Selected Canadian Social Research Organizations (I)

Groupes de recherche sociale au Canada (I)

Updated May 28, 2009
Page révisée le 28 mai 2009

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[ Go to Canadian Social Research Links Home Page ]

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Research Resources for the Social Sciences - Craig McKie (Carleton University, Ottawa)
Vast selection of (mainly Canadian) social research links covering a wide range of topics in the social sciences.
On this page, you'll find links to : General Resource Searchers  - Content to Browse - Reference Materials - Aggressive Pattern Searchers - Virtual Library at Coombs - Data Archives - Sociology and Anthropology - News and Journalism - Psychology - Law and Law Enforcement - Demography - Political Science - Economics - Geography - Women's Studies - Security Services - Miscellaneous - Site Information

Related links: Merrill Lynch and Capgemini Release 11th Annual World Wealth Report (PDF file - 55K, 4 pages) Press Release 27 June 2007 New York, June 27 – Driven by a strong global economy, the wealth of the world’s high net worth individuals (HNWIs1) increased 11.4 percent to US$37.2 trillion in 2006, according to the 11th annual World Wealth Report, released today by Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) and Capgemini. World Wealth Report page - incl. links to : * Fast Breaking Headlines * World Wealth Report Overview * State of the World's Wealth * HNWI Asset Allocation * Spotlight - New Service Model for HNW Clients * Regional Facts * About the World Wealth Report * Capgemini Wealth Management Offerings * Merrill Lynch Global Private Client * WWR Press Releases * WWR Archive * more... Complete report: World Wealth Report 2007 (PDF file - 3.9MB, 36 pages) Source: Merrill Lynch Capgemini

Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI)
" ... a national charitable organization dedicated to enabling poor, unemployed and under-employed people to become self-sufficient"

Asset-Building (Powerpoint presentation - 498K, 18 pages)
How SEDI plans to offer low-income Canadians new ways of finding economic independence by helping them save and build assets.

Learn$ave
"SEDI has partnered with the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC), a leading expert in the field of social research and evaluation, to design and implement learn$ave. This multi-year (planned to 2009) demonstration of Individual Development Accounts for learning is funded by Human Resources Development Canada. The largest demonstration of its kind in the world, learn$ave will reach 4,875 low-income Canadians who volunteer to take part in one of 10 designated locations (cities/counties)across Canada."

Learn$ave FAQs

Related Link:

Design and Implementation of a Program to Help the Poor Save:
The learn$ave Project (PDF file - 2.3MB, 208 pages)
August 2005
"This report is the second to be published on the learn$ave project, a research and demonstration project that provides matching grants to individuals who save for education and training. Written after enrolment in the project had been completed, this report presents a detailed description of the learn$ave design and evaluation strategy and also documents how learn$ave was implemented and who enrolled in the project."
Source:
Social Research and Demonstration Corporation

Home$ave
"(...) Existing government home buyer and tax credit programs are out of reach for low-income earners, and in major cities like Toronto where home prices are so high, there isn’t nearly enough affordable housing to meet the demand. SEDI is piloting a project called that will give low-income Canadians a place to turn. By putting money aside in an Individual Development Account (IDA), participants can build their personal savings and earn a credit for a matching amount. The savings don’t have to be big, as long as they are consistent. Bit by bit, enough money is collected to put a downpayment on a home. SEDI is currently working in partnership with community groups, financial partners and government agencies to get this project started."
More info on Home$ave - April 2002 (small PDF file)

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Wealth, Low-Wage Work and Welfare:
The Unintended Costs of Provincial Needs-tests (PDF - 604K, 8 pages)
April 2008
"(...)Assets do matter as an important, but so far largely undervalued, factor in well-being. Assets are more than stored-up income, they are stored-up hope, agency and aspiration. To the degree that welfare policy is ultimately concerned with well-being - and we believe it is - far greater attention should be paid to assets." (Excerpt, p.7)
- includes detailed info on what constitutes assets in the Canadian welfare system as well as asset exemption levels in all Canadian jurisdictions and a number of options for provincial/territorial governments wishing to promote greater asset development within their welfare program.
Source:
Asset-building Program

SEDI Program Areas
To fulfill SEDI's mission statement and to pursue its organizational objectives, SEDI has been working in four broad issue areas: self- employment, youth, asset-building and financial capability. Click the link above and then, on the next page, select one of the programs areas in the left-hand margin for more detailed information and further links.

SEDI Publications List

Source:
Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) :
SEDI is a national charitable organization dedicated to enabling poor and unemployed Canadians become self-sufficient. We take a variety of leading-edge social and economic approaches to this goal in areas such as policy development, program management, capacity building, public education, and research.

- Go to the Asset-Based Social Policies Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/assets.htm
More links to website content from SEDI (this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading)

Caledon Institute of Social Policy
Canada's Voice for Progressive, Practicable Social Policy

Prudently Progressive : Caledon's First Decade as a Social Policy Think Tank (PDF file - 137K, 5 pages) January 2003 By Michael J. Prince (University of Victoria) Source: Views and News [ Studies in Policy and Practice ] [ University of Victoria ]

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NOTE: For links to 400+ Caledon reports, go to the home page of their website and click on "Publications By Date" in the left margin.

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Here are just a few samples of the online reports and commentaries you'll find here:

Canada's Shrinking Safety Net:
Employment Insurance in the Great Recession (PDF - 41K, 5 pages)
Michael Mendelson, Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
April 2009
Belt-tightening changes made to Employment Insurance in the 1990s have decimated the program’s coverage over the years and substantially reduced the value of payments. Today only three in ten unemployed Canadians receive regular EI benefits in contrast to eight in ten in the last recession, in 1990. There is a gender gap in coverage, and it has widened. Both eligibility for benefits and the maximum duration of benefits vary widely from community to community and province to province, leading to unfair treatment of the unemployed. Caledon proposes several immediate changes to strengthen EI, including: a uniform set of rules governing entrance requirements and length of benefits, increasing the earnings-replacement rate from the current 55 to 70 percent of insurable earnings, and setting premium rates higher in good economic times and lower in bad times.

Reducing Poverty in Ontario: A Place-Based Approach
Ontario Poverty Conference (PDF - 3MB, 8 pages)
June 10-12, 2009
The release of Ontario’s first comprehensive anti-poverty strategy makes now the ideal time for community leaders from across Ontario to come together and be inspired by the stories and experiences from Vibrant Communities and other successful poverty reduction initiatives throughout Canada that are producing real results. The purpose of Reducing Poverty in Ontario: A Place-Based Approach – a three-day learning event in Kitchener, Ontario from June 10 to 12 – is to offer community leaders a rich learning experience that will explore the distinction between reducing and alleviating poverty, and introduce concepts and tools that demonstrate how to build and sustain the multi-sector teams needed to engage citizens in comprehensive poverty reduction efforts.
Speakers include:
· Deb Matthews, Minister of Children & Youth Services and Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues
· Sherri Torjman, Vice-President of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy
· Robin Cardozo, CEO of The Ontario Trillium Foundation
· Tim Brodhead, CEO of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
· Frances Lankin, CEO of United Way Toronto
· Liz Weaver, Director of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction
· Mark Chamberlain, Chair of the Hamilton Roundtable and CEO of Trivaris; and,
· Paul Born, CEO of the Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement
[ Online Conference Registration ]

The Forgotten Fundamentals (PDF - 47K, 5 pages)
By Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman and Michael Mendelson
December 2008
Strong social programs can play a vital part in an economic stimulus package. Ottawa has at its disposal several effective social programs that can play an important part in an economic stimulus package to combat the recession. Boosting three geared-to-income programs – the Canada Child Tax Benefit, refundable GST credit and Working Income Tax Benefit – would put additional money into the hands of lower-income households who are most likely to spend it immediately. Employment Insurance, which now serves only four in ten unemployed Canadians, must be restored and strengthened. Ottawa should also bolster its transfers to the hardest hit provinces and territories so that they do not bear the full burden of social assistance and other recession-linked cost increases.
Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
The Caledon Institute of Social Policy does rigorous, high-quality research and analysis; seeks to inform and influence public opinion and to foster public discussion on poverty and social policy; and develops and promotes concrete, practicable proposals for the reform of social programs at all levels of government and of social benefits provided by employers and the voluntary sector.

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Poverty Policy (PDF - 119K, 36 pages)
By Sherri Torjman
October 2008
This paper discusses ten major policy areas that comprise the core of a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy:
* affordable housing * early childhood development * high school completion and improved literacy proficiency * demand-driven customized training * improved minimum wages and enhanced supplementation of low earnings and of income * a restored and improved unemployment insurance system * adequate income and appropriate supports for persons with disabilities * assistance with the creation of assets for low- and modest-income households, support for the social economy * strong social infrastructure * place-based initiatives that fashion integrated approaches to intervention and that create effective responses to tackling poverty through creative combinations of resources and approaches.

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Federal Election – Politicians refuse to admit that deficits are inevitable (PDF - 35K, 3 pages)
By Michael Mendelson
October 2008
This article, which first appeared in the Toronto Star, argues that Canada will be caught in a prolonged recession in the US. If so, most governments in Canada will end up with deficits in the next few years, and it is better to plan for this eventuality than to just hope it does not happen. The real challenge is to maintain fiscal discipline even when deficits are permitted. If governments plan sensibly, they can establish ‘fiscal rules’ setting out what deficit financing can be used to pay for and how large deficits can be.

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Make Work Pay (PDF - 34K, 2 pages)
Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
September 2008
This Labour Day commentary explores various actions that governments and employers can take to improve the earnings of the working poor. One in four Canadian workers makes just $10 an hour or less and close to half (44 percent) of low-income households have at least one working adult. Key policy reforms include increasing and indexing minimum wages, investing in education and training, ensuring an adequate supply of decent affordable housing and enhancing the Canada Child Tax Benefit. This commentary focuses upon essential changes to the amount and design of the Working Income Tax Benefit - the federal policy measure whose intended purpose is to help make work pay.

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Social Profits (PDF - 49K, 7 pages)
Sherri Torjman
September 2008
This essay discusses the various dimensions of the social economy - a unique and burgeoning sector of the economy in which business enterprises and economic activity seek not only to generate revenue but also to advance social goals. There are hundreds of thousands of hybrid businesses, also known as social enterprises, which are taking their place on the world stage - and increasingly in stock market portfolios. They try both to generate profit and create social value. They are sometimes referred to as ‘blended value’ organizations because that is precisely what they do. This paper explores their many different forms and puts forward policy proposals to bolster social enterprises within the Canadian economy.

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Canadians Need a Medium-Term Sickness/Disability Income Benefit (PDF file - 112K, 36 pages)
By Michael J. Prince
January 2008
This paper focuses upon a serious weakness in Canada’s income security system. There is a major gap in social insurance coverage for millions of Canadians whose work and earnings are interrupted on a temporary or recurring basis because of illness or disability. This paper examines the current relationship between Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits, and explores possibilities for stronger linkages between these programs. Various options for a medium-term sickness/disability income benefit are considered along with their respective strengths and weaknesses.

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A Tale of Two Pension Plans: The Differing Fortunes of the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans (PDF file - 192K, 46 pages)
By Ed Tamagno
January 2008
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) are headed towards an historical crossroads. The most recent actuarial valuation of the CPP shows that the federal scheme is sound in its financing and should remain financially sound for the foreseeable future, without the need for any increase in its contribution rate over the next 75 years. Not entirely so, however, for the QPP. Although the Quebec plan is in no imminent financial difficulty, its most recent actuarial valuation indicates that changes to the QPP’s financing or benefits must be made well before 2050 or the scheme will be unable to meet its commitments fully after that year. This paper examines the reasons for the divergence in the financial projections of the Canada and the Quebec Pension Plans and proposes ways in which the parallelism of the two schemes, which has been a mainstay of federal and provincial policy for over four decades, can be maintained.

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Caledon Response to Liberal
Poverty Strategy (PDF file - 264K, 9 pages)
by Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman,
Michael Mendelson and Ed Tamagno
November 2007
"(...)The renewed focus on poverty is long overdue. Strong and explicit federal leadership, along with cooperation with the provinces and territories in several key areas, are essential to attain significant reductions in poverty. But real progress will not be possible unless sound policy measures are employed to achieve this crucial goal.

Related link:

Liberal Party commitment to reduce the number of those living in poverty

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Repairing Canada's Social Safety Net (PDF file - 276K, 14 pages)
Sherri Torjman, May 2007
The Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada invited departmental representatives and four outside panelists to a roundtable to consider options for repairing Canada’s social safety net. This paper summarizes the highlights from Caledon’s contribution, which made the case for the need to reform Employment Insurance and welfare in concert and in association with labour market changes... (Read the complete abstract)

Other Caledon reports - links to all 500+ reports from May 1993 to date
Search Caledon publications

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Tax Fairness According to Canada's New Government (PDF file - 70K, 13 pages)
Ed Tamagno and Ken Battle
November 2006
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s surprise announcement on October 31, 2006, shutting down income trusts was front page news across Canada. Little media attention, however, was given to other changes to the income tax system announced at the same time. These include two of particular importance to seniors: a proposal to allow couples to split pension income and an increase in the age credit. This commentary analyzes these proposed changes to the tax system and who will benefit if they are implemented. It shows that the splitting of pension income will provide windfall benefits to some of the wealthiest seniors, only modest benefits to middle-income seniors, and nothing at all to the poorest of Canada’s elderly. The commentary goes on to present an alternative approach - involving changes to the age credit and pension income credit - that is fairer and that would cost no more, and probably even a bit less, than the government’s proposals.

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Towards a New Architecture for Canada's Adult Benefits (PDF file - 143K, 37 pages)
Ken Battle, Michael Mendelson and Sherri Torjman
June 2006
Since its creation in 1992, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy has worked to modernize Canada’s social security system. We have made the case for major changes not just to individual social programs but to the basic structures and functions – the ‘architecture’, to use the current vogue term – of social policy. This paper advances our work on the modernization agenda in a large area of Canadian social policy that has for the most part defied successful reform – income security programs and supportive services for working-age adults, which Caledon has dubbed ‘adult benefits.’ The first part of the paper explains why current programs – especially welfare and Employment Insurance, the two core adult benefits – fail to meet the needs of working-age Canadians. Fundamental and comprehensive reform is required, through integrated changes to both federal and provincial/territorial programs and a realignment of governments’ roles and responsibilities. The second part offers our thinking on how to build a new architecture for adult benefits.

