Provincial Prosperity

— Jan 5, 2017

The End of the Alberta Tax Advantage finds that corporate and personal income tax hikes in Alberta last year have wiped away the crucial tax advantage that helped fuel the province’s economic prosperity for years. Corporate tax rates are now lower in B.C., Ontario and Quebec, and Alberta’s top combined marginal personal income tax rate went from the lowest in North America to the 16th highest among all province and states.

Does Constitutional Protection Prevent Education Reform in Ontario?

— Dec 20, 2016

Does Constitutional Protection Prevent Education Reform in Ontario? finds that Ontario’s Catholic school system can be part of education reform, despite public misperceptions about the nature of its protection in the Constitution. Amending constitutional provisions that only apply to one province require a simple vote in the legislature of the affected province, and recognition by the federal Parliament.

Report Card on Ontario's Elementary Schools 2016

— Dec 4, 2016

The Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools 2016 ranks 2,900 public and Catholic schools (and a small number of independent schools) based on nine academic indicators from results of annual provincewide reading, writing and math tests. It finds that despite overall declining math scores in Ontario, some schools have maintained high levels of student success. The 25 English-language schools with the best four-year average math scores include 15 public schools, six independent schools and four Catholic schools located across the province.

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The Five Solitudes of Ontario: A Regional Analysis of Labour Market Performance in Post-Recession Ontario

— Dec 1, 2016

The Five Solitudes of Ontario: A Regional Analysis of Labour Market Performance in Post-Recession Ontario finds that decent economic performance—especially job growth—in Toronto and the surrounding Golden Horseshoe region is hiding the fact that the rest of Ontario still hasn’t fully recovered from the 2009 recession. Total employment in Ontario outside the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) stood at 2.24 million in 2008. By the end of 2015, the most recent year of available data, that figure stood at 2.17 million, still 70,000 jobs shy of pre-recession levels.

One Energy Boom, Two Approaches: Fiscal Restraint Has Left Texas in Better Shape than Alberta

— Nov 17, 2016

One Energy Boom, Two Approaches: Fiscal Restraint Has Left Texas in Better Shape than Alberta finds that Alberta’s deficits and mounting debt are largely the result of undisciplined spending and fiscal mismanagement, not just a drop in energy prices. By comparison, Texas controlled spending during the energy boom of 2004 to 2014, and, partly as a result, ran five straight surpluses between fiscal years 2009 and 2013. Alberta, which increased spending at a greater rate than Texas, ran four deficits during that same five-year period, and has continued to run deficits in the years since, with the exception of a small surplus in 2014/2015. Further, Alberta doesn’t expect to balance the budget again until at least 2024.

New Homes and Red Tape in Alberta: Residential Land-Use Regulation in the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor

— Oct 25, 2016

New Homes and Red Tape in Alberta: Residential Land-Use Regulation in the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor finds that the City of Calgary is stifling new home builds with burdensome red tape, compared to more development-friendly suburbs. Permit approval times in Calgary for residential developments average a staggering 13.5 months, compared to an average of 7.5 months for five of the city’s suburbs. Edmonton ranked sixth out of 12 municipalities in this updated survey of developers in terms of homebuilding regulations, and Calgary ranked tenth.