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

Solving Canada’s housing crisis starts with a reality check

OpinionBY JANICE MYERS

• Would-be first-time buyers are stuck between choosing ‘too small’ or ‘too expensive.’ A vibrant housing system needs to include options and opportunity across its entire continuum.

Solving Canada’s housing crisis starts with a reality check

OpinionBY JANICE MYERS

• Would-be first-time buyers are stuck between choosing ‘too small’ or ‘too expensive.’ A vibrant housing system needs to include options and opportunity across its entire continuum.

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

Nuancing our understanding of Canada’s housing affordability crisis

OpinionBY STEVE POMEROY

This one policy could allow Canada to dramatically reduce land costs for affordable housing

OpinionBY COLIN O’LEARY, ACACIA PANGILINAN

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

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

OpinionBY JANET FORBES, BEN ROWLEY

• When the primary goal becomes building as many units as possible, as quickly as possible, the needs and rights of marginalized communities can be overlooked.

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

OpinionBY JANET FORBES, BEN ROWLEY

• When the primary goal becomes building as many units as possible, as quickly as possible, the needs and rights of marginalized communities can be overlooked.

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

OpinionBY ADRIAN SCHUT

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

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

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

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

AGRICULTURE

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

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

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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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

Empower hardtech innovators to step up to sovereignty threats

OpinionBY HUGH CHOW

Time to close the U.S. arms export loophole

OpinionBY ALEX NEVE

Emergencies Act architect says courts checked government overreach, advises against further appeal

NewsBY STUART BENSON

In defence of Canada

OpinionBY SCOTT TAYLOR

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Environment

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

OpinionBY KATE KOPLOVICH

Priorities for Canada as 2026 gets underway

OpinionBY ELIZABETH MAY

Canada’s green jobs strategy needs more than good intentions

OpinionBY LIN AL-AKKAD

Planetary limits: why Canada’s next nation-building project must be grounded in reality

OpinionBY INDEPENDENT SENATOR ROSA GALVEZ, TREVOR HANCOCK, COURTNEY HOWARD

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FINANCE

Three measures to tackle ‘wicked’ health policy problems

OpinionBY AZIN PEYROW

‘Not a chance’: Green Leader May says she can’t support budget omnibus bill without major changes, but NDP skeptical

NewsBY STUART BENSON

MPs face a choice this Parliament: play partisan games or meet the moment

OpinionBY BHAGWANT SANDHU

IMF report says Canada’s elevated trade uncertainty reinforces long-standing weaknesses in productivity and competitiveness

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

Japan salutes Canadian business ties

FeatureBY SAM GARCIA

Iran an active case study on whether massacres work

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

Thailand throws national day party

FeatureBY SAM GARCIA

Carney’s Davos remarks offered ‘glimmer of hope,’ says Irish minister

NewsBY CHARELLE EVELYN

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health

Health workforce, toxic drug crisis on health critics’ agendas this winter

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Make federal funding permanent for Canada’s suicide crisis helpline, say Conservative and NDP critics

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Health care is 13 per cent of Canada’s economy, and must be central to nation-building

OpinionBY JIMMY YANG

Far-right ideology is a prescription for bad health

OpinionBY DORIS GRINSPUN

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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

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

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

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

OpinionBY ALAN BROADBENT

The joys of winter biking aren’t without politics

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Time to strengthen Canada’s infrastructure planning 

OpinionBY JENNIFER ANGEL, PETER WELTMAN

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innovation

Canada needs a national strategy for the information ecosystem—not just its parts

OpinionBY ALICA WANLESS

Experts say 6G networks still years away, but Canada’s already preparing for the technology of the future

NewsBY DAVIS LEGREE

Elbow patches up: universities and Canadian sovereignty

OpinionBY TIMOTHY CHAN

Warming Canada-China relations shouldn’t extend to Huawei ban, say security experts, parliamentarians

NewsBY DAVIS LEGREE

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intergovernmental

Bravo to Carney for speaking the truth

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Quebec: inhaling the ‘hopeium’ of the next ‘Mark Carney’

OpinionBY KEN POLK

A shifting geopolitical environment leaves the Arctic central to Canada’s sovereignty and security

OpinionBY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT

Legault’s legacy: incompetence and division

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

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justice

America lost justice when Renee Nicole Good was killed

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

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

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Labour & employment

Canada’s economic, security, and environmental interests have never been more challenged

OpinionBY INTERIM NDP LEADER DON DAVIES

The slow, uphill climb to fix the housing mess

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

If it’s a quid-pro-quo, include the charitable sector, too

OpinionBY JUNG-SUK (JS) RYU

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

OpinionBY JOHN MCKAY, INDEPENDENT SENATOR JULIE MIVILLE-DECHêNE

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Lobbying

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

‘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

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

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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natural resources and energy

Federal environmental impact assessments are in even more jeopardy   

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

Trump’s hit on Venezuela just gave Canada a bruise

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Buried in the MOU: a licence to lie

OpinionBY LEAH TEMPER, SAMANTHA GREEN

Canada’s rising disaster costs call for adaptive design

OpinionBY HOSSEIN BONAKDARI

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Women, Gender and Diversity

Governments can do more to fight against Islamophobia

OpinionBY WAHEED KHAN

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

OpinionBY ROSALIND LOCKYER

Artificial action: feds offering tepid response to AI abuse

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

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

OpinionBY RACHEL REEVE

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Indigenous Relations

‘I will always be an advocate,’ says retiring Indigenous senior civil servant Gina Wilson after decades working to ‘bridge worlds’

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Principled-based pragmatism and the wisdom of the seven generations

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

‘Stark contrast’ between Carney and Trudeau’s approach to Indigenous relations, says ITK president Obed

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

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

NewsBY IREM KOCA

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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