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Finding Common Ground on Child Care (PDF file - 15K, 3 pages)
Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman and Michael Mendelson
February 2006
The proposed $1,200 Choice in Child Care Allowance is a stealth program that will in fact deliver smaller benefits than advertised. Caledon proposes that the federal government instead deliver the $1,200 through the tried and true Canada Child Tax Benefit.

Related Links:

Choice in Child Care Allowance - from the website of the Conservative Party of Canada
- incl. information on the Child Care Allowance, along with links to 20 news videos and articles about the Allowance.
Sample video:
December 12
News Conference, Rona Ambrose
NOTE: This is streaming video that you may not be able to access on a computer that's on a network either at the office or in a university. If you're interested in the area of child care and early learning, I highly recommend that you read the articles on the Conservative website...

Google Web Search Results : "Choice in Child Care Allowance"
Google News search Results : "Choice in Child Care Allowance"
Source:
Google.ca

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The Choice in Child Care Allowance: What you See Is Not What You Get (PDF file - 63K, 7 pages)
Ken Battle, January 2006
The Conservatives’ plan for a “Choice in Child Care Allowance” is seriously flawed. Because the new program will trigger reductions in federal and provincial/territorial income-tested benefits and increases in income taxes, most families will end up with less – for modest-income families in the $30,000-$40,000 range, much less - than the gross $1,200 annual payment for every child under 6. The Child Care Allowance also will favour one-earner couples over single parents and two-earner families. The proposed scheme is really a child benefit, not a child care program. Caledon contends that it would be better to invest in further increases to the existing Canada Child Tax Benefit, a modern and effective social program that suffers from none of the failings of the proposed Choice in Child Care Allowance.

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There's Madness to this Method (PDF file - 18K, 4 pages)
Sherri Torjman, January 2006
The November 2003 Report of the Auditor General, released in February 2004, set in motion a chain of events that led to an obsession with accountability. The November 2005 report of the Auditor General, by contrast, barely created any interest – despite several important recommendations that could help the federal government and voluntary organizations do their jobs more effectively. The latest audit looked at federal policies and practices around the creation, coordination and oversight of ‘horizontal initiatives.’ The Auditor General instructed central agencies to provide more explicit guidance for horizontal practice related to common application procedures, funding instruments, data collection, reporting practices and evaluation frameworks.

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Evaluation Framework for Federal Investment in the Social Economy: A Discussion Paper (PDF file - 97K, 33 pages)
Eric Leviten-Reid and Sherri Torjman, January 2006
This paper was prepared on behalf of Social Development Canada to support the department and its partners in developing an evaluation framework for potential federal investment in the social economy. It also informed the efforts of government partners in their formulation of a horizontal Results Based Accountability Framework for the social economy initiatives announced in the 2004 federal Budget. The report discusses the nature of the social economy, identifies issues and challenges involved in evaluating its activities and proposes a learning-oriented approach to its evaluation. The paper also presents a logic model for conceptualizing the work of the social economy, including the broad societal objectives it seeks to achieve, major types of investment and support to sustain this activity, and results for households, organizations, communities and the social economy sector as a whole.

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Vibrant Communities Calgary: Awareness, Engagement and Policy Change (PDF file - 36K, 9 pages)
Anne Makhoul and Eric Leviten-Reid, January 2006
By educating Calgarians about the complex realities of poverty and influencing the development of responsive public policies, Vibrant Communities Calgary is trying to create a profound shift in thinking. It seeks to move from a climate that sees poverty as a personal problem to one in which systemic change makes it possible for individuals and households to improve their circumstances. This is the second in a series of stories which describe the poverty reduction work of the six Vibrant Communities Trail Builders.

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Strategies for Achieving Equity and Prosperity in Saskatchewan (PDF file - 50K, 15 pages)
Rick August, January 2006
This paper focuses on the coexistence of strong labour demand in Saskatchewan, and a chronically underemployed segment of the population that is not achieving full economic citizenship. It argues that these circumstances afford an opportunity to strengthen the province’s labour force and economy, while at the same time increasing the economic inclusion of its disadvantaged citizens. The paper proposes a strategy to reduce economic disadvantage through employment and productivity growth. On a practical level, it argues for a partnership between government and employers that would help potential workers to prepare for entry-level employment, and from this base of employment, to improve their employment security and income through productivity growth. The analysis relies on enabling approaches to public policy that are designed to influence market forces towards more equitable outcomes, and harness human motivations and energies to improve personal and societal outcomes. The paper argues that a fair distribution of wealth is achievable within the context of a competitive market economy, and that an employment inclusion and productivity growth strategy could lead to sustainable gains in both Saskatchewan’s aggregate wealth and its distributional equity.

A Working Income Tax Benefit That Works (PDF file - 15K, 3 pages)
Ken Battle and Michael Mendelson, November 2005
Like the National Child Benefit, the Working Income Tax Benefit should be debated and developed as a national – not just federal, nor just provincial/territorial – social policy reform.

Anyone Got a Plan? (PDF file - 19K, 4 pages)
Michael Mendelson, November 2005
Caledon Senior Scholar Michael Mendelson challenges governments to start thinking and talking about – and planning for – an inevitable looming crisis: the next recession.

The Disability Savings Plan: Contribution Estimates and Policy Issues (PDF file - 133K, 47 pages)
Keith Horner, November 2005

The Disability Savings Plan: Policy Milieu and Model Development (PDF file - 86K, 35 pages)
Richard Shillington, November 2005

Intergenerational Dimensions of Canada's Fiscal System (PDF file - 81K, 27 pages)
Joe Ruggerri, Yang Zou and Shannon Garrett, November 2005

real leaders volume 15 - Senator Landon Pearson (PDF file - 29K, 4 pages)
Anne Makhoul, November 2005
Senator Landon Pearson – the Senator for Children and the Children’s Senator – retires from her seat in the Senate in November 2005. This issue of ‘real leaders’ is dedicated to a woman whose life has been devoted to the task of advocating for children and youth.

Measuring child benefits: Measuring child poverty (PDF file - 270K, 73 pages)
February 2005
By Michael Mendelson
"This report addresses two critical questions in social policy: what is child poverty and how much is an adequate child benefit? To answer these questions, the report provides an analytic basis to distinguish between poverty among families with children and that element of their poverty that is properly understood as ‘child poverty.’ It argues that child benefits should cover the incremental cost of raising a child in a family living just above poverty levels. But to estimate an adequate child benefit, we must then define ‘poverty.’ Building upon a critical review of Canadian and international research, the report describes two alternative methodologies that could be adopted to develop a well-grounded Canadian poverty line. The report provides a number of preliminary quantitative estimates of the value of an adequate child benefit according to these methodologies. This report will challenge your understanding of ‘child poverty,’ how it should be measured and the role of child benefits in addressing it."

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Presentation to the Finance Committee Pre-Budget Consultation
November 2004
Sherri Torjman, Ken Battle and Michael Mendelson
"This paper (...) discusses several key principles to help guide the spending of the federal surplus: transparency, balance and purpose. The paper proposes that the surplus not be directed towards debt reduction but rather towards a combination of program and tax reduction measures. With respect to program expenditure, the authors have identified three top priorities from a wide range of proposals they have put forward over the years: child benefits, early childhood care and learning, and community supports for persons with disabilities and the aging population. Possible tax reductions related to employment and education would be directed towards low- and modest-income households."

Presentation (PDF file - 56K, 13 pages)

Related links:
- go to the Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm

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Transitions Revisited: Implementing the Vision
By John Stapleton
September 2004
"Transitions, the landmark 1988 report of the Social Assistance Review in Ontario, created a new vision for social assistance and related programs that called for a radically redesigned set of child benefits, a new income program for persons with disabilities and a new direction to bring welfare recipients into the mainstream of community life. Although some early investments were made to implement the vision, these reforms were largely dismantled in the mid- to late-1990s. John Stapleton, a former public servant and senior policy advisor to members of the Social Assistance Review Committee from 1986-1988, argues that there has never been a better time to bring some of the key proposals of Transitions up to date and to seriously consider implementing them."
[Abstract]

Complete report (PDF file - 135K, 38 pages)

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Aboriginal People in Canada's Labour Market: Work and Unemployment, Today and Tomorrow
Abstract in English and French + link to the complete report in both official languages (46 pages in English)
[ version française : Les Autochtones sur le marché du travail canadien : travail et chômage, aujourd'hui et demain ]
Michael Mendelson
April 2004
"Has the labour market situation of Aboriginal people in Canada been improving over the last several years? This paper uses data from the 1996 and 2001 censuses to present comprehensive, factual answers to this question."
Related Links: go to the Canadian Social Research Links First Nations page

Learning and Evaluation for Poverty Reduction
Abstract in English and French + link to the complete report in both official languages
L'Apprentissage et l'évaluation dans le cadre d'initiatives de réduction de pauvreté
Sherri Torjman and Eric Leviten-Reid
March 2004
"This is the sixth in a series of papers written in support of the Vibrant Communities project, a four-year national effort to explore promising local solutions to reduce poverty. The paper discusses various aspects of community learning. It describes how the Pan-Canadian Learning Partnership, which comprises the foundation of Vibrant Communities, engages in a process of continual learning to inform and improve local efforts. The paper also explores the challenges involved in evaluating comprehensive community initiatives. It discusses the ‘logic model’ of evaluation. This approach is based on the assumption that there is a sequence of events which must take place, and that build upon each other in a logical fashion, in order to effect any complex change. The intermediary steps along the way can then be identified and assessed."

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Reflections on Vibrant Communities
Eric Leviten-Reid
March 2004
(version française : Reflexion sur le projet collectivité dynamiques)
"This is the seventh in series of papers written in support of the Vibrant Communities project. This paper reflects on the first 18 months of the Vibrant Communities experience and the Face-to-Face Forum in Guelph, Ontario, September 22-24, 2003. This Forum provided an opportunity for participants in Vibrant Communities to reflect on their experience in order to sharpen their focus and refine strategies for the next phases of the work. The aim of this paper is to capture some of the key lessons and observations from the early days of Vibrant Communities."
Complete report (PDF file - 73K, 20 pages)
Document complet en français (fichier PDF - 83Ko., 24 pages)

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Three Choices for the Future of Medicare
Gregory P. Marchildon
April 2004
This paper argues that Canadians are at a crossroads in terms of the future of medicare. Critical directional decisions will be made at the First Ministers Meeting in a few months. Ottawa must decide its role before it negotiates with the provinces the future of a policy that is an integral part of the country’s identity.
Complete report - (PDF file - 88K, 20 pages)
Related Links: go to the Canadian Social Research Links Medicare Debate Links page

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The Repair of Taxation
December 2003
Tom Kent
"...argues that federal taxation has become so unfair and so slack, so undermined by avoidance and evasion, that its repair is now the urgent social reform on which others depend. (...)The paper offers a combination of reforms to increase government revenues in ways both better for the economy and more progressive for society."
Complete report (PDF file - 88K, 26 pages)

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New Ingredients for the Fiscal Pie
Sherri Torjman, December 2003
"...argues the need for exploring possible methods of expanding the ‘fiscal pie.’ It explores one possible model put forward by PLAN (Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network), a group of parents of children with severe disabilities. The group proposes a combination of private savings and public spending to help develop caring communities. (...) The proposal represents one idea in a range of possible savings and investment mechanisms to expand the fiscal pie – a direction which we should be debating seriously as a nation."
Complete report (PDF file - 19K, 3 pages)

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Community Renewal
Sherri Torjman, December 2003

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Why Canada Needs a Federal-Provincial Social Security Review Now
Ken Battle and Michael Mendelson, December 2003

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Accountability versus Conditionality: The Future of the Canada Social Transfer
Michael Mendelson, December 2003

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Student Loans for Refugees: A Success Story in Policy Change
Louise Slobodian and Harry J. Kits, December 2003

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The Values of the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement
Audrey Macklin, December 2003

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Innovation and Poverty Reduction
Sherri Torjman and Eric Leviten-Reid, November 2003
[version française :
Innovation et la réduction de la pauvreté
Sherri Torjman et Eric Leviten-Reid, novembre 2003]

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Community-based Poverty Reduction: The Québec Experience
by William Ninacs
September 2003
Abstract
Full report (PDF file - 47K, 17 pages)
Highly recommended!
This is an excellent primer for people who want general information on how Quebec's social protection system works. It contains a brief overview of the evolution of Quebec's social, political cultural and economic fabric, with a special focus on community economic development
- Table of contents : Population and territorial organization - The ‘Quiet Revolution’ (1960 -66) - Culture - Economic development - Health and welfare - Community organizations and related social movements - Evolution of Québec government policies toward poverty reduction - Local and community economic development - Key theoretical constructs - Social development - Social economy

Related Links (five case studies in community economic development):
Incl. links to the following case studies:
- Centraide of Greater Montréal: A Case Study
- The Collective for a Poverty-Free Québec: A Case Study
- CDÉC de Trois-Rivières: A Case Study
- The Lanaudière Table of Partners for Social Development: A Case Study
- Renaissance Montréal: A Case Study
NOTA: ces études sont également disponibles en français

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Sustaining Public Pensions in Canada: A Tale of Two Reforms
Ken Battle, July 2003
- analysis of two recent public pension reform projects in Canada - the Seniors Benefit and the reform of Canada Pension Plan financing.
Complete report (PDF file - 468K 53 pages)

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Child Benefits Levels in 2003 and Beyond: Australia, Canada, the UK and the US
Michael Mendelson
April 2003
Abstract
"Australia, Canada, the UK and the US all have programs providing cash benefits to families with children. This study is a detailed comparison of current child benefit rates in the four countries, for a representative lone parent family with one child and a two-parent family with two children. It also compares Canada’s child benefits in 2007, when all announced increases are implemented, to those in Australia, the UK and the US. The paper calculates the changes that would be needed to replicate UK child benefits in Canada, and analyzes the implications of these changes."
Full Document (PDF file - 75K, 13 pages)

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Canada needs social policy that works, says new Caledon report
Press Release/Abstract
September 25, 2002
"We look to next week’s Speech From the Throne to advance the ideas put forward in our social policy-that-works agenda."
Proposals include:
- increasing the the maximum annual Canada Child Tax Benefit
- boosting federal transfers to the provinces and territories for early childhood development
- improving paid parental leave
- replacing welfare with a Basic Income Support system (Basic Wage + Training Allowance + Basic Support for those who can't work)
- indexing minimum wages and examining minimum wages
- launching a national Employment Skills and Learning Strategy
- developing a policy framework to support community economic development
- offering supplementary health benefits to all low- and modest-income Canadians
- improving targeted tax relief
- creating a Disability Supports Fund; improving tax benefits for Canadians with disabilities; developing a new National Disability Benefit.
- helping to build a strong social foundation for cities
Complete report online:
Social Policy That Works: An Agenda (PDF file - 68K, 22 pages)
by Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
September 2002

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A New Era in British Columbia: A Profile of Budget Cuts Across Social Programs (PDF file - 36K, 10 pages)
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
July 2002
"This paper is a summary of the wide range of reductions and cuts the BC Liberals have introduced to social programs over the past year. It documents changes in the areas of health care, education, income security, justice, and services for children, women and persons with disabilities."

