Alex Whalen

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Director, Atlantic Canada Prosperity, Fraser Institute

Alex Whalen is Director, Atlantic Canada Prosperity with the Fraser Institute and coordinator of the activities of the Atlantic Canada division. Prior to joining the Institute, Alex was Vice-President of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), which merged with the Fraser Institute in 2019. He is a graduate of the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, and the School of Business at the University of Prince Edward Island. He brings prior experience as an entrepreneur and business manager to his work at the Institute. His writing has appeared widely in newspapers including the Globe and Mail, National Post, Chronicle Herald, Telegraph Journal, Calgary Herald, and others.

Recent Research by Alex Whalen

We're Getting Poorer: GDP per Capita in Canada and the OECD, 2002-2060

— Jul 23, 2024

We’re getting poorer: GDP per Capita in Canada and the OECD, 2002 - 2060 is a new study that finds Canada had the third-lowest growth in GDP per person—a broad measure of living standards—from 2014 to 2022 among 30 advanced economies in the OECD.

The Size of Government in Canada in 2022

— Mar 26, 2024

The Size of Government in Canada in 2022 measures federal, provincial, and local government spending in each province as a share of the economy (GDP) from 2007 to 2022 (the most recent year of comparable data) finding that government size grew in every province except Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan during that period. In 2022, the size of government relative to the economy as a whole across Canada ranged from a low of 26.8 per cent in Alberta to a high of 63 per cent in Nova Scotia--and was 40.5 of Canada’s total economy.

Stagnation in Atlantic Canada’s Private Sector: Measuring Progress 2007 to 2019

— Jan 23, 2024

Stagnation in Atlantic Canada’s Private Sector: Measuring Progress 2007 to 2019 is a new study that analyzes the private sector in Atlantic Canada and across the country between 2007 and 2019, finding that the region's private sector trailed the rest of the country, failing to improve over the period.