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

‘This is our home, so we need to be part of the solution’: Inuit-led university to strengthen Canada’s Arctic, say Senators

NewsBY JUSTIN S. CAMPBELL

• Education in the North not only keeps people in their communities and takes advantage of local and traditional knowledge, but also drives investment in infrastructure.

‘This is our home, so we need to be part of the solution’: Inuit-led university to strengthen Canada’s Arctic, say Senators

NewsBY JUSTIN S. CAMPBELL

• Education in the North not only keeps people in their communities and takes advantage of local and traditional knowledge, but also drives investment in infrastructure.

When it comes to affordable childcare, both public and private operators need federal support

OpinionBY CHLOE DUSSER

Ottawa has a housing initiative, but not a homeownership plan

OpinionBY KEVIN LEE

Investing in Indigenous housing strengthens Canada, and the solutions are ready

OpinionBY JOHN GORDON

Keeping the North strong and free also means ensuring a better way of life for northerners

OpinionBY EDITORIAL

Solving Canada’s housing crisis starts with a reality check

OpinionBY JANICE MYERS

Affordable housing is slipping away. Here’s how we get it back

OpinionBY REBECCA BLIGH

Build Canada Homes is poised to make a generational investment in non-market and public housing—but will it?

OpinionBY MARC LEE

A home is a human right: why inclusion must be built in

OpinionBY JANET FORBES, BEN ROWLEY

MOST RECENT POLICY BRIEFINGS

Housing: Modular and Affordable

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Canada Part I: Interprovincial Trade & Labour

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Homebuilding & Affordable Housing

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Canada’s housing crisis isn’t just about building more—it’s about getting governments to talk to each other

OpinionBY ADRIAN SCHUT

• Misalignment between federal, provincial, and municipal requirements causes delays that compound costs year after year.

Canada’s housing crisis isn’t just about building more—it’s about getting governments to talk to each other

OpinionBY ADRIAN SCHUT

• Misalignment between federal, provincial, and municipal requirements causes delays that compound costs year after year.

Housing is reconciliation: why Canada must prioritize Indigenous housing

OpinionBY MARGARET PFOH

Tackling Canada’s decades-long housing crisis will require more time, money, and strategic planning

OpinionBY ALEXANDRA DORAN, YUSHU ZHU

Canada’s stale housing policies need renewal

OpinionBY CSG SENATOR CLÉMENT GIGNAC

Build more homes—but don’t lock Canada into higher emissions

OpinionBY KATE KOPLOVICH

The grass is greener where you water it

OpinionBY CSG SENATOR TODD LEWIS

Bloc MP Perron condemns ‘ridiculous’ spending cuts that will shutter research farms across Canada

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

MPs celebrate canola tariff relief, but national security, pork, remain opposition concerns with China

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

‘Unprecedented’ 2025 for canola industry, with record-breaking economic lobbying

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

AGRICULTURE

Liberals ‘taking a sledgehammer’ to the public service, says interim NDP leader Davies

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Do Conservatives want the best for the West, or not?

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

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

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Biotechnology

Canada’s missing life sciences industrial strategy is leaving economic growth on the table

OpinionBY MICHELLE MCLEAN

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

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DEFENCE & SECURITY

Jobs, guns, and the GDP: selling defence as economic policy

OpinionBY BHAGWANT SANDHU

Bill C-15 contradicts Liberals’ social covenant to veterans

OpinionBY ANTHONY BROSKI

Fortune’s Wheel: defence spending impermanence

OpinionBY DAN A. DORAN

Q&A | Canada’s ‘ambitious’ defence strategy and the ‘tough slog’ ahead, with Mark Norman

FeatureBY PETER MAZEREEUW

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Environment

Pipelines or a national power grid: what should Canada build now?

OpinionBY ISG SENATOR ROSA GALVEZ, GEOFF STRONG, RICHARD VAN DER JAGT

The EV revolution: baby steps and tinkering won’t get us to the podium

OpinionBY SUSAN RILEY

Climate change should be the big story of 2026

OpinionBY BILL HENDERSON

The real rupture we face: what Carney’s next speech needs to say

OpinionBY TREVOR HANCOCK

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FINANCE

‘Everyone should feel the hit’: ministerial offices and PMO should be cut, too, say some leading public policy experts

NewsBY ABBAS RANA

‘All about’ NATO: bulk of feds’ $5.4-billion spending request boosts defence programs

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Canada faces ‘an emergency of extraordinary proportions’ with Trump, say foreign affairs and trade experts

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Building a more innovative Canadian economy won’t be easy, but it will be worth it

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

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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

Canada’s global leadership, the ‘coalition of the willing,’ and Ukraine

OpinionBY ISG SENATOR STANLEY KUTCHER, KSENIA ZUBRIY

A diaspora caught between Ottawa’s Iran policy and Iran’s street protests

OpinionBY SASAN ISSARI

Canada has a role to play in linking global democracy movements, says activist 

FeatureBY NEIL MOSS

Carney’s ‘bridge’ between the EU and the Pacific Rim trade deal likely to stop short of merging blocs, say observers  