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Fiscal Imbalances and the Financing of National Programs (PDF file - 23K, 5 pages)
Joe Ruggeri, July 2002
"This paper explores the state of government finances in Canada. It focusses upon the growing fiscal imbalance, commonly known as vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI), between the federal and provincial/territorial levels of government."

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Canada 2015: Globalization and the Future of Canada’s Health and Health Care (PDF file - 114K, 35 pages)
Michael Mendelson and Pamela Divinsky
July 2002
This report describes four scenarios for future global economic and political structures – called Global Club, Shared Governance, Cyberwave and Regional Dominators – and looks at the future of health and health care in Canada within each of these scenarios. The report is part of the ‘Future of Global and Regional Integration’ project, sponsored by the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at Queen’s University, where the scenarios originally were developed. The report is meant to speculate not so much on what will be, as what could be, in an effort to stimulate consideration of our health system’s relationship to global futures.

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The Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefit
February 2002
"This report presents a policy history of the Canada Pension Plan disability benefit. It discusses the strengths and unique features of this national program, trends in caseload and cost, key issues related to the disability benefit, appeals procedures and options for reform."
Complete Text (PDF file - 150K, 62 pages)

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Medicure
February 2002
"This op ed points out how the loss of the Canada Assistance Plan in 1996 shook the foundation of community supports that help keep people out of hospital and decimated the systems of community care that enable patients to return or remain at home. The lack of community supports has created serious pressures for Canada’s health care system."
Complete Text (PDF file - 15K, 2 pages)

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From Trade-Off to Trade-Up
February 2002
"This paper, presented at the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs, argues that economic competitiveness and social cohesion are not a trade-off, but rather are intrinsically linked. It discusses three key means of advancing an integrated economic and social agenda: through practices, decision-making and trade standards that integrate competitiveness and cohesion."
Complete Text (PDF file - 50K, 17 pages)

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Equalization: Will The Attacks Ever End?
February 2002
"In this commentary, the author contends that a recent misinterpretation regarding the equalization formula not only would undermine the constitutional foundations of the equalization program but also would threaten the existence of social programs, including health care, education and social assistance."
Complete Text (PDF file - 17K, 3 pages)

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Enterprising Non-profits
February 2002
"This story describes the development of a program in British Columbia which supports non-profit organizations in their bid to diversify revenue sources by launching business enterprises. Started as a pilot project in 1997, the Enterprising Non-profits Program (ENP) was initiated by a partnership between VanCity Community Foundation, Vancouver Foundation, United Way of the Lower Mainland and VanCity Credit Union."
Complete Text (PDF file - 30K, 8 pages)

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Reaching Past the Barricades: Conflict Resolution at International Summit Events
February 2002
"World summit events have recently been marked by violence, injury and property destruction. A process for engaging police, media, politicians, activists and the general public has been developed by a team at Saint Paul University in Ottawa in the hope that an inclusive approach to crowd management can direct the planning and implementation of such events."
Complete Text (PDF file - 72K, 8 pages)

Source : Hot Off The Press (Caledon institute of Social Policy)
TIP : Click this link to see another dozen Caledon reports dating back to October 2001

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Relentless Incrementalism: Deconstructing and Reconstructing Canadian Income Security Policy (PDF file - 170K, 59 pages)
by Ken Battle
June 2001
This article was originally published in Keith Banting, Andrew Sharpe and France St-Hilaire (eds.) The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress. The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s (Montreal and Ottawa: Institute for Research on Public Policy and Centre for the Study of Living Standards, 2001)

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Social Programs: Reconstruction Not Restoration
Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman and Michael Mendelson
October 2000
In a brief to the Finance Committee, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy calls for the “reconstruction not restoration” of Canadian social programs. In the emerging post-deficit era, ‘social reinvestment’ cannot mean simply a return to the social programs of the past.
Abstract
Complete report (PDF file, 81K, 22 pages)

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Booming for Whom? People in Ontario Talk About Incomes, Jobs and Social Programs
Kate Bezanson and Susan McMurray, October 2000
Despite the Ontario government's claim that "families are better off," many people in Ontario are worse off and struggling to get by, says
a report released today by the Caledon Institute.
Abstract
Complete report (PDF file, 316K, 44 pages)

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First Ministers' Last Priority (Abstract)
Sherri Torjman
September 2000
Complete report (PDF file, 2 pages, 21K)
- Commentary concerning government services for people with disabilities and the In Unison report

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A Proposed Model Framework for Early Childhood Development Services Within the National Children's Agenda (Abstract)
Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
September 2000
Complete report (PDF file, 7 pages, 31K)

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Survival-of-the-Fittest Employment Policy
Sherri Torjman
April 2000
The above link takes you to an abstract , ordering information (if you want a paper copy) and a link to the [free] online version of the full report (PDF file - 164K, 65 pages)
"...explores the barriers in the overall policy context: no coordinated approach, no coherent progression, lack of national vision, the 'creaming' effect, lack of stable financing and lack of transitional supports. (...) - describes the policy barriers in the components of the employment system in Ontario: Employment Insurance, federal-provincial labour market agreements, Ontario training, student loans, disability programs and Ontario Works. The paper discusses how the philosophical shifts that underlie major income security programs and their associated employment supports have spawned a 'do-it-yourself' approach to training."

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The Payback Budget of 2000
March 2000

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How to Do a Children's Budget and a Tax Cut Budget in 2000
October 1999

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Poverty Eases Slightly
April 1999
- includes an extensive analysis of poverty over time, the depth of poverty in Canada, poverty numbers by province in 1997, high-risk groups, etc.

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Child Benefit Reform: A Case Study in Tax/Transfer Integration
April 1999
- A comprehensive analysis of child benefits

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The National Child Benefit: Another Hiccup or Fundamental Structural Reform? Ken Battle, October, 1998 (Presentation at the Conference on the State of Living Standards and the Quality of Life in Canada. Held October 30-31, 1998 at the Chateau Laurier, Ottawa)
Child Benefit Reform in Canada: an evaluative framework and future directions
-Ken Battle and Michael Mendelson, November 1997

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Social Policy 2000: An Agenda, by Tom Kent (January 1999) draws inspiration from the author’s influential 1960 tract Towards a Philosophy of Social Security, the blueprint for the phenomenal development of social programs in the 1960s

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Health Care/Caring for Health (September 1998)

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Welfare Warfare, November 1997

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*Workfare: A Poor Law
February 1996

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Can Workfare Work? Reflections from History, February, 1996

Maytree Foundation
Principal funder of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, the Maytree Foundation is a Canadian charitable foundation established in 1982. Maytree believes that there are three fundamental sets of issues which threaten political and social stability: wealth disparities between and within nations; mass migration of people because of war, oppression and environmental disasters; and the degradation of the environment

Maytree Links - great collection, including links to a number of foundations with similar aims.

Brain Drain, Brain Gain
Session Proceedings
May 25, 2000
Presented by The Maytree Foundation and The St. Lawrence Centre Forum
There is an intense media focus on the brain drain from Canada to the United States. At the same time, Canada is experiencing a largely unrecognized brain gain of skilled and qualified immigrants. This movement of human capital has significant implications for Canada’s values, cultures and institutions. Yet much of the public debate about the issue is based on misperceptions and incomplete information.
- In the interest of separating fact from fiction and encouraging informed discussion, The Maytree Foundation sponsored a public forum on Brain Drain, Brain Gain at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto on May 25, 2000. Four expert panelists were asked to address the following key questions:
· Is the brain drain to the US a significant problem?
· How are other countries coping with their brain drain?
· How can we make the best use of the talent that comes to our country?
Complete proceedings - PDF version (33 pages, 169K) - same content as the link above but in Adobe Acrobat format.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
"The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice. Founded in 1980, the CCPA is one of Canada’s leading progressive voices in public policy debates. By combining solid research with extensive outreach, we work to enrich democratic dialogue and ensure Canadians know there are workable solutions to the issues we face. "

Site map - links to everything on one page

About the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
- includes a brief description of the CCPA and links (in the left margin of the page) to separate pages for the National CCPA Office and each of its provincial offices.
- each CCPA Office page has links to : Contact Us * Publications * Research Associates * Board of Directors; immediately below, you'll find links to the 'home page' for each provincial office and its publications page

British Columbia Office
- Publications

Saskatchewan Office
- Publications

Manitoba Office
- Publications

Ontario Office
- Publications

Nova Scotia Office
- Publications

Alternative Federal Budget
"Our alternative budgets show that governments budgets can be created in a way that is both fiscally and socially responsible. The CCPA has been coordinating the Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) since 1994, and our provincial offices produce alternative provincial budgets.
NOTE: click on the provincial links above for their respective Alternative Budgets

For more Government budget info (incl. federal pre-budget consultations and provincial-territorial budgets): Go to the Canadian Social Research Links Canadian Government Budgets page

GrowingGap.ca
The growinggap.ca is an initiative of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Inequality Project, a national project to increase public awareness about the alarming spread of income and wealth inequality in Canada.

Research and Publications
The CCPA publishes research and analysis on a wide range of social and economic issues in many different formats.
- incl. links to CCPA reports and studies (including backgrounders, policy briefs and major research studies) - News releases - Editorials (opinion pieces that provide a quick overview of current issues) - Selected articles from The Monitor (the CCPA’s monthly magazine) - Selected articles from Our Schools / Our Selves (a quarterly journal on education) - Popular primers that provide they key facts on issues in an accessible format - Information on specific research projects

Sample reports from the CCPA:

Understanding the Link Between Welfare Policy and the Use of Food Banks (PDF - 401K, 34 pages)
April 2009
By Michael Goldberg and David A. Green
This report examines who uses food banks in Canada and how food bank use relates to changes in government welfare policy. Data collected by Food Banks Canada show that food bank use increased dramatically from just over 700,000 Canadians using food banks during March 1998 to over 840,000 in March 2004. This increase occurred in spite of increases in employment rates and average wages and decreases in the number of welfare recipients over this period. Since then, the numbers using food banks have declined to levels near those in the late 1990s but this indicates that the prolonged economic boom simply by-passed a substantial number of the least well-off in our society. Now that the boom appears to be over, the number of persons using the food banks will almost certainly swell. The report makes several recommendations to help ensure that all residents have a right to adequate and appropriate food.
Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Related link:

Welfare cuts drive up food bank use, study confirms
April 30, 2009
By Laurie Monsebraaten
Canada's booming economy helped reduce food bank use before the recession, but it didn't erase the surge that followed provincial welfare cuts of the 1990s, says a study to be released today. And unless federal and provincial governments repair the country's tattered social safety net, more Canadians will be forced to rely on food banks as the economic crisis deepens, the study warns.The study, by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, is the first national analysis of how welfare policy affects food bank use.
Source:
Toronto Star

Recession packs biggest wallop since 1930s: Study
April 28, 2009
Press Release
OTTAWA – This recession is hitting Canada harder and faster than any previous downturn and Canadians are more exposed to economic ruin than they’ve been since the 1930s, says a report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). Exposed: Revealing Truths About Canada’s Recession examines the previous 13 economic downturns and discovers two troubling signs: no other recession since the Great Depression has come on this strong and Canadians face greater vulnerability than at any time since the 1940s because of low savings, high household debt and a weakened social safety net.

Complete report:

EXPOSED: Revealing Truths About Canada’s Recession (PDF - 1.3MB, 43 pages)
By Armine Yalnizyan
This report looks at the signs of the current recession and compares it to Canada’s 13 other recessions, going all the way back to 1926. It discovers that, including the Great Depression, Canada’s economy has only had six experiences of economic decline lasting two quarters or more. It reveals how this recession has several things in common with the two biggest downturns in post-war history, but there are also important, and troubling, differences.

Deceptive economic glimmers
By Thomas Walkom
April 29, 2009
"(...) In the Great Depression, it took more than 12 years for the unemployment rate to return to 1929 levels. By a similar measure, the recession of the '80s lasted seven years. [Armine] Yalnizyan's remedy for this slump is to have government do more, more and more again – for the simple reason that there is nowhere else to turn. She makes a convincing case that Canada, in spite of entering this downturn from a relatively strong position, is more exposed than it has been at any time since the 1930s.
Source:
Toronto Star

Public services a bargain for Canadians: Study
Press Release
April 15, 2009
TORONTO – The majority of Canadian households enjoy a higher quality of life because the public services their taxes fund come at a solid bargain, according to a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). Canada’s Quiet Bargain: The Benefits of Public Spending responds to incessant calls for tax cuts and concludes public services make a significant contribution to the majority of Canadians’ standard of living – worth at least 50% of their income.

Complete report:

Canada's Quiet Bargain:
The Benefits of Public Spending (PDF - 1.3MB, 40 pages)
April 2009
By Hugh Mackenzie and Richard Shillington
[ Version française : L'aubaine discrète du Canada ]
"(...) This path-breaking study raises serious questions about continuing Canada’s tax cut agenda and provides robust evidence that the taxes Canadians pay contribute substantially to their standard of living by providing them with some of the best public services in the world. "

Fact Sheet:
Public services...a quiet bargain (PDF - 198K, 2 pages)
(...)
The tax cuts implemented by federal and provincial governments over the past 15 years have reduced the living standards of the majority of Canadians.
The majority of Canadians would be better off if their governments had invested in improving and expanding local public services instead of cutting taxes.
75% of Canadians would be better off if their provincial governments invested in public services instead of broad-based income tax cuts.

Alternative Budget stimulus package injects 2% of GDP into economy and creates 407,000 jobs
Press Release
January 6, 2009
OTTAWA—Today the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released the Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) fiscal stimulus plan, a one-year package that would create 407,000 jobs, boost the economy by 3%, and help protect Canadians from the worst of a recession.

