Policy Topics | Policy Briefings

COLLAPSE

• 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

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

Labour & EmploymentBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

• Canada is still nowhere near the level needed to make housing affordable for the middle class, and despite Robertson's municipal bonafides, the federal plan

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

Labour & EmploymentBY MARC LEE

Housing is reconciliation: why Canada must prioritize Indigenous housing

Indigenous RelationsBY MARGARET PFOH

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

IntergovernmentalBY ADRIAN SCHUT

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

Labour & EmploymentBY COLIN O’LEARY, ACACIA PANGILINAN

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

Labour & EmploymentBY REBECCA BLIGH

Building codes are undermining the promise of modular housing

Labour & EmploymentBY OLHA SOTSKA

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

Labour & EmploymentBY JANET FORBES, BEN ROWLEY

Nuancing our understanding of Canada’s housing affordability crisis

Labour & EmploymentBY STEVE POMEROY

MOST RECENT POLICY BRIEFINGS

Housing: Modular and Affordable

• DOWNLOAD

Environment

• DOWNLOAD

The Hill Times’ 100 Best Books 2025

• DOWNLOAD

• VIEW ALL POLICY BRIEFINGS

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

Hill Life & PeopleBY ELEANOR WAND

• Gina Wilson, recognized by her peers as Canada's first woman Indigenous deputy minister, often 'set the ball in motion' from behind the scenes to

In defence of Canada

Defence & SecurityBY SCOTT TAYLOR

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

InnovationBY ALICA WANLESS

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

HealthBY TESSIE SANCI

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

HealthBY TESSIE SANCI

Carney has thrown his hat over the wall, now what?

Foreign PolicyBY MATT GURNEY

With threats to Canada’s sovereignty and mounting economic challenges, MPs should work together or face an early election, says Coteau

Foreign PolicyBY ABBAS RANA

MPs from all parties must work together to deal with external and internal challenges facing Canada

Defence & SecurityBY EDITORIAL

Going along to get along is over

Foreign PolicyBY SHEILA COPPS

AGRICULTURE

‘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

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

See all

Biotechnology

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

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Bloc joins push for mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods

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

See all

DEFENCE & SECURITY

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

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Learning a new dance for 2026

OpinionBY CAM HOLMSTROM

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

OpinionBY NDP MP LORI IDLOUT

Debating creating a Canadian CIA? Never say never, but now is not the time

OpinionBY MARTIN GREEN

See all

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

See all

FINANCE

‘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

House winter session expected to be ‘very consequential’ with affordability issues, global trade, and possible referendums, say politicos

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

See all

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

See all

FOREIGN POLICY

Union warns foreign ministry cuts will hamper delivery of Carney doctrine 

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

Canada-U.S. relations heading into uncharted territory

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

Learning to exhale when dealing with Trump

OpinionBY TIM POWERS

After Davos, Trump confronts an inflection point

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

See all

health

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

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

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

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

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

See all

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

See all

infrastructure and transport

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

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

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

See all

innovation

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

Heated Rivalry shows Canadian content doesn’t need the CRTC’s help

OpinionBY JOSH TABISH

See all

intergovernmental

Bravo to Carney for speaking the truth

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

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

OpinionBY KEN POLK

Legault’s legacy: incompetence and division

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

The slow, uphill climb to fix the housing mess

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

See all

Get The Policy Briefings Newsletter

Get into the weeds on hot policy issues and the players shaping them.

SIGN UP

By entering your email address you consent to receive email from The Hill Times containing news, analysis, updates and offers. You may unsubscribe at any time. See our privacy policy

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

See all

Labour & employment

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

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

OpinionBY IRVING GOLD

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

OpinionBY JIM DUNN, DUNCAN MACLENNAN, STEVE POMEROY

See all

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

See all

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

See all

Women, Gender and Diversity

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

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

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

See all

Indigenous Relations

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

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

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

See all

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