Extended Employment Insurance Now Open to All: Atlantic Canada’s Warning for Other Provinces finds that as unemployment rates increase and Canada’s employment insurance (EI) program automatically becomes more generous and accessible, many more people are now qualifying for much more generous benefits. This will add to Ottawa’s financial pressures and also risks increasing long-term unemployment, as was experienced in Atlantic Canada.

Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Canada finds that public-sector employees in Canada—including municipal, provincial and federal government workers—received 9.4 per cent higher wages, on average, than comparable workers in the private sector in 2018, and also enjoyed more generous pensions, earlier retirement, more personal leave and greater job security.

Prime Ministers and Government Spending, Updated 2020 Edition finds that total per-person spending in 2020 will reach $13,226, including $3,920 per Canadian in COVID-related spending. This represents a 46.6 per cent increase over the previous highest spending level reached in 2019 of $9,041. Crucially, 2020’s total program spending, after adjusting for inflation, is 50.7 per cent higher than per-person spending during the 2009 recession, and 74.5 per cent higher than the highest point of per-person spending during the Second World War.