Complete report:

Leadership for Tough Times:
Alternative Federal Budget Fiscal Stimulus Plan (PDF - 330K, 28 pages)
January 2009

Source:
Alternative Federal Budget - incl. links to over two dozen earlier alternative budget papers

Also from CCPA:

Canada’s top CEOs reach new pay high
Press Release
January 2, 2009
TORONTO – Canada may be in for a rocky economic ride, but the nation’s best paid 100 CEOs are still basking in the glow of the banner year of 2007: they got a record 22% average pay hike in 2007. Canada’s best paid 100 CEOs tallied one billion in average total earnings – a historical first, according to a report on CEO pay by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Banner year for Canada's CEOs:
Record High Pay Increase (PDF - 390K, 17 pages)
January 2009
By Hugh Mackenzie

Ready for Leadership:
Canadians’ perceptions of poverty (PDF - 516K, 25 pages)
October 2008
By Trish Hennessy & Armine Yalnizyan
The majority of Canadians believe Canada should try to distinguish itself in the world as a country where no one lives in poverty, according to an Environics Research poll conducted for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The national poll reveals 90% of Canadians say they would be proud if their Premier took the lead in reducing poverty in their province; 88% want Canada to be a leader in poverty reduction; and 77% say a recession is all the more reason to act now.

Why Inequality Matters: Presentation to the Canadian Labour Congress Convention (PDF - 106K, 6 pages)
May 27, 2008
By Armine Yalnizyan
"(...) Unions are [also] looking at poverty through new lenses — not just the importance of improving inadequate incomes, but the necessity of affordability for basics like housing, child care, education, to make sure we are all set on the right path in life.

Why Inequality Matters in 1,000 Words or Less (PDF - 398K, 32 pages)
April 28, 2008
Why Inequality Matters in 1,000 Words or Less is powerful essay series by some of Canada’s leading thinkers on income inequality. The contributors to this essay series come from all kinds of academic backgrounds. Though all the contributors are distinguished and well-respected for their academic work, they are not of like mind. They have differing ideological starting points and differing intellectual approaches. But they agree on this: Income inequality is a problem that should be addressed, right here in Canada. They warn that income inequality and persistent poverty could have serious and adverse effects on our nation. In this series we present the opinions of four economists—Lars Osberg, Charles Beach, Jon Kesselman and David Green; a political scientist— Michael Orsini; a sociologist—John Myles; a philosopher—Frank Cunningham.

Wealth, income inequality rising: Study
Press Release
April 28, 2008
TORONTO – Canada’s inequality in wealth and income is growing, and at a more rapid pace than before, says a new study released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The study, by economist Lars Osberg, looks at 25 years of income and wealth inequality in Canada and finds disturbing new trends.

Complete report:

A Quarter Century of Economic
Inequality in Canada: 1981-2006 (PDF - 995K, 46 pages)
By Lars Osberg
April 2008

Source:
Inequality Project

Related link:

Wealth gap exposes fresh labour challenge
By Michael Valpy
April 26, 2008
The final 2006 census data will portray the richest 5 per cent of Canadians as dramatically accumulating more wealth, the incomes of most residents showing perhaps the greatest stagnancy in the developed world and the nation's poorest falling further and further behind. Immigrants and Canada's native-born youngest male adults will be identified as the prime victims of a 25-year trend in widening income inequality – an inequality some economists believe reflects systemic long-term changes to the labour market rather than transitional bumps in demographics and swings in the business cycle. The data to be released Thursday by Statistics Canada will show median incomes falling for immigrants and native-born 18-to-34-year-old males who compete directly for the same entry level jobs that are increasingly characterized as low-pay, unstable and short term.
Source:
The Globe and Mail

Feeling the debt squeeze?
We highly recommend watching a new documentary, The Debt Trap, on Global TV this Saturday, April 5 at 7 pm EST. The documentary features Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan, who makes the link between rising household debt and the growing income gap between the rich and the rest of us. The documentary will also be rebroadcast on May 24 at 7 pm EST.
The Debt Trap (Global TV)
[ Synopsis of the program ] (April 5 at 7 pm EST; rebroadcast on May 24 at 7 pm EST)

Related link:

CCPA reports by Armine Yalnizyan

Spooked by the prospect of recession?
Toronto-based social policy analyst John Stapleton teaches us a valuable history lesson with his new piece The ‘Last Recession Spook’: A Very Curable Disease, released by the CCPA as part of its Ontario Alternative Budget technical paper series. This paper looks at the history of public investments during economic downturns and finds the ghost of the last recession (in the 1990s) still haunts Canadians, limiting our thinking of what’s possible to modest terms. Exhorting Canadians to start real change and improvement, he writes, “The last recession was unlike all others and rather than reducing government programs during recessions, we used to increase them.”

The ‘Last Recession Spook’: A Very Curable Disease (PDF File, 157K, 5 pages)
Source:
CCPA Ontario Alternative Budget series

Related link:

Open Policy Ontario
(John Stapleton's personal website, incl. links to more commentaries and presentations)

Want to learn more about the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us?
Check out our Growing Gap website, the ultimate resource on income inequality.

Canada's rich taxed less than in the U.S and should pay more: Study
Press Release
December 12, 2007
OTTAWA—Canada should raise federal personal income tax rates on the rich to close the growing income gap and to bring them more in line with those in the U.S., says a study released today by the Alternative Federal Budget project of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The study, by economist Andrew Jackson, points out that Canada's top federal tax rate is considerably lower than the U.S.: The top U.S. tax rate is 35% on incomes over $326,000 and 33% on incomes over $150,000; Canada's top federal income tax rate is 29% on incomes of over $116,000.

Complete study:

Why Charity Isn’t Enough:
The Case for Raising Taxes on Canada’s Rich (PDF file - 216K, 12 pages)
December 2007
By Andrew Jackson
This Alternative Federal Budget Technical Paper makes a clear and simple case for raising taxes among the richest of Canadians, to fund the kinds of things Canadians say they want and need to continue to be productive citizens: public health care, affordable housing, reasonable university tuition, better public infrastructure, public transit, and affordable child care.
Source:
CCPA Alternative Federal Budget Project

Canada’s rich not contributing fair share in taxes: study
Press Release
November 8, 2007
TORONTO – More than a decade’s worth of tax cuts have disproportionately lined the pockets of Canada’s most affluent families, says a new tax study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The study finds the top 1 percent of families in 2005 paid a lower total tax rate than the bottom 10 percent of families.

Complete report:

Eroding Tax Fairness:
Tax Incidence in Canada, 1990 to 2005 (PDF File - 967K, 44 pages)
November 2007

The Shock Doctrine
Naomi Klein speaks about her new book at CCPA event
September 5, 2007
- includes a brief excerpt from her speech
(Vancouver) Footage of Naomi Klein speaking about her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, is now available online at www.youtube.com/policyalternatives or www.policyalternatives.ca/naomi_klein_videos. The set of six videos is from a CCPA fundraiser in Vancouver in February 2007.

Panhandling should not be criminalized, says study
Press Release
September 20, 2007
Restrictions on peaceful panhandling—such as City of Winnipeg Bylaw No. 128/2005—constitute an illegitimate use of state power, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The study, by Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba, says there is no moral or legal justification for turning peaceful beggars into criminals.

Complete report:

The Expressive Liberty of Beggars:
Why it matters to them, and to us (PDF file - 282K, 28 pages)

Towards a More Democratic and Credible BC Budget
Submission to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
September 21, 2007

Report on the Manitoba Economy: 2007
September 13, 2007

How Sustainable is Medicare?
A Closer Look at Aging, Technology and Other Cost Drivers in Canada’s Health Care System
September 13, 2007

Canadian workers’ paycheques in 30-year holding pattern : Study
Press Release
June 28, 2007
OTTAWA – Canadians are working harder and smarter, contributing to a growing economy, but their paycheques have been stagnant for the past 30 years, says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Complete study:

Rising Profit Shares, Falling Wage Shares - (PDF File, 301K, 16 pages)

Related link:

www.GrowingGap.ca
GrowingGap.ca is a project of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
"(...)What does the growing gap look like? In 2004, the richest 10% of families raising children earned 82 times more than the poorest 10% -- almost triple the ratio of 1976, when they earned 31 times more. In after-tax terms the gap is at a 30-year high"

Canada’s growing gap at new 30-year high
Majority of families working harder, less payoff
Press Release
March 1, 2007
TORONTO – Canadian families are putting in more work time, yet most – 80% of them – are getting a smaller share of Canada’s growing economy, says a study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).The study finds Canada’s income gap between the rich and poor is growing, largely because the lion’s share of Canada’s economic growth is going to the richest 10% of families. It’s not going to the majority, the 80% of families earning under a $100,000.

The Rich and the Rest of Us:
The Changing Face of Canada's Growing Gap - PDF File, 613K, 54 pages)
By Armine Yalnizyan
March 2007

Canadian Drug Prices and Expenditures:
Some statistical observations and policy implications
by Joel Lexchin
January 9, 2007
"Aggressive measures needed to control drug spending"

Timing is Everything:
Comparing the earnings of Canada's highest-paid CEOs and the rest of us
by Hugh Mackenzie
January 2, 2007
"By 12:13 pm on New Year's Day, while many Canadians were still nursing a hangover, Canada"s 100 highest paid CEOs had already pocketed what will take minimum wage workers the rest of 2007 to earn."

Why Are Personal Income Tax Revenues Rising So Fast?
by Andrew Jackson
December 18, 2006

More CCPA Reports and Studies

Taxes are good for a nation’s health and well-being—study
Press Release
December 6, 2006
OTTAWA—Canada is falling behind a number of OECD nations in a wide range of social and economic areas, and a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives points to tax cuts as the culprit. The study, by Neil Brooks and Thaddeus Hwong, compares high-tax Nordic countries and low-tax Anglo-American countries on 50 social and economic measures and finds the high-tax Nordic countries score better in 42 categories.

Complete report:

The Social Benefits and Economic Costs of Taxation:
A Comparison of High- and Low-Tax Countries (PDF File - 512K, 55 pages)

[ More research & Publications by Topic: Taxes & tax cuts ]

Growing Gap, Growing Concerns: Poll
Press Release
November 20, 2006
[version française du communiqué:
Sondage : Écart croissant, préoccupations croissantes]
TORONTO – A record high number of Canadians think Canada’s gap between rich and poor is growing – and it’s causing them concern, according to an Environics Research poll conducted for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The poll reveals three-quarters (76%) of Canadians believe Canada’s gap between rich and poor has grown compared to 10 years ago. That number is up from 2003, when 70% thought the gap had grown. In 1990, 68% of Canadians thought the gap had grown.

Complete report:

November 20, 2006
GROWING GAP,
GROWING CONCERNS:
Canadian Attitudes Toward Income Inequality (PDF file - 1MB, 14 pages)
"(...)while many Canadians think that the “rags to riches” story is possible to achieve in Canada, half say that they themselves are only one or two missed pay-cheques away from economic disaster."

Related Link:

The GrowingGap
The growinggap.ca is an initiative of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Inequality Project, a national project to increase public awareness about the alarming spread of income and wealth inequality in Canada.

The Art of the Impossible
Fiscal Federalism and Fiscal Balance in Canada
July 11, 2006
By Hugh Mackenzie
Press Release:
“Fiscal imbalance” caused by interprovincial tax competition--study
Communiqué :
Déséquilibre fiscal—la concurrence fiscale est la cause principale

Complete report:

The Art of the Impossible: Fiscal Federalism and Fiscal Balance in Canada - (PDF file - 1350K, 57 pages)
* Executive Summary - PDF File, 164 Kb
* Résumé - Fichier PDF, 170Ko.

Canada’s high-income earners are not overtaxed—report
Press Release
October 13, 2005
"Despite recent reports to the contrary, Canada’s high-income earners do not pay a disproportionately large share of personal income tax. A new analysis by Prof. Neil Brooks of Osgoode Hall Law School, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, takes a closer look at the numbers in Statistics Canada’s “Tax Incidence in Canada.” The Stats Can report sparked a series of news stories this spring claiming the top 10% of income earners pay 52% of the total tax bill but Brooks finds these figures both misleading and incomplete in assessing the fairness of the tax system.

The Statistics Canada study showed that the share of federal income taxes paid by the top 10% increased from 46% in 1990 to 52.6% in 2002. Brooks points out, however, that this increase is not a result of the tax system becoming more progressive. Instead, the main reason for the increase was because the share of earned income going to the most affluent among us increased by 12.6% over that same period, while the share going to the bottom 50% of tax-filers declined."

Complete analysis:

The Share of Income Tax Paid by the Rich:
The Business Press Gives another Lesson on How to Deceive with Statistics (PDF file - 115K, 7 pages)

CCPA report to House of Commons Finance Committee predicts large surpluses ahead
News Release
August 22, 2005
"OTTAWA—The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, one of the independent forecasters commissioned by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, announced today that is once again forecasting surpluses much higher than the official government figures. In her report to the Committee CCPA Senior Economist Ellen Russell is predicting a surplus of $6.8 billion in 2004/05 and $9.5 billion in 2005/06, while the government is projecting surpluses of $3 billion and $4 billion, respectively. The CCPA’s calculations include the additional spending that was negotiated by the NDP and included in Bill C-48."

Complete report:

Federal Fiscal Forecasting Round 3:
Report to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (PDF file - 208K, 25 pages)

Don’t believe the hype: What’s really behind the Fraser Institute’s “Tax Freedom Day”
News Release
June 16, 2005
"OTTAWA—Each summer the Fraser Institute announces the arrival of 'tax freedom day': the day when Canadians allegedly stop 'working for the government' and start 'working for themselves.' A study by Neil Brooks, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, takes a closer look at Tax Freedom Day and finds that to arrive at this politically loaded and heavily-reported date the Fraser Institute’s calculations understate the income of Canadians, overstate their taxes and misuse the concept of averages."

Tax Freedom Day: A Flawed, Incoherent, and Pernicious Concept (PDF file - 216 K, 27 pages)
By Neil Brooks
"(...)In the guise of helping Canadians to understand their tax system, the Institute presents information that is deeply flawed and misleading — information that in fact seriously limits the public’s ability to understand and participate
meaningfully in the shaping of tax policy." (Excerpt, p.6)

Canadian Policy Research Networks - CPRN

Réseaux canadiens de recherche en politiques publiques - RCRPP
Canadian Policy Research Networks is a non-profit, charitable policy think tank based in Ottawa with a voluntary board of directors. (...) CPRN's mission is to create knowledge and lead public dialogue and debate on social and economic issues important to the well-being of all Canadians. Our goal is to help make Canada a more just, prosperous and caring society.
- incl. links to : About CPRN * People * Newsroom * Publications * Contact Us

E-Network : CPRN’s New Web Site Welcomes You! (PDF file - 78K, 3 pages)
May 3, 2007

CPRN's research areas comprise:
* Children, Youth and Families
* Cities and Communities
* Citizen Engagement
* Democracy, Governance and Citizenship
* Diversity
* Education and Learning
* Health and Health Human Resources
* Job Quality
* Labour Market/ Vulnerable Workers
* Social Protection
Click on a research area link to see a description of CPRNs research in that area along with links to related sub-areas and publications.

