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

Canada’s local infrastructure fund must be fair to workers

OpinionBY RENZE NAUTA

• The budget says the government would consider using Community Employment Benefits agreements. While they can be good, some have been used to exclude union workers from projects, leading to reduced competition and large cost overruns.

Canada’s local infrastructure fund must be fair to workers

OpinionBY RENZE NAUTA

• The budget says the government would consider using Community Employment Benefits agreements. While they can be good, some have been used to exclude union workers from projects, leading to reduced competition and large cost overruns.

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

Fast, employer-aligned training is key to Canada’s economic recovery

OpinionBY MICHAEL SANGSTER

Feds need clearer focus on youth as unemployment hits 15-year high, critics say

NewsBY GRACE BESTARD

Let’s not forget Canada Post is a public service

OpinionBY WOJTEK GWIAZDA

Canada’s Student Work Placement Program a youth employment lifeline 

OpinionBY ROB HENDERSON

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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Easter Seals, CFIB lobbying feds to end Canada Post’s strike

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

• The strike by Canada Post workers has put a halt on mail and parcel deliveries nationwide since Sept. 25, but the union representing postal workers announced it would switch to rotating strikes on Oct. 11. The union will meet with the minister again this week.

Easter Seals, CFIB lobbying feds to end Canada Post’s strike

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

• The strike by Canada Post workers has put a halt on mail and parcel deliveries nationwide since Sept. 25, but the union representing postal workers announced it would switch to rotating strikes on Oct. 11. The union will meet with the minister again this week.

‘Get back into shop floors’ and contrast Carney’s ‘lurch to the right,’ say NDP leadership hopefuls of party’s path forward 

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Building more homes is a shared vision. Now we need the infrastructure to make it real

OpinionBY REBECCA BLIGH

The price tag on housing-enabling infrastructure is prolonging our housing crisis

OpinionBY OLHA SOTSKA

Do Canadians need new houses, or new homes?

OpinionBY DAVID WATTERS, RYAN DESCHAMPS, RAHIM REZAIE

Scaling climate-resilient farming solutions for global impact

OpinionBY CAROL THIESSEN

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

AGRICULTURE

Canada can lead global efforts in tackling hunger

OpinionBY ANDY HARRINGTON

Canada must keep its promises to protect animals

OpinionBY EWA DEMIANOWICZ

Eggs fuel us every day, as nutritious food and as an economic engine for Canada

OpinionBY ROGER PELISSERO

Tory ag critic questions efforts to engage with China as canola tariffs drag into harvest season

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

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Biotechnology

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

‘Cutting red tape,’ mental health and primary care on the health docket this fall

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

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DEFENCE & SECURITY

‘Period of fluidity’: feds signal procurement transition as Defence Investment Agency ramps up

NewsBY IREM KOCA

Canadian defence: between promises and reality

OpinionBY BLOC MP SIMON-PIERRE SAVARD-TREMBLAY

Arctic security cannot exist without Inuit sovereignty

OpinionBY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT

We need you! Canada’s NATO commitment extends beyond defence to its people

OpinionBY BENJAMIN ZYLA

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Environment

NDP environment critic pans Carney’s commitment to Paris targets, but May says she has ‘confidence’ feds will soon release climate policy

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Iran: drought, incompetence, and maybe revolution

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

Canada’s ZEV mandate will leave 450,000 drivers stranded

OpinionBY BRIAN LIVINGSTON

Carney walks a timid line on climate instead of full speed ahead

OpinionBY SUSAN RILEY

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FINANCE

Canada’s AI imperative: go big and bold

OpinionBY SARA CLODMAN

Bridging Canada’s divide on consent

OpinionBY MEGAN BUTTLE

The laws of economics finally catch up with Trump

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

Pivot to ‘economic reconciliation’ risks ‘squandering’ political goodwill as Indigenous social programs face funding gaps: observers

NewsBY STUART BENSON

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Fisheries and oceans

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

Federal fish science analyses continue to muddy the waters in salmon farm fight

NewsBY STUART BENSON

The markets are hungry for Canadian cod. Will we deliver?

OpinionBY SYLVIE LAPOINTE

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FOREIGN POLICY

CUSMA renewal a time to push for stable and predictable trade

OpinionBY GARY SHAPIRO

Why Canada should oppose Trump’s Golden Dome proposal

OpinionBY ERIKA SIMPSON

Anand urged to reverse ‘wrong’ course of letting U.S. decide if it breached international law with boat strikes

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

Did Canada’s G7 presidency ever emerge from the Trump shadow? 