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

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health

Why Ottawa must make 988 funding stable and secure

OpinionBY ANDREW PEREZ

Beyond funding: why flexible, locally grounded care models matter now

OpinionBY BERNARD LORD

Canada is facing a teen vaping crisis

OpinionBY DOUG ROTH

Canada on path to become a superaged country

OpinionBY SHARON STRAUS, FRANçOISE BAYLIS

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Industry and Manufacturing

Canadians can’t afford to wait for Right to Repair legislation 

OpinionBY EMILY CHUNG

Industrial benefits policy needs a ‘relook,’ says ex-senior public servant, as Conservative MP pushes for contract records

NewsBY IREM KOCA

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

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infrastructure and transport

The water emergency in Kashechewan must spur action on federal legislation

OpinionBY ALVIN FIDDLER

Trade diversification always failed, this time could be different

OpinionBY DANIELLE GOLDFARB

Diversifying Canada’s trade and ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ share in the opportunity

OpinionBY LIBERAL MP JUDY SGRO

Canada can’t trade on hope

OpinionBY RODRIGUE GILBERT

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innovation

‘He comes from our side’: Writers’ Union CEO calls Solomon an AI ‘cheerleader,’ asks him to slow down strategy

NewsBY MARIA COLLINS

To ban or not to ban? Experts wary of restricting social media access for kids, as feds watch Australian approach

NewsBY DAVIS LEGREE

Building Canada’s digital future

OpinionBY DELPHINE ADENOT-OWUSU

From promise to reality: scaling innovative housing in Canada

OpinionBY TASNIM FARIHA

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intergovernmental

Sole Quebec NDP MP Boulerice says potential provincial run has ‘absolutely nothing to do with’ party’s status

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Four crucial outcomes Canadians need from the Alberta-Ottawa MOU talks

OpinionBY CHRIS SEVERSON-BAKER

Tumbler Ridge tragedy, U.S. attacks on Canada are showing a different side of Pierre Poilievre 

OpinionBY SHEILA COPPS

Milliard takes on the Quebec Liberal mantle

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

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justice

Reconciliation is not dead, but Indigenous Peoples are still dying in Canada’s hospitals

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

Republican Party can rein in U.S. President Trump—if it’s brave enough

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

Tory Senator Housakos proposes invoking notwithstanding clause to uphold certain mandatory minimums

NewsBY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

Despite early ‘spirit of co-operation’ on some bills, Liberal agenda still failing to launch in Parliament, say politicos

NewsBY STUART BENSON

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Labour & employment

Ottawa’s $13-billion housing gamble is missing a critical safeguard

OpinionBY IRVING GOLD

Building codes are undermining the promise of modular housing

OpinionBY OLHA SOTSKA

Are programs in search of a policy or a Canadian housing system?

OpinionBY JIM DUNN, DUNCAN MACLENNAN, STEVE POMEROY

Housing Minister Robertson ‘well regarded’ for municipal background, but needs a vision for housing, say sector experts

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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Lobbying

Questions loom over NDP’s voter verification process as leadership contest enters final stretch

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Liberals see path forward for budget bill, but Conservatives still have ‘huge concerns’ with cabinet’s ‘regulatory sandbox’

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Ottawa’s lowered lobbying registration thresholds will reshape government relations

OpinionBY SUZANNE SABOURIN, MICHAEL WALSH

Libya was a warning, Venezuela is the test

OpinionBY AKOLISA UFODIKE

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natural resources and energy

U.S.-proposed critical minerals trading bloc a ‘difficult sell,’ say natural resources experts

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

The missing critical mineral underpinning Canada’s entire defence and industrial strategy

OpinionBY W. BRETT WILSON

Building industrial strength: a regional approach to Canada’s critical materials 

OpinionBY ALISON CRETNEY

Canada’s critical mineral moment is real, but delivery depends on people

OpinionBY MEGAN GORDON

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Women, Gender and Diversity

Liberals hope ‘national unity’ council quells divisions after scrapping Islamophobia and antisemitism envoys

NewsBY STUART BENSON

The politicking of identity has always been a nation-building project

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Celebrating Black Canadian trailblazers who’ve played a critical role in public life

OpinionBY WAHEED KHAN

Here’s how Parliament can tackle the rise in anti-feminist ideology

OpinionBY SHARI GRAYDON

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Indigenous Relations

Canada’s critical minerals opportunity runs through First Nation lands

OpinionBY MARK PODLASLY

A partial table cannot deliver justice for Indigenous people

OpinionBY BRENDAN MOORE

Arctic security investments must also improve living conditions in the North, say territories

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Wide-eyed patriotism is an Indigenous value

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

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Upcoming Policy briefings

Exclusive lists

Who’s backing the NDP leadership contenders?

Who’s backing the NDP leadership contenders?

Tracking job cuts in the federal public service

Tracking job cuts in the federal public service

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