Publications - links to 1500+ research reports, briefs, presentations and more, going right back to 1993
News Releases - links to 150+ releases back to 1996 --- includes links to related publications and themes
What's New - links to the latest 20 or so items posted to the CPRN site

Sample content from the CPRN website:

A Safer Haven: Innovations for Improving Social Housing in Canada
December 6, 2007
In 2007, CPRN partnered with the Social Housing Services Corporation of Ontario, the Knowledge Mobilization Unit of York University, and the City of Ottawa (for Infrastructure Canada's Knowledge Building, Outreach and Awareness Program) to support research on social housing by social policy interns.

Complete report:

A Safer Haven: Innovations
for Improving Social Housing in Canada (PDF file - 244K, 33 pages)
- this report is a synthesis of key findings from six research papers produced by CPRN research interns

Social Housing in Canada
- includes links to all six research reports in the collection:
* A Safer Haven: Innovations for Improving Social Housing in Canada
* City-Regions and the Provision of Affordable Rental Housing
* Fostering Better Integration and Partnerships for Housing in Canada: Lessons for Creating a Stronger Policy Model of Governmental and Community Collaboration
* Inclusion and Social Housing Practice in Canadian Cities: Following the Path from Good Intentions to Sustainable Projects
* Moving Towards Sustainability: City-Regions and Their Infrastructure
* Social Lives in Social Housing: Resident Connections to Social Services
* Sustaining Ontario's Subsidized Housing by Supporting Non-Profit Organizations

The Feds Are Widening, Not Closing, the Prosperity Gap (PDF file - 32K, 2 pages)
by David Hay
May 31, 2007
A recent Statistics Canada report revealed a growing gap between the rich and poor in this country. The report on income inequality and redistribution suggests that the labour market and specifically high-earning couples are the reason behind this. "A key driver of this is the rising earning power of the two-earner family, especially when both earners are highly educated" says the report. David Hay, CPRN's Director, Social Development, in his commentary on the Globe and Mail's Web site, has found an additional explanation for this growing divide between rich and poor. He writes that further examination of the report's tables reveals "…some other potential contributors to rising after-tax inequality, and these have more to do with governments than the labour market."

 

Related links from Statistics Canada: Income Inequality and Redistribution in Canada: 1976 to 2004 May 11, 2007 By Andrew Heisz StatCan's The Daily release Executive summary Complete study (PDF file - 395K, 58 pages) Previous issues in this series Income Inequality and Low Income in Canada: An International Perspective February 2005 by Garnett Picot and John Myles StatCan's The Daily release Complete study (PDF file - 841K, 31 pages) Other StatCan reports on Low income and inequality Source: Update on Analytical Studies Research - click on a category in the left margin of the research update page to access the links to relevant studies and reports

National Council of Welfare
The mandate of the National Council of Welfare is to advise the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development in respect of any matters relating to social development that the Minister may refer to the Council for its consideration or that the Council considers appropriate.

Research & Publications
The Council publishes reports and communicates with the Minister on a wide range of issues involving poverty and social policy.
Research Projects: National Anti-Poverty Strategy * Welfare Incomes * Poverty Profile
Fact Sheets: Poverty lines and measures * Poverty statistics * Welfare statistics
Complete List of Publications - links to over three dozen reports available online; these are the most recent reports in a list of over 125 publications going back to 1971. Many of the older reports in the list are still available in paper form.

The Council is a citizen's advisory body whose existence is enshrined in federal legislation since 1969.
Department of Social Development Act - (see the link under Part I to "National Council of Welfare")

New members appointed to
the National Council of Welfare
February 2008
This is the list of the new members of the National Council of Welfare,
whose appointments were announced in two separate news releases on February 1 and February 20:
- Rev. Larry Gregan of Manitoba
- Mr. David S. Pankratz of Manitoba
- Colonel Glen Shepherd of Quebec
- Mr. Calvin D. Helin of British Columbia
- Ms. Brenda Hall of the Northwest Territories
- Mr. John Guyon Richards of British Columbia*
- Mr. Mark Chamberlain of Ontario
- Ms. Mildred A. Dover of Prince Edward Island
- Reverend Richard Bragdon of New Brunswick
- Mr. Zulfikarali R. Kassamali of Ontario
Sources:
Feb. 1/08 news release
Feb. 20/08 news release

*NOTE:
Yes, that is the same John Richards who wrote the commentary entitled Reducing Poverty: What has Worked, and What Should Come Next (PDF file , 592K, 32 pages) , released by the right-of-centre C.D. Howe Institute in October of 2007. In this commentary, Mr. Richards points to the “tough love” welfare reforms of Ralph Klein in Alberta and Mike Harris in Ontario during the early- to mid-1990s as the desirable path to follow in the rest of Canada.

I disagree fundamentally with the tough-love spur-of-poverty approach to welfare reform, and
so does Andrew Jackson of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Sounds like somebody's putting the fox in charge of the henhouse -- then again, this should make for some lively discussion and debate in National Council of Welfare meetings!

Selected Council reports:

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Solving Poverty - It Can Be Done!
Press release
January 25, 2007
"In a report to the federal government made public today, the National Council of Welfare (NCW) advises Canadian governments that a workable solution to poverty is within their reach and that Canada can have the kind of success that other countries are achieving."

Complete report:

Solving Poverty: Four cornerstones of a workable national strategy for Canada (PDF file - 1MB, 29 pages)
Winter 2007
"(...) When the National Council of Welfare started looking into anti-poverty strategies, it became quickly apparent to us that if there is no long-term vision, no plan, no one accountable for carrying out the plan, no resources assigned and no accepted measure of results, we will continue to be mired in poverty for generations.

The four cornerstones:
1) creating a national anti-poverty strategy with targets and timelines;
2) developing a coordinated plan of action;
3) ensuring accountability; and
4) establishing official poverty indicators.

Related Link:

Report on responses to the
Poverty and Income Security Questionnaire (PDF file - 1.1MB, 36 pages)
Prepared by MiroMetrica Inc.
January 2007

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"National Council of Welfare, Solving poverty report"
Web search results page
News search results page
Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

RECHERCHISTES FRANCOPHONES:
Vous pouvez accéder à la version française de ces textes en vous rendant
sur le site Web du Conseil national du bien-être social

Homeless to Have a Say:
National Council of Welfare Partners with Shelters across Canada
December 4, 2006
Press Release
In a one-day event at homeless shelters from all regions of Canada, homeless women and men will give their opinions about solutions to poverty in this country by filling out the National Council of Welfare’s questionnaire on poverty and income security. Nine homeless shelters in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Iqaluit will take part in the event on Tuesday, December 5. James Hughes, a member of the Council and director of a Montreal shelter, says, “The purpose of our questionnaire is to find out what Canadians think about solutions to poverty in this country. It is important that people living in poverty participate, including homeless people who live in extreme poverty.”

Anti-Poverty Strategy
Poverty advisory council launches Canada-wide forum
Press Release
October 16, 2006
The National Council of Welfare today, on the eve of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, is launching an on-line questionnaire at www.ncwcnbes.net to find out what Canadians think about solutions to poverty and insecurity in Canada. For over 25 years the NCW has published detailed statistics on poverty, with its most recent reports released in July and August this year. During the past quarter century, poverty rates among seniors have improved dramatically. For all other age groups, including children, poverty is as widespread as ever and for some people, poverty is deeper as well. (..) The questionnaire will run until mid-December and the results will be made public. They will also guide the advice the NCW provides to the federal government.
[NOTE: the final date for completing this questionnaire was December 20, 2006.]

Poverty Profile, 2002 and 2003
Summer 2006
"This report shows that in spite of progress made in the fight against poverty among seniors, poverty rates for children and working-age adults are about the same as they were almost a quarter-century ago. The report calls for a national anti-poverty plan for Canada to ensure a successful future for our country. This is the latest report on poverty by the National Council of Welfare. The report examines the incidence, depth and duration of poverty. It also looks at sources of income, the relationship between poverty and paid work, and income inequality."

Complete report:
Poverty Profile, 2002 and 2003 (PDF file - 3.5MB, 165 pages)

Press Release:
Report calls for a national effort to defeat poverty (PDF file - 534K, 2 pages)
July 20, 2006
"Canada needs a national anti-poverty plan to ensure a successful future for our country, the National Council of Welfare (NCW) said in a report published today. The report, Poverty Profile, 2002 and 2003, shows that in spite of progress made in the fight against poverty among seniors, poverty rates for children and working-age adults are about the same as they were almost a quarter century ago. Income inequality is growing and many groups of Canadians continue to have unacceptably high poverty rates. For those in need today, however, Canada’s social safety net offers less protection against poverty than ever before."

Related Fact Sheets

Google Web Search Results:
"poverty profile, 2003, council of welfare"
Google News search Results:
"poverty profile, 2003, council of welfare "
Source:
Google.ca

---------------------------------
Related Links:
- go to the Poverty Measures Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty.htm

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Full Time Workers Still in Poverty
Press Release
May 3, 2004
"Many Canadians in full-time jobs did not make it to the poverty line in 2000, said the National Council of Welfare in a report released today. Full-time, full-year jobs at minimum wages left workers in poverty. The National Council of Welfare found take-home incomes were consistently below the most commonly-used poverty line, the Low Income Cut-offs or LICOs from Statistics Canada. But the situation looked just as bad using the new Market Basket Measure (MBM) of poverty – even though this new poverty line sets the bar a little lower. There were a few exceptions to the rule, mostly in Quebec where minimum-wage workers made it over the MBM line."

Income for Living?
(complete report)
Spring 2004
HTML version
PDF version (417K, 96 pages)
Executive Summary (HTML)

Profiles of Welfare: Myths and Realities
Spring 1998
LARGE statistical collection covering twenty years of data, examining variables like family types, reasons for assistance, age, education, duration of spells on assistance, housing and more.

Another Look at Welfare Reform (Autumn 1997) - an in-depth analysis by the National Council of Welfare of changes in Canadian welfare programs in the 1990s. The report focuses on the provincial and territorial reforms that preceded the repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan and those that followed the implementation of the Canada Health and Social Transfer.  Complete report online - large file (300K+) but well worth the wait for detailed information on welfare reforms in the 1990s in each Canadian jurisdiction, as well as a national overview of the broad issues of welfare reform and the setting for welfare reform in Canada Source : National Council of Welfare

Canadian Council on Social Development
"The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) is one of Canada's most authoritative voices promoting better social and economic security for all Canadians. A national, self-supporting, non-profit organization, the CCSD's main product is information and its main activity is research, focussing on concerns such as income security, employment, poverty, child welfare, pensions and government social policies."
Put an "X" on this one - it will be on the final exam. You must visit this site if you're looking for anything to do with poverty, welfare, income, health, family, social indicators, etc.
What's New on the CCSD site --- all new material is on the home page link (above)...
About the CCSD
Research
CCSD Publications
Free Statistics
Policy Initiatives
Key Events
CCSD Links
CCSD Subsites
- The Disability Research Information Page
- Crime Prevention Through Social Development
- The Cultural Diversity Page
- The Social Indicators Site
- The Social Inclusion Conference
- Community Social Data Strategy

Sample site content:

Perception Magazine:
Volume 30, No. 1 & 2, 2008 (PDF - 2,4MB, 24 pages)
Fall 2008
Table of Contents:
* Editorial (by Peggy Taillon)
* Mapping Poverty-reduction Initiatives (by Pat Steenberg)
* Rising Tides: Anti-poverty Work Growing in Atlantic Canada (by David Jackson)
* An Interview with James Hughes, New Brunswick's Deputy Minister of Social Development (by Patrick Flanagan)
* Atlantic Summer Institute: Making the links
* Building Momentum for Real Change: the Canadian Social Forum
* Making Connections: Interview with Uzma Shakir
* Police Chiefs Speak Out Against Poverty (by Chief Edgar MacLeod)
* Update: Tracking Social Development (by Katherine Scott)
* The Weiler Award: 2009 Call for Nominations and 2008 Winner
Source:
Perception Magazine <=== incl. links to 35+ back issues of Perception
[ Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) ]

May 2008
The complete Poverty issue of Perception Magazine is now online, with pieces about national and provincial anti-poverty strategies, an article by Rob Rainer about a poverty-free Canada by the year 2020, a report by John Stapleton about why it's so tough to get ahead, an article on social data by Alanna Petroff, and much more. Plus we asked our readers and they told us what else they're reading these days.

Perception: Volume 29, No. 3 & 4, 2008 (PDF - 2.5MB, 28 pages)
Focus on Poverty :
* Defining the Problem * Working Strategies * Measuring Success
[ version française (PDF - 2,4Mo., 28 pages) ]
Table of Contents:
* Editorial (by Marcel Lauzière)
* Defining and re-defining poverty in Canada
* Towards a National Ideal: Canada Without Poverty by 2020 (by Rob Rainer)
* Four Cornerstones of a Workable National Strategy for Canada (by Sheila Regehr)
* Newfoundland and Labrador's Action Plan to Reduce Poverty (by Minister Shawn Skinner and Aisling Gogan)
* Quebec's Law Against Poverty and Social Exclusion: An Interview with Alain Noel
* "Why is it so tough to get ahead?" (A report by John Stapleton)
* Using social data for success (by Alanna Petroff)
* What's on your bookshelf?
* Resource: New report on economic well-being of children in North America
* Update: Canadian Social Forum
Source:
Canadian Council on Social Development
[ Conseil canadien de développement social ]

2006 Low-Income Cut-offs
[March 27, 2008]
("... more commonly known as Canada's unofficial poverty lines")

Stats & Facts fact sheets: A Profile of the Labour Market in Canada
[March 12, 2008]
- links to three fact sheets containing an abundance of national and provincial data about employment, earnings and labour force rates.

Attention, fans of the
Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference!

Canadian Social Forum (PDF file - 58K, 1 page)
February 28, 2008
Mark Your Calendars!
The Canadian Council on Social Development is in the process of planning the first Canadian Social Forum which will take place in Calgary, Alberta, May 19-22, 2009.

NOTE: the Canadian Social Forum will replace the Social Welfare Policy Conference, a biennial event going back to 1982, but "will integrate the best of that 25-year tradition", according to the CCSD.

