Who was Barbara Mitchell?
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Canadian Consumer Tax Index, 2020 finds that last year the average Canadian family spent 42.6 per cent of its income on taxes, more than housing, food and clothing costs combined, which made up just 36.2 per cent. The annual study tracks the total tax bill of the average Canadian household from 1961 to 2019, and looks at both visible and hidden taxes that families pay to the federal, provincial and local governments, including income, payroll, sales, property, health, fuel and alcohol taxes, and more.

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Federal Government Wasting Billions on Poorly Targeted Assistance

Federal Government Wasting Billions on Poorly Targeted Assistance is a new study that finds the federal government is potentially wasting more than $22 billion in COVID recession spending because the money is not being adequately targeted to those in need. Crucially, more than one-in-four dollars (27.4 per cent) of the COVID-related spending included in the analysis is potentially going to Canadians with questionable need at a time when Ottawa is running a historic deficit.

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Measuring the Equalization Clawback on Natural Resource Revenue in Have-Not Provinces

Measuring the Equalization Clawback on Natural Resource Revenue in Have-Not Provinces finds that Canada’s equalization program discourages natural resource development in “have-not” provinces, including all three Maritime provinces. As a province receives more revenue from natural resource developments, it receives less money from the federal government in equalization transfers, and consequently, governments in have-not provinces that receive equalization are discouraged by the clawbacks from developing natural resources.

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The Price of Public Health Care Insurance, 2020

The Price of Public Healthcare, 2020 finds that the typical Canadian family will pay $14,474 for public health care this year, and single Canadians will pay $4,894. The study, which reveals the health-care costs—paid in taxes—for Canadians, also measures the growth of health-care costs over time.

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A Critical Assessment of Canada’s Official Poverty Line

A Critical Assessment of Canada’s Official Poverty Line finds that due to the federal government’s newly established official poverty line, some Canadian families earning more than $60,000 annually are now considered impoverished. Drawing the poverty line above families and individuals with near middle-class incomes will do nothing to help eliminate genuine deprivation in Canada.

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The Issues Facing Canada's Employment Insurance Program

The Issues Facing Canada’s Employment Insurance Program is a new study that finds the current design of Canada’s employment insurance program creates regional disparities, distorts labour markets, provides inadequate coverage for part-time workers and the self-employed, and will impose a financial burden on Canadians.

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Ontario Government Perpetuates Poor Electricity Policy

Ontario Government Perpetuates Poor Electricity Policy is a new study that examines the current Ontario government's inability to resolve the province’s long-running electricity problems. Crucially, government subsidies for electricity producers and consumers in Ontario makes it nearly impossible for Ontarians to determine the true costs of electricity since they are incurring costs both in their hydro bills and with their taxes.

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