This study provides some historical background of issues that have surrounded Family Class immigration, assesses the current issues, and examines the new regulations put forth under Phase I and II of the federal government’s Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification. The study concludes with an assessment of the proposed changes and recommendations for the future.

This paper is the latest in a series of studies on the measurement of poverty in Canada. It provides new estimates of poverty in Canada using the Basic Needs Line. It determines the trend in poverty over the past 40 years, and provides a fairly detailed profile of the poor.

In 2012/13, the federal government’s total transfers to the provinces amounted to $60.1 billion, or $1,725 per capita. This study examines one of those federal transfer programs, equalization. Equalization is an unconditional transfer of federal funds to provinces eligible for such payments; eligibility is determined based upon calculations of “fiscal capacity”.