Related link:

Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference
This is a link is to a page on the CCSD website that contains links to the 11th and 12th CSWP conferences in this mostly-biennial series that started way back in 1982. If you click each of the two conference links and check out the "Papers" link for each event, you'll find a list of presenters and the topics they covered; this will give you a good sense of the broad scope of this conference series.

Based on my own experience (I've attended all but one of the 12 events so far), CSWP is a four-day multi-sectoral gathering of several hundred people from academia, government and the NGO sector around social policy themes --- in brief, the perfect place to learn, to exchange ideas and to expand your list of social policy contacts.
I highly recommend this conference/forum. (Tell 'em Gilles sent you - I might get a discount on my registration fees...)

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November 15, 2007
Stats & Facts: Economic Security
Chock full of information about income, spending habits and poverty among Canadian families, the Economic Security Fact Sheets are the latest in our Stats & Facts series. Along with the earlier fact sheets on demographics, health, education and families, these latest fact sheets provide a wealth of useful statistical data and analysis about the realities of life in Canada.

Jason Mogus on the Web
Jason Mogus was the keynote speaker at the CCSD Annual General Meeting last month. He spoke about the ways in which the web is changing, and how non-profits can benefit from that change, providing they’re prepared to change with it. His speaking notes and an audio recording of his presentation are available on our website.

CCSD’s annual report for 2006-2007 is now available.

Jordan’s Principle
CCSD supports Jordan’s Principle, which urges a child-first approach to the resolution of jurisdictional disputes involving the care of First Nations children.

Urban Poverty 2007 - updated October 18/07
A fresh batch of Urban Poverty reports has been posted to the CCSD's Urban Poverty 2007 page. They include a report on populations vulnerable to poverty, one on education and employment, another on age, gender and family, and a final one on neighbourhood poverty. There's also a new urban poverty bibliography.

"Poverty is not only about the numbers. It's about the stark realities of daily life for millions of Canadians. We hope that the numbers provided here will help communities share information, leverage resources and create solutions to the blight of urban poverty in Canada. Products in the Urban Poverty Project include community profiles, a time-series analysis of urban poverty trends over the 1990s, and a detailed snapshot of urban poverty using the 2001 Census data."

Click the link above to access the project files listed below:

* Measuring Poverty: a backgrounder
* Media Release
* A Lost Decade - Urban Poverty in Canada, 1990-2000
o Factsheet # 1: Looking Back
o Factsheet # 2: Place Matters
o Factsheet # 3: Neighbourhood Poverty
* Detailed analyses of different dimensions of urban poverty in 2000, presented in the following reports:
o Poverty by Geography
o Dimensions of Income Among Poor Households
o Employment and Education
o Populations Vulnerable to Poverty
o Age, Gender and Family
o Neighbourhood Poverty
* Community Profiles - an online database containing demographic profiles of 111 communities across Canada;
* Poverty Data Tables: Another online database, organized by levels of geography
* A summary report on the Urban Poverty Project 2007 (forthcoming)
* UPP 2007 Bibliography
* Shelter - Homelessness in a growth economy: Canada's 21st century paradox (by Gordon Laird, for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation)
* Talking about urban poverty: CCSD's Katherine Scott speaks to Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (May 10, 2007)
* From the CCSD Archives: Urban Poverty Project 2000

Related links:

* Measuring Poverty
* Media Release
* Community Profiles
* From the CCSD Archives: Urban Poverty Project 2000

Final report of the meeting of
Social Planning Councils held in Toronto in May, 2006 (PDF file - 164K, 40 pages)
November 9, 2006
"A meeting of Canadian social planning organizations was convened by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) in Toronto, Ontario in early May 2006 with the support of Human Resources and Social Development Canada. The planning group for the meeting group included representatives from CCSD and social planning organizations from across Canada. The [report] is a summary of discussion and next steps from this meeting."
- includes links to websites of 30+ social planning organizations and regional networks across Canada that participated in sessions to provide input on the development of a pan-Canadian network
- also includes some interesting contextual and historical information about the series of 12 (so far) biennial Social Welfare Policy conferences going back to 1989 (although people of *my* vintage recall that this series of conferences actually started in Calgary in 1982, and the role of social planning councils became more prominent starting in 1989). I attended every one of the conferences in this series except the 1997 event in Regina, even the latest (2005) conference in Fredericton that took place after I "retired". I always found - along with many of my Ivory Tower colleagues at the time - that this venue was invaluable in forging and nurturing good working relations with social researchers in academia, the non-governmental sector and other federal and provincial government officials. During my 30 years with the feds, I found that there were few other self-development opportunities that offered me such a rich diversity of views on government policy, and I was pleased and privileged to be a part of that. I think all governments should make attendance at these cross-sectoral events mandatory for their staff, as appropriate.

The Health of Canadians
December 5, 2006
The Health of Canadians is the newest addition to Stats & Facts, a series of popular CCSD fact sheets that also includes:
* Demographics * Family * Education * Health * Economic Security * Labour Market
- the health fact sheet includes graphics and tables on the following topics:
Health Care System
* Spending on Health Care * Spending on Prescription Drugs * Access to Doctors * Patient Satisfaction
Health Behaviours
* Physical Activity * Obesity * Smoking *
Health Status
* Self-rated Health
Chronic Health Conditions
* Asthma * Diabetes * Depression
Leading Causes of Death
* Circulatory Disease * Cancer
[ Source: Stats & Facts ]

The Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector in Ontario (PDF file - 788K, 78 pages)
June 29, 2006
"This report kicks off a series of regional reports on the vital 'third pillar' of Canadian society. Written by Katherine Scott from the Canadian Council on Social Development, the research is based on the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations, which was conducted by a consortium of organizations in partnership with Statistics Canada."

Some families losing ground
in effort to provide stable family incomes
Media Release
April 26, 2006
OTTAWA – One-third of Canadian children living in poverty have a parent who works at a full-time job, according to a new report by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD). The Progress of Canada's Children and Youth 2006 also shows that this situation is deteriorating. In 1993, one-quarter of poor children had a parent who worked full time. "Family income is recognized as one of the keys to healthy child development," says Dr. Peter Bleyer, CCSD President. "Yet job security eludes many Canadian parents, and that has an enormous impact on what their kids eat, how they learn, and where they play." Temporary, part-time, contract, and seasonal employment now make up 37% of Canadian jobs, compared to 25% in the mid-1970s. The CCSD report also shows that investing in children through government transfers brought the child poverty rate down from 27% to 18% in 2003.

Complete report:

The Progress of Canada's Children & Youth 2006
HTML version
- incl. links to : Portrait - Family Life - Economic Security - Physical Safety - Community Resources - Civic Vitality - Health Status - Social Engagement - Learning - Labour Force Profile of Youth - Data Sources - Web-Only Supplementary Data - Tools - Contact Us - Français
PDF version (2.5MB, 84 pages)
Tools - links to individual PDF files for each chapter of the report, plus fact sheets, press release, etc.

Making Connections:
Social and civic engagement among Canadian immigrants
April 2006
By Katherine Scott, Kevin Selbee and Paul Reed

New Canadians participate, despite obstacles
Release
April 24, 2006
OTTAWA – Immigrants give larger donations, on average, than the Canadian-born population but they are slightly less likely to volunteer their time than people born in Canada, according to research by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD). Making Connections: Social and Civic Engagement among New Canadians also shows that the rate of volunteering is increasing, particularly among recent immigrants.

* Full Report (PDF format, 1.5MB, 50 pages)
* Executive Summary (PDF file - 240K, 4 pages)

Related Links:

Go to the main page of the report for links to the following content:
* Powerpoint Slideshow
* Fact Sheet #1: Patterns in Participation, Engagement, and Informal Caring
* Fact Sheet #2: Profile of Volunteering
* Canadian Story #1: Building a Life in Canada
* Canadian Story #2: Organizing Ourselves
* Canadian Story #3: Finding a New Direction
* Canadian Story #4: Keeping Faith
* Appendix 1: The Changing Face of Canadian Immigrants, using 2001 Census data
* Appendix 2: Portrait of Canadian Immigrants, using 2000 NSGVP data
* Appendix 3: Data Sources
* Letter to the editor, March 3 2006
* Selected Charts
o Chart 1: Volunteer rate and average hours volunteered, by length of time in Canada, 2000
o Chart 2: Volunteer rate and average hours volunteered, by age group, 2000
o Chart 3: Volunteer rate and average hours volunteered, by level of education, 2000
o Chart 4: Donor rate and average donation, by length of time in Canada, 2000
o Chart 5: Donor rate by age group, 2000
o Chart 6: Membership rate by level of education, 2000
o Chart 7: Voting rate by age group, 2000

Stats & Facts - New!
[Added to the CCSD site April 13, 2006]
Stats & Facts, a new on-line service of the Canadian Council on Social Development, provides accessible and accurate statistical information. This site is intended for anyone with an interest in timely data on social and economic indicators. We anticipate that Stats & Facts will be frequently used by policy analysts, community planners, activists, journalists, and students. Users will find informative facts sheets organized by topic areas covering demographics, families, and education. Plans are underway to add more fact sheets on the labour market, health, and economic security in the coming months. All of these fact sheets will be regularly updated to reflect the most current data available.

Stats & Facts replaces the CCSD website's Free Statistics section. All historical poverty and income data, as well as welfare rates, will be archived and available in the economic security section of Stats & Facts.
[If you haven't checked out the Free Stats section of the CCSD site, you'll be impressed with the wealth of social program stats that you'll find there!]

Perception Magazine- Winter 2005
Cold Comfort - Volume 28, No. 1 & 2 (PDF file - 1.2MB, 28 pages)
Table of Contents:
* Editorial (by Peter Bleyer)
* Lessons from Katrina: Preserving a civil society in the face of disaster (by Paul Kovacs)
* Beyond wishful thinking: Emergency planning for persons with disabilities (by Gail Fawcett)
* Why must chronic illness mean poverty and isolation? (by Michel Martin)
* A cautionary tale from Australia (by Lynne Wannan, Australian child care expert)
* The Progress of Canada's Children and Youth 2006
* Battling stereotypes
* Changing from within
* Creating safe and supportive environments for young Canadians (by Pam Joliffe)
* CCSD Member Profile: St. Christopher House - A dynamo of social change
* A helping hand up for the working poor (by Don Drummond and Gillian Manning)
* The World We Have: Towards a new social architecture (by Katherine Scott)
* Rebuilding Social Programs (by Ben Carniol)

Child Poverty and the Canada Social Transfer: CCSD takes the Debate to the Prairies.
[October 6, 2005]

Let's Make Productivity Work for Canadians
CCSD's Presentation to the Finance Committee 2005 Pre-budget Consultation
[October 5, 2005]

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2004-2005 CCSD Annual report (PDF file - 174K, 8 pages)

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Funding Matters … For Our Communities:
Challenges and Opportunities for Funding Innovation
in Canada’s Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector (PDF file - 242K , 22 pages)
[September 8, 2005]
This report summarizes the findings of workshops and presentations undertaken through this project, including common themes and innovative community practice. It also includes an analysis of the different proposals for funding reform raised over the course of the project.

Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference Proceedings
Fredericton - June 16-18, 2005
[Proceedings posted September 2005]
- incl. links to complete proceedings and highlights for each of the three days of the conference; the link below is to the complete proceedings.

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Conference Proceedings with photographs (PDF file - 566K, 78 pages)
Related Links:
Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference Home Page

Highlights from the Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference in Fredericton:
* Day 1 - June 16
* Day 2 - June 17
* Day 3 - June 18
* (What conference?)

The Weiler Award goes to --- Michael Goldberg!
On Day 2 of the Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference, the Weiler Award was presented to Vancouver-based children's advocate Michael Goldberg on Friday at the Social Welfare Policy Conference in Fredericton. This award honours Canadians who make outstanding contributions to social justice and community development. For more information about the Award, and about Mr. Goldberg and previous winners, see the Weiler Award Page.
[Congratulations, Michael --- well done!]

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On June 16, the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) released two papers in the New Social Architecture series.
This project is designed to highlight and examine key social challenges facing Canada, and set out some strategic options for change.

The World We Have: Towards a New Social Architecture (PDF file - 316K, 49 pages)
June 2005
by Katherine Scott, CCSD

Postponed Adulthood: Dealing with the New Economic Inequality (PDF file - 189K, 11 pages)
by John Myles, University of Toronto

Related Link:

The New Social Architecture Series and other CCSD Policy Initiatives

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Disability Information Sheet #20
June 2005
"In this Information Sheet, we examine the medication and health care patterns of children with disabilities."
PDF version - 221K, 8 pages
HTML version

Source:
Disability Research at the CCSD
NOTE: Click the link above for links to the complete collection of information sheets, covering a wide range of disability-related issues.

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Perception: Volume 27, No. 3 & 4 - 2005 (PDF file - 879K, 32 pages)
Table of Contents:
* The state of Canada's social programs (by Peter Bleyer)
* View from Down Under: Lessons from the New Zealand Experience (by Janet Creery)
* A New Social Partnership for Canada (by Ken Dryden)
* Addressing Child Poverty (by Ed Broadbent)
* A Strong Economy (by Monte Solberg)
* Poverty in Canada: A matter of government priorities and societal choices (by Christiane Gagnon)
* Universality of Social Programs versus Targeting: Either neither, or both (by Richard Shillington)
* New challenges in social development: Montreal, a case study (by Genviève Giasson, with assistance from Marcel Cajelait and Jacques Savard)
* When Taxes are Good (by Jim Stanford)
* The Canada We Want? (by Al Hatton)
* 2005 Weiler Award Winner: Michael Goldberg
* In Their Own Words (Terrace Anti-Poverty Group Society; Pluri-elles; E.Fry Ottawa; St. Joseph's Community Health Centre)
* George Davidson: Social Policy and Public Policy Exemplar (book review by Michael Clague)

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What Kind of Canada?
A Call for a National Debate on the Canada Social Transfer
April 8, 2004
"The CCSD is aware that the Canada Social Transfer, in and of itself, will not resolve all Canada's social challenges. But it can, and should, be a key instrument in our collective hands to help us address at least some of these challenges. It is a useful starting point to get a healthy debate going. A four-point agenda to renew the Canada Social Transfer is proposed:
1. The Canada Social Transfer should be split into two parts: one for social programs and the other for post-secondary education.
2. Funding for the Canada Social Transfer should be restored to 1994-95 levels, and predictability and stability of funding should be guaranteed.
3. Common principles and objectives for the social transfer should be agreed to by all parties through a broad engagement with Canadians.
4. A pan-Canadian body should be established to measure outcomes, share innovation and foster citizen involvement."
Related Links:
Go to the Canadian Social Research Links Canada Assistance Plan/Canada Health and Social Transfer /Canada Social Transfer Resources page

Proceedings and Final Report on the Working Conference on Strategies to Ensure Economic Security for All Canadians (PDF file - 150K, 24 pages)
November 28, 2003
by Sally Lerner (University of Waterloo)

Urban Poverty Project (part of the CCSD's Community Social Data Strategy)
November 27, 2003
- incl. data on urban poverty for municipalities and community-based organizations as a stand-alone product.
- provides detailed information about low income down to the level of Census Tracts, which have a population of 2,500 to 8,000 persons. For smaller cities, available data will include Census dissemination areas, which allow analysis of 400- to 700-person neighbourhood tracts.
- demographic characterisitics : Income - Age - Education - Occupation - Labour force status - Gender - Family status - Visible minority status - Aboriginal status - Ethnic ancestry - Immigration - Language - People with disabilities - Mobility
"This information package will allow cities and non-profit organizations to develop a more-thorough understanding of who in their area is living in low income, and what are the characteristics of this population, such as where and how they live, what their employment status is, and the like."