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

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health

Why we still don’t have a National Lung Health Strategy

OpinionBY JESSICA MOFFATT, JOSé LUIS CASTRO

‘We will be facing a financial cliff’: advocates concerned about mental health and substance use programs as bilaterals begin to lapse in 2027

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Budget signals strong economic focus, but falls short in details like regulatory burden or clarity on defence spending, say experts, economists

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Losing measles elimination status makes Canada a ‘pariah,’ says Liberal MP

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

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Industry and Manufacturing

Budget 2025 is more of the same

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

Losing Canada’s last big critical minerals champion: the stakes in the Anglo–Teck deal

OpinionBY ED FAST

Carney’s big promises all hinge on Canadians’ trust

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

The case for renewing the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy

OpinionBY ADAM SPENCE

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infrastructure and transport

Budget 2025 could have enhanced Canada’s military mobility by investing in roads and rails

OpinionBY ANDREW ERSKINE

‘Canada needs this road’: N.W.T. pitches highway to the Arctic

FeatureBY PETER MAZEREEUW

Major projects? Not without telecom

OpinionBY ROBERT GHIZ

Fall budget cycle ‘great news’ for ‘more timely’ northern project planning, says N.W.T. finance minister

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

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innovation

The Canadian government is hallucinating over its AI strategy

OpinionBY RENEE SIEBER, FENWICK MCKELVEY, JONATHAN ROBERGE, JOANNA REDDEN

Skeptics say billions of dollars in AI-driven government efficiencies ‘fiscally dubious’

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Restrictive U.S. worker visa could fuel Canada’s rise as a global tech leader

OpinionBY S. YASH KALASH

Health innovation groups say they hope governments’ ‘Buy Canadian’ mentality hits their sector

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

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intergovernmental

PQ Blue Book attacks Canada’s international role

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

A letter to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith: reclaim Alberta’s promise

Opinion

No ‘serious negotiation’ with Liberals on budget, says Bloc MP Garon: ‘If the result is an election, what can we do?’

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Doug Ford needs to be reined in

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

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justice

A debt of gratitude for Ivan Zinger, correctional investigator

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

OGGO hearing confirms: our government continues to persecute whistleblowers rather than protect them

OpinionBY DAVID HUTTON

Prison watchdog leaves post early with ‘frustrations’ as final report keys in on ‘grossly inadequate’ mental health care behind bars

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Meeting feds’ ‘ambitious’ RCMP hiring pledge will require ‘imaginative’ ideas, says advisory board chair

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

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Labour & employment

Overcoming infrastructure challenges requires better data sharing, say experts

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Labour stability is the missing link in Canada’s economic reboot

OpinionBY JULIAN KARAGUESIAN, DANIEL SAFAYENI

Lightbound says Canada Post privatization ‘not on the table’ as feds work to salvage ‘insolvent’ Crown corp

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Conservatives’ push to scrap foreign worker program meets public anxieties, but risks scapegoating migrants, say observers

NewsBY IREM KOCA

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Lobbying

The unintended consequences of stricter rules on public policy engagement

OpinionBY JACQUES J.M. SHORE, SUZANNE SABOURIN

Budget a step in the right direction, but fails to deliver on the ‘hype,’ say lobbyists

NewsBY SERGIY SLIPCHENKO

‘Cut through the table talk’: tech firms launch new group to help feds fix procurement woes 

NewsBY IREM KOCA

CMA leads health lobbying in lead up to budget

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

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natural resources and energy

‘It’s a big concern’: MPs scrutinize head of Major Projects Office for past role in Trans Mountain contract

NewsBY IREM KOCA

The critical-minerals battle is being fought on land—and over the sea

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

Methane regulation is a climate-competitive home run

OpinionBY AMANDA BRYANT

Building a national Canadian economy starts with our fuel sector

OpinionBY JAKE ENWRIGHT

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Women, Gender and Diversity

The CAF’s emotional apology for racism

OpinionBY SCOTT TAYLOR

Women’s groups hail ongoing funding for gender-equality programs, but warn the ‘devil is in the details’

NewsBY RIDDHI KACHHELA, SAMANTHA WRIGHT ALLEN

Conservative attacks on DEI are nothing new, but fighting past battles risks future growth, say politicos

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Women entrepreneurs are a vital resource for growing Canada’s economy – it is time to break down the barriers standing in their way

OpinionBY ROSALIND LOCKYER

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Indigenous Relations

Opening the pathway for greater Indigenous inclusion in the Armed Forces

OpinionBY GRAZIA SCOPPIO, FEDERICA CASO

The one where the minister called the Senate racist

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY | UPDATED November 19, 2025

First Nations built the first North American economy—it’s time Canada recognized that

OpinionBY KYRA WILSON

If Indigenous health is an expected outcome of reconciliation, we’re in trouble

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

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Upcoming Policy briefings

Exclusive lists

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

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Take The Hill Times politics quiz