Who was Barbara Mitchell?
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What’s Changed, By How Much, and What Remains to be Done: An Analysis of Alberta’s Budget

What’s Changed, By How Much, and What Remains to be Done: An Analysis of Alberta’s Budget finds that the Alberta government’s plan to eliminate the provincial deficit by reducing program spending by 1.6 per cent over the next four years is less aggressive—both by timeline and by the amount of spending reductions—than previous successful deficit-reduction plans by other governments across Canada, including in Alberta, Saskatchewan and at the federal level.

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Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Ontario, 2019

Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Ontario finds that public-sector employees in Ontario—including municipal, provincial and federal government workers—received 10.3 per cent higher wages on average than comparable workers in the private sector last year, and also enjoyed more generous pensions, earlier retirement, more personal leave and greater job security.

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Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in British Columbia, 2019

Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in British Columbia finds that government employee wages in B.C. were 5.8 per cent higher (on average) than wages for comparable workers in the province’s private sector, and government employees also enjoy more generous benefits.

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Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Alberta, 2019

Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Alberta finds that public-sector employees in Alberta—including municipal, provincial and federal government workers—received 9.3 per cent higher wages on average than comparable workers in the private sector last year, and also enjoyed more generous pensions, earlier retirement, more personal leave and greater job security.

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Evaluating Alberta's Energy Regulator

Evaluating Alberta’s Energy Regulator finds that any meaningful reform of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) must target the corporation’s regulatory objectives, decision-making process and procedures because a sleeker, more efficient AER would be a big step in the right direction for Alberta and Canada as a whole.

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Catching Up with Canada: A Prosperity Agenda for Atlantic Canada

Catching Up with Canada: A Prosperity Agenda for Atlantic Canada is the first study from the Institute’s new Atlantic Canada Initiative. It finds that even though Atlantic Canada currently lags the rest of the country in several key economic indicators—including household incomes, GDP per capita and the employment rate, among others—the region could close the gap by pursuing pro-growth policy reforms similar to those enacted recently in Michigan and Ireland. In fact, if Atlantic Canada could achieve an inflation-adjusted economic growth rate of 1.6 per cent—0.9 percentage points above forecasted growth for the rest of Canada—the region would catch up with the rest of Canada within 20 years.

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Canada-US Energy Sector Competitiveness Survey 2019

The Canada-US Energy Sector Competitiveness Survey finds that Texas is more than twice as attractive for oil and gas investment than Alberta. Specifically, uncertain environmental regulations, regulatory inconsistencies and pipeline constraints are major deterrents to greater energy investment in Alberta and across Canada. In fact, the study also ranks 20 North American jurisdictions based on policies affecting oil and gas investment, and Saskatchewan was Canada’s highest-ranked province at 13th out of 20. Alberta ranked 16th, and Texas ranked 1st overall.

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