Related Report:

Urban Poverty in Canada: A Statistical Profile (April 17, 2000)
- Full Report
- Backgrounder
- Communiqué (April 17, 2000)
- Highlights
- Resource People

Community Social Data Strategy
New CCSD Sub-site (November 7, 2003)
"The Community Social Data Strategy is a new and exciting project through which municipalities and community-based organizations can access and analyze detailed research findings from Statistics Canada cost effectively. It is an initiative of the Canadian Council on Social Development in partnership with Statistics Canada."
- incl. community-level data covering a broad range of social and economic factors, including: * Census * Urban Poverty * Small Area and Administrative Data * Business Register * Survey of Household Spending * Labour Force Survey and Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics * Uniform Crime Reporting Survey * Canadian Community Health Survey * Population Projections * Geography Products
Community Social Data Strategy brochure (PDF file - 329K, 12 pages)
Partnering Primer (PDF file - 1MB, 6 pages) - "how you can get involved with the Community Social Data Strategy"

Canadians increasingly anxious despite positive indicators
Press Release
November 3, 2003

Personal Security Index 2003:
A reflection of how Canadians feel five years later
- incl. links to : Press Release - Full Report - Highlights (Economic Security, Health Security, Physical Safety and Regional Differences) - Backgrounders
Full Report [PDF file - 380K, 87 pages]

Imagining a Future of Inclusion: CCSD's submission to the
House Of Commons Standing Committee On Finance
2003 Pre-Budget Consultations (PDF file, 130kb).
September 24, 2003

Funding Matters: The Impact of Canada's New Funding Regime on Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations (2003)
Katherine Scott
- incl. Summary Report, Communiqué, Fact Sheets and the [free!] complete report broken down into individual chapters. The full report is approx. 175 pages.
Communiqué (June 15, 2003)
"Society’s Third Pillar – the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector – Shows Signs of Cracking Under Strain of New Funding Regime"
Sources:
Canadian Council on Social Development
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

When Worlds Collide: Implications of International Trade and Investment Agreements for Non-Profit Social Services
by Andrew Jackson and Matthew Sanger
Download Table of Contents and Introduction (PDF file - 205K, 15 pages)
Place an order for this report
Read the news release (June 16, 2003)
"When Worlds Collide: Canada's non-profit social services need to be protected in the new round of trade agreements
OTTAWA--A new study jointly released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) has concluded that government support for non-profit social services could be at risk despite Canadian government assurances that social policies will not be adversely affected by international trade obligations..."
Sources:
Canadian Council on Social Development
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

11th Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference - It's Time to Act!
Ottawa
June 15, 16 and 17, 2003

CCSD research staff were responsible for the development of Chapter 5 (Young Children with Disabilities in Canada) of the Government of Canada's report The
Well-Being of Canada's Young Children.

Boomers Beware: People with Disabilities Falling Between the Cracks
Press Release
May 20, 2003
"Too many Canadians with disabilities are failing to get the medication or medical attention they need according to Gail Fawcett, Senior Research Associate at the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD). This situation is particularly worrisome at a time when the demographic bulge of the baby boomers is heading into age groups which are at higher risk for disabilities."

Disability Research Information (DRI) Page
[version française]
The Disability Research Information Page provides centralized access to all disability research of the Canadian Council on Social Development.
The collection of Disability Information Sheets (12 in all) provides information on the following topics : disability research sources, possible disability research themes, issues around longitudinal research, education and employment, children with disabilities and computers and technology.
- also includes links to the following articles and reports : Special Education in Canada (Fall 2001) - Children and Youth with Special Needs (November 2001) - Bringing Down the Barriers: The Labour Market and Women with Disabilities in Ontario (May 2000) - Living with Disability in Canada: An Economic Portrait (1996) - Urban Poverty in Canada: A Statistical Profile (April 2000 )
NOTE : I usually try to include direct links to online reports in these pages, but many of these information sheets include additional tables and charts that you can only find by going to the Disability Information page on the CCSD website (the link above). The contents of each of the eight information sheets appear below, but the links to each of them are on the DRI page.

Complete collection of Disability Information Sheets also provides information on the following topics : disability research sources, possible disability research themes, issues around longitudinal research, education and employment, children with disabilities and computers and technology.

A Lost Decade: Income Equality and the Health of Canadians
December 2, 2002
Presentation by Katherine Scott, Senior Policy and Research Associate, at the Social Determinants of Health conference in Toronto

Progress of Canada's Children 2002
November 4, 2002
- incl. links to : Communiqué - Highlights - Backgrounder - Ontario Backgrounder - Speaking Notes

Child Hunger Increasing in Canada as Gap Widens Between Haves and Have-nots, CCSD Report Concludes
November 4, 2002
Communiqué
"The number of Canadian children going hungry is on the rise and shows no sign of letting up, according to a report by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD). The Progress of Canada’s Children 2002 says that approximately 75,000 families with children under the age of 12 reported being hungry in 1996 (the last year for which data are available) – an increase of one-third from 1994."

Related Link:

The Progress of Canada's Children 2001

CCSD Submission to the Three-Year Review of the Social Union Framework Agreement
November 1, 2002
HTML format
PDF format (33K, 9 pages)

Canadian Council on Social Development's Checklist of Key Commitments in the Speech from the Throne
September 27, 2002
Includes proposals in the following areas:
Poverty:
- raise the annual child tax benefit from the current maximum of $2,440 to $4,200 per child, available to all low, modest and middle-income families.
- improve the plight of the poorest children in Canada by prohibiting the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families on social assistance.
- broaden the Early Childhood Development agreement to include meeting the needs of school-aged children in such areas as special education; recreation; health and safety.
- Increase the basic tax exemption for low-income working families.
- Invest in quality early childhood education and child care services that are universal, inclusive and accessible.
Housing:
- get back into the affordable housing business. Immediately increase the number of new affordable units produced to 20,000 annually and the number of refurbished units to 10,000 per year.
Disabilities:
- introduce a refundable disability credit.
Community Non-Profits:
- ensure support for Canada's non-profit community.
Background info:
"There is some evidence that the National Child Benefit, in combination with an improving job market, has slightly reduced the extent and depth of child poverty. But children in the very poorest families have actually become poorer."

With A Little Help from Your Friends
Op-ed by Marcel Lauzière and John Anderson
September 27, 2002

Whatever Happened to Social Development?
Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance
by the Canadian Council on Social Development
Presented on May 21, 2002
Andrew Jackson, Director of Research,
Canadian Council on Social Development
"From the Red Book of 1993 to the most recent Speech from the Throne, the Liberals have correctly recognized that economic progress alone does not guarantee social development, and that investment in social development plays an important role in economic growth. In a knowledge-based economy and in the face of looming skill shortages, it is foolish as well as moral not to address social exclusion."

Related Link :

A Community Growing Apart : Income Gaps and Changing Needs in the City of Toronto in the 1990s
October 2001
This report was prepared by the Canadian Council on Social Development for the United Way of Greater Toronto.

Social Development "Olympics" : Canada Beats USA - But Loses Gold to Sweden
March 8, 2002
"... a look at 25 key indicators of social development, nicely summarized in a table, with a bit of accompanying text and a medal ceremony to boot! Available in HTML format and also in PDF (acrobat reader) format."

Percentage of Persons in Low Income/Poverty Before Tax, Canada, 1990 and 1999
February 2002
From the Free Statistics section of the CCSD website

Reclaiming our Humanity (PDF file - 213K, 83 pages)
December 2001
"This is a new paper written by Sherri Torjman of the Caledon Institute on behalf of the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations, the Canadian Council on Social Development and United Way Canada. It looks at the current context of social development in Canada and identifies future policy direction. The paper sets out a vision of vibrant communities that provide support, promote inclusion and encourage learning. [January 11, 2002]"
In partnership with :
Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations
Canadian Council on Social Development
United Way of Canada-Centraide Canada

Canadian Council on Social Development 2001 Budget Analysis (December 11, 2001)

Good Year Tops Off a Lost Decade: A Preliminary CCSD Analysis of Income Trends in Canada to 1999
November 29, 2001
Overall, the period from 1989 to 1999 stands as a lost decade in terms of the social progress of Canadians. Income inequality increased, particularly in terms of the distribution of market income – that is, income before the impact of income taxes and government transfers is taken into account. Poverty rose, then fell over this period, but overall, little or no progress was made. Child poverty has increased, even though the 1990s were supposed to be the decade in which poverty among children was to be eliminated...

A NEW WAY OF THINKING?
TOWARDS A VISION OF SOCIAL INCLUSION
Co-sponsored by the Laidlaw Foundation and the Canadian Council on Social Development
Conference
Ottawa, ON
November 8-9, 2001
Conference theme : the social inclusion/exclusion of children, families and communities as a potential framework for policy and program development in Canada.
Presenters included several international and national commentators on social inclusion, researchers and authors of social inclusion papers for the Laidlaw Foundation, and other public policy experts/practitioners from within and outside of government.
Final Conference Program
Focus Papers: Some of these are brief statements of presenters' views on the topic of their conference presentation, but others contain pages and pages of information. I've copied the whole list below to give you a sense of the content of the conference and the names of the presenters, but you'll have to go to the Focus Papers page to click on the individual links.
The Social Exclusion of Children in North America, by Shelley Phipps and Lori Curtis (Acrobat PDF file)
Speaking Notes, by David Miller
The Causes of Persistent Low Income: A Key Barrier to Social Inclusion, by Michael Hatfield
Housing and Social Inclusion: Asking the Right Questions, by Sharon Chisholm
Social inclusion through early childhood education and care, by Martha Friendly
Social Inclusion in Action - Transforming Public Policies and Institutional Practices as It Relates to Community Services, by Lois Yelland
The Role of Recreation in Promoting Social Inclusion, by Peter Donnelly and Jay Coakley
Social Inclusion as Solidarity: Re-Thinking the Child Rights Agenda, by Michael Bach
Focus Paper, by Josephine Grey
Focus Paper for A New Way of Thinking, by Wayne Helgason
Social Inclusion and Diversity: Fries or Stir-Fry?, by Jean Lock Kunz (Ph.D)
Social Inclusion, Citizenship and Diversity,by Anver Saloojee
Why social inclusion matters to me, by Marvyn Novick
Social Inclusion: The Role of School Boards, by Marie Pierce
Jeter les bases de sociétés sans pauvreté, c'est possible, à la condition de «rêver logique», par Vivian Labrie
Does Work Include Children?, by Andrew Jackson and Katherine Scott
Social inclusion in context: From experiences of exclusion to a vision of inclusion, by Catherine Frazee
Social Inclusion: The Foundation of Civic and Community Life, by Caroline Andrew
Social Inclusion and Community Participation, by Peter Clutterbuck
Social Inclusion: Foundation of a National Policy Agenda, by Stephan Klasen
The Dynamics of Social Inclusion and Exclusion in Public Education in Canada, by Terry Wotherspoon
Focus Paper, by John Godfrey

Related Link :

Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance
by the Canadian Council on Social Development
October 22, 2001
CCSD’s Budget Brief, October 2001
– the CCSD’s budget brief calls for an annual federal commitment of at least $1 Billion to a flexible, capital grants program for the construction of affordable, rental housing.

Gaining Ground : The Personal Security Index 2001
July 9, 2001
This report - the third in a series - provides a regional comparison of a variety of indicators and perceptions of economic security and physical safety among Canadians.

The Progress of Canada's Children 2001
March 27, 2001
Communiqué
Backgrounder
Highlights
Section 1: Table of Contents, Intro, Highlights (Acrobat Reader required)
We need to build on the National Children's Agenda and take it beyond early childhood development, to create a national, coherent approach to providing supports for children of all age groups.

Low Income Trends in the 1990s
January 2001
Includes : Defining Low Income - The Causes of Low Income - An Overview of Low Income Incidence and Trends in the 1990s - Depth of Low Income - Duration of Low Income - Future Prospects

The Early Childhood Development Initiative : Challenges for the voluntary sector
Perception (CCSD newsletter) - Volume 24, No. 3 - December 2000
"...the level of funding is clearly insufficient, and there is a lack of clarity about exactly how the funds will be spent and how governments will report back to Canadians"
NOTE : Go to the Perception page of the CCSD site to see selected content from issues going right back to 1994.
Here's sampling of the topics covered : racism; reducing child and family poverty; school food programs; maternity leave & self-employment; disability and labour force; international conference on social development; welfare reform in BC; Aboriginal poverty; national children's agenda

Why We Don't Have to Choose between Social Justice and Economic Growth:
The myth of the equity/efficiency trade-off
Fall 2000
Complete report online - includes :
- Introduction
- The Equity/Efificiency Trade-off in Practice: Empirical evidence for North American and European OECD countries in the 1990s
- Which Model Works Best? A comparison of economic and social performance in the 1990s
- Causes of Success and Failure
- What About Globalization?
- Conclusion

Time to Debate Social Canada
October 31, 2000
It is our hope that this will be an occasion for a major public debate on social issues, and on the relative priority to be given to new social investments. It's in this context that the CCSD has drafted a short commentary entitled Time to Debate Social Canada.

Opinion articles submitted by Andrew Jackson, Director of Research, CCSD
September 20, 2000
- to the Globe & Mail: Can we grow together?
- to the Toronto Star: Soaring energy prices: what will happen when winter comes?

