

OpinionBY DIANE BELLEMARE

Conservatives target labour vote as NDP support wanes, but union leader says there’s ‘no substance’ behind catchy slogans

NewsBY IREM KOCA

Anti-Black racism complaint bound for Canadian Human Rights Commission after court denies public service class action

NewsBY STEPHEN JEFFERY

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Lobbying

‘Unusual time’ for lobbying in first quarter of 2025, with economic concerns topping communications

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Lobbying rule changes coming with stricter reporting requirements, says lobbying commissioner

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Cooling-off period for lobbyists who volunteered during election can vary, says lobbying commissioner who urges reading code of conduct

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Lobbyists prepare for ‘very serious’ Carney government prioritizing economy, trade and housing

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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natural resources and energy

Powering a just transition: why Canada’s clean energy workforce needs a recharge

OpinionBY STACEY NORONHA, MISHA GOFORTH

Urgent: ambitious methane emissions reduction needed

OpinionBY INDEPENDENT SENATOR ROSA GALVEZ, ARI POTTENS

Engineers help drive innovation in Canada’s car industry

OpinionBY HOSSAM KISHAWY

Nuclear power and the engineers behind it are vital to Canada’s clean energy future

OpinionBY HOSSAM KISHAWY, SALAM ALI

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Women, Gender and Diversity

Seven ways Carney’s agenda can advance gender equality

OpinionBY SUZANNE ZACCOUR

PM Carney, Minister Valdez raise Pride flag

FeatureBY ANDREW MEADE

Senator Dasko pitches elections law reforms to address enduring issue of candidate diversity

NewsBY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

Don’t let the pink-washing win

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

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Indigenous Relations

‘The government has idly sat by’: NDP MPs say Indigenous communities need federal support as wildfires devastate Western Canada

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Wildfires, climate change, and will we make it through?

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

Locked out of our own treaty relationship: First Nations deserve more than ceremonial words

OpinionBY KYRA WILSON

Beyond promises: Canada’s duty to fund Indigenous education

OpinionBY MARSHA JOSEPHS

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Upcoming Policy briefings

Exclusive lists

Meet Carney’s parliamentary secretaries, half of whom are rookie MPs

Meet Carney’s parliamentary secretaries, half of whom are rookie MPs

The 19 entities asking for the biggest spending boosts in the 2025-26 main estimates

The 19 entities asking for the biggest spending boosts in the 2025-26 main estimates

Meet Mark Carney’s 38-member senior team

Meet Mark Carney’s 38-member senior team

The salaries of Carney’s cabinet and secretaries of state

The salaries of Carney’s cabinet and secretaries of state

Who’s in and who’s out of Carney’s post-election cabinet?

Who’s in and who’s out of Carney’s post-election cabinet?

MPs, Senators get a salary boost, Carney will now earn $419,600, Scheer $308,800, and Blanchet $280,600

MPs, Senators get a salary boost, Carney will now earn $419,600, Scheer $308,800, and Blanchet $280,600

Grits and Tories dominated the 109 safest seats this election

Grits and Tories dominated the 109 safest seats this election

Tories strip five Ontario ridings of bellwether status, while 29 seats remain

Tories strip five Ontario ridings of bellwether status, while 29 seats remain