The Canadian Fact Book on Poverty 2000
July 19, 2000
Communiqué: Poverty trends call for new approach in government policy
Highlights
Note to readers
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 10: Conclusion
** Chapter 2: Working Definitions of Poverty (PDF file, 250K) - posted to the web August 3, 2000
Here are the main measures of poverty in Canada in 2000 discussed in this 32-page chapter:
- Statistics Canada's Low Income Cut-offs (LICO), calculated using both pre- and post-tax income;
- Statistics Canada's Low Income Measure (LIM);
- Canadian Council on Social Development Lines of Income Inequality;
- Market Basket Measure (MBM) under development by the federal, provincial and territorial governments;
- Fraser Institute poverty lines;
- Montreal Diet Dispensary guidelines;
- Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto budget guides;
- The Cost of Living Guidelines developed by the Social Planning Council of B.C.
In Chapter 2, you'll find recent and detailed information about each one of the measures in the list above, plus an analysis of social assistance rates and public opinion as benchmark comparisons, the depth of poverty and other issues. Includes tables showing poverty levels in Canada according to each measure for 2000.

What's Behind a Poverty Line? Backgrounder on Statistics Canada's Income in Canada
June 9, 2000
Backgrounder

Personal Security Index 2000 (April 26, 2000)
- Communiqué
- Highlights
- Full Report (PDF file, 2643K - 35 pages)

Urban Poverty in Canada: A Statistical Profile (April 17, 2000)
- Full Report
- Backgrounder
- Communiqué
- Highlights
- Resource People

Position Paper on the 2000 Federal Budget
March 13, 2000
"On balance, Budget 2000 represents a step in the right direction, but much work remains to be done to address the needs of poor Canadians."

The Progress of Canada's Children into the Millennium
January 25, 2000
Progress 2000 tracks social and economic indicators in a number of areas affecting the lives of Canadian children at home, at school and in their neighbourhoods.
- includes links to Highlights - Backgrounder - Communiqué - List of Resource People - Français

Child Poverty in Canada: The time to act is now
A submission by David Ross to the Op-ed Page of the Saint John Telegraph-Journal
November 2, 1999
CCSD's submission to the Standing Committee on Finance, detailing our priorities for the 2000 federal budget - October 26, 1999
- "To lay the conditions for future social cohesion and sustainable economic prosperity shared by all, the CCSD is calling for a Children's Budget focused on the critical needs of Canadian children, youth and families"
- incl. "Reinvesting in the Social Infrastructure" - improvements to the NCA and NCB, for example...
"The CCSD also recommends that the government index the child benefit system to inflation (at an estimated cost of $200 million per year) and ensure that benefits flow to all poor children, including those living in families that rely on social assistance."
Income and Child Well-being: A new perspective on the poverty debate (May 1999)
David P. Ross and Paul Roberts

International Development Research Centre
"The International Development Research Centre is a public corporation created by the Canadian government to help communities in the developing world find solutions to social, economic, and environmental problems through research."

Check out these complete IDRC reports online:

A State of the Art Review of Income Security Reform in Canada
Jane Pulkingham & Gordon Ternowetsky (1998) 
International Development Research Centre*
(Click on the title of the report above to go directly to the table of contents.
The entire report is online)

- Includes an extensive, detailed overview of income security reforms in Canada in the 1990s, specifically around the Canada Health and Social Transfer, a review and typology of current research in virtually every area of federal and provincial/territorial social programs and a section on the impact of changes since the CHST and related social reforms. 
- Recommended reading for anyone looking for information about the critical forces that have shaped income security programs in Canada and that continue to do so as we approach the new millennium. 
- Topics covered include welfare reforms, the National Child Benefit and child poverty, unemployment/employment insurance reforms, pension reform and the retirement income system, labour market policies, the Social Union, income security reforms in the broader context of social security reform, etc. 
*The International Development Research Centre website also includes many links to information on similar reforms in developing countries 
"The International Development Research Centre is a public corporation created by the Canadian government to help communities in the developing world find solutions to social, economic, and environmental problems through research." 
Complete reports online include the following:

Social Policy Challenges in a Global Society
by Keith Banting (1995) 
- An extensive and excellent treatise on globalization, trade agreements, social need and reforms. 

 Establishing an Effective Social Policy Agenda with Constrained Resources
by Peter Hicks (1995) 
- An excellent article written by a senior HRDC official at the time. It presents some interesting historical information about the evolution of Canadian social programs from the sixties to the early nineties. 
- Social historians will be particularly interested in the author's analysis of the 1994 SSR discussion paper... 

Social Policy Reform in Canada Under Regional Economic Integration by Albert Berry
- This article covers issues such as the harmonization and convergence of social programs, rationalization, privatization, cost-saving, competitiveness and social policy reform

Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) - Canada
"The Centre for the Study of Living Standards is a non-profit, national, independent organization that seeks to contribute to a better understanding of trends in and determinants of productivity, living standards and economic and
social well-being through research."

Index of Economic Well-being
Has economic well-being increased or decreased in recent years, and is it higher or lower in one country compared to others? Traditionally these questions have been answered by looking at trends in and comparisons of GDP per capita, but this is a poor measure of economic well-being. It measures consumption incompletely, ignoring the value of leisure and longer life spans, and it also ignores the value of accumulation for future generations. Furthermore, since it is an average, GDP per capita gives no indication of the likelihood that an individual will share in prosperity nor of the degree of anxiety with which individuals contemplate their futures."
- incl. links to:
Introduction and Methodology - The Index for Canada -The Index for Canada and the United States - The Index for Canada and the Provinces - The Index for OECD Countries - An Index of Labour Market Well-being - Weighting tool for Canada and OECD Countries

Sample reports:

International Productivity Monitor - Spring 2008
[ version française ]
On May 12, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS), a national, independent, not-for-profit, economic research organization, released the Spring 2008 issue of the International Productivity Monitor. The issue contains five articles : two on the productivity performance of the Canadian economy and three in a symposium on data needs for better productivity measurement.
* Editor’s Overview
* Business Sector Productivity in Canada: What Do We Know? By Paul Boothe and Richard Roy
* An Analysis of the Causes of Weak Labour Productivity Growth in Canada since 2000 - By Jean-François Arsenault and Andrew Sharpe
* Symposium on Data Needs for Better Productivity Measurement
--- What Is To Be Done for Better Productivity Measurement - By Erwin Diewert
--- The State of Data for Services Productivity Measurement in the United States - By Jack E. Triplett and Barry P. Bosworth
--- Data for Productivity Measurement in Market Services: An International Comparison - By Robert Inklaar, Marcel P. Timmer and Bart van Ark

Earlier Issues of the Monitor (16 issues , back to Fall 2000)

Canadian Centre for Policy Ingenuity (CCPI)
"The CCPI is a non-profit organization that solves significant social, economic and environmental problems by applying systems thinking to policy development and activation."
- someone from CCPI contacted me by e-mail to ask me to post a link to this site --- although there's not really much content on the site yet except for the full text of the (above) Globe article, which I found interesting enough to share.
[- an "About this Site" page would be very nice...]

Think-tanks changing their minds
Many top Canadian policy-makers are moving on.
Maybe it's time for a bit more edge or relevance, reports CAMPBELL CLARK
August 20, 2005
OTTAWA -- A generation of influential Canadian policy-makers are moving on. They're not politicians or bureaucrats, but the heads of think-tanks, the deep thinkers sought out for fresh ideas by government leaders. It is part of a widespread rollover that is leaving Canada's think-tank sector at a crossroads. Even some of the current crop say the field may be strong but it could use something more -- a bit more edge, a little worldliness, or a touch more relevance -- to fill a market of ideas undersupplied by a sterile political debate.(...) The think-tank positions certainly have influence. Brian Guest, a former senior aide to Paul Martin who left the prime minister's office to co-found the Canadian Centre for Policy Ingenuity, which deals with the issues of cities and the environment, said his interest in think-tanks was sparked because he had to keep up with Mr. Martin's demands for arguments about their papers or perspective from someone such as Ms. Maxwell."
Source:
The Globe and Mail

The Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy (CRISP) is a multi-disciplinary research organization based at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton. CRISP is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of social policy in Canada, to help Canadian communities provide better education and care for their children, and to contribute to capacity-building efforts in developing countries.

Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR)
The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research spans a country and connects with the world to initiate and conduct basic research in the natural and social sciences. CIAR links some of the best Canadian and international research minds in dynamic networks that often include unanticipated and innovative combinations of  disciplines to collaborate on large questions from fresh perspectives. It constitutes Canada's research university without walls, creating communities of scholars from different places and divergent fields who are working at the frontier of knowledge and generating new insights.

CIAR has three research programs vital to human well-being (Human Development; Population Health; Economic Growth and Policy); three dealing with the physical and biological origins and preservation of the planet Earth (Cosmology and Gravity; Earth System Evolution; Evolutionary Biology) and two in materials science (Superconductivity; and Nanoelectronics).

Founders' Network
"The Founders' Network links a diverse group of individuals from across Canada and in other countries. We are an international collection of people interested in promoting the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR), science and technology, early childhood, economic issues, determinants of health and human development."

The Early Years Study - Three Years Later
From Early Child Development to Human Development: Enabling Communities (PDF file - 1.5MB, 58 pages)
August 2002
by Margaret McCain and J. Fraser Mustard
"Ontario has the opportunity to provide leadership in enabling communities to put in place ECD programs to improve human development for the future. This investment is key for the future of our next generation communities and society."
The authors of the original study offer their comments on the response of the Government of Ontario to the recommendations in the report.

Here's the link to the original report, done for the Ontario (govt.) Children's Secretariat (which no longer exists, but the report is on the Founders' Network site):

Reversing the Brain Drain : The Early Years Study - Final Report (PDF file - 1.1MB, 207 pages)
February 1999 (Modified 06/2002, according to the Adobe file info)
Co-Chairs : Margaret McCain and J. Fraser Mustard

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Arm's-length agency of the federal government responsible for funding basic research in the social sciences and humanities in Canada. SSHRC funds researchers at post secondary institutions, via a process of rigourous, non-partisan, peer review of their research proposals. SSHRC also supports young researchers ( MA, PhD, Post Doc)  through  a similar process of evaluation.
See the sitemap for : Research News - About SSHRC - Program Information - Human Sciences Links - Career Opportunities - Policy Documents

Satellite maps lead the way to healthier neighbourhoods:
$2.3 million SSHRC project analyzes impact of community resources on childhood development
May 6, 2003
"The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) is investing $2.3 million in a study that will examine the link between the location of neighbourhood resources and the health and school readiness of children. (...) The Consortium for Health, Intervention, Learning and Development (CHILD) Project—led by the University of British Columbia’s Hillel Goelman, associate director of the Human Early Learning Partnership—will examine the physical, intellectual and social development of young children in various neighbourhoods and map their growth and well-being in light of community resources."...more

Early Development in Vancouver: Report of the Community Asset Mapping Project (CAMP) - (PDF file - 137K, 52 pages)
Clyde Hertzman, Sidney A.McLean, Dafna E.Kohen, Jim Dunn, Terry Evans
August 2002
Executive Summary (small PDF file)
Accompanying Maps (PDF file - 2.7MB)
Related Link:
Human Early Learning Partnership

Court Challenges Program of Canada/Programme de Contestation Judiciaire du Canada 
National Crime Prevention Centre 

Canada 2020

Canada 2020 is a dynamic and networked “ideas generation council” that takes a unique approach to addressing Canada’s public policy opportunities and challenges.
Objectives:
a. to act as a non-partisan forum to address Canada’s policy opportunities and challenges;
b. to develop public policy solutions to address the opportunities and challenges Canada faces;
c. to promote and communicate ideas to government, media, and interested Canadians.

Canada 2020 a Counter to the Conservative Think Tanks
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore will deliver his message about global warming as the keynote dinner speaker at the Canada 2020 Progressive Policies, Practical Solutions conference in Mont Tremblant, Quebec on Wednesday, June 14th. Mr. Gore joins internationally renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs, Harper's Magazine Editor Lewis Lapham and former President of the European Bank Jacques Attali as part of a stellar program of progressive Canadian and international thinkers that is expected to be one of the most thought provoking and exciting forums in recent memory. More than 150 prominent Canadians from business, government, and academia will discuss ideas and debate progressive policies during the two-day session, June 13-15, 2006 at the Fairmont Tremblant Hotel. [See the Canada 2020 link below for more info about this conference.]
Source:
Canadian Democratic Movement
("Alternative News Media on Democracy, Energy, Politics, Trade, Environment, Military and Money")

Miscellaneous

Atkinson Charitable Foundation - Established in 1947, this private Canadian foundation provides grants for innovative, Ontario-based projects that focus on either early childhood education and development or economic justice. The list of funded projects for 1998 alone is impressive...

Donner Canadian Foundation - The Donner Canadian Foundation seeks to encourage individual responsibility and private initiative to help Canadians solve their social and economic problems. Since 1967, the Donner Foundation has contributed over $100 million to more than 1,000 projects across Canada.

Trillium Foundation (Ontario)

Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada
The Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada promotes teaching, research, and scholarship in the humanities and social sciences and a better understanding of the importance of such work for Canada and the world.

FromThe Wellesley Institute Blog:

The Economic Case for Social Policy
Posted: 08 Dec 2006
The research evidence that public policy and investment directed towards reducing poverty and income inequality, improving early childhood development, ensuring affordable housing and addressing other social determinants of health will have a significant and long-term impact on improving health outcomes is clear and incontrovertible.A common argument made against such policy action is economic: the necessary investments would cost too much or would require too high levels of taxation, and as a result would dampen economic growth.

Two recent reports from Canadian social policy think tanks indicate that such economic arguments are not convincing.The first, from the Canadian Policy Research Networks, examines the economic case for investment in the social determinants. (...) A report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives analyzes whether countries with more comprehensive and progressive social policy, and higher taxes to pay for it, do worse economically. It compared OECD countries on a wide range of social and economic indicators.It found that the "high taxed" Nordic countries do significantly better on social goals related to poverty, income inequality, education, health, social cohesion, etc. and that these social benefits do not come at the expense of economic goals.

Also from the Wellesley Institute:

Two days, two reports, two very different worlds
June 29, 2007
The World Wealth Report 2007 released on Wednesday by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini reports that the very rich (so-called high net worth individuals – HNWI) are getting even richer. And the forecast is the extremely wealthy are going to get even richer due to their dominance of global capital markets, especially commercial real estate and real estate investment trusts. Meanwhile, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a detailed research report on Thursday called Rising Profit Shares, Falling Wage Shares which shows that real hourly wages for workers (the people that do things, rather than own things) “have been stagnant for 30 years running”.The two studies make fascinating reading, when set side-by-side...
Source:
The Wellesley Institute Blog
[ The Wellesley Institute ]

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