Who was Barbara Mitchell?
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LNG Exports from British Columbia: The Cost of Regulatory Delay

LNG Exports from British Columbia: The Cost of Regulatory Delay finds that unless BC’s regulatory process for liquefied natural gas industry is streamlined, the province risks losing out on over $20 billion a year on export revenues.

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The Economic Freedom of the World 2015 report uses data from 2013 (the most recent year available) to rank jurisdictions based on their levels of economic freedom (measured in size of government, taxation, regulation, rule of law, etc.).

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Understanding the Increases in Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada

Compensation costs—including salaries, benefits and pensions—consume almost three quarters of all increases in spending on public schools, concludes Understanding the Increases in Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada. The study highlights how spending on public schools increased between 2003-04 and 2012-13 with the additional money paying mainly for salaries, pensions and benefits. For example, over this time frame compensation costs rose from $30.9 billion to $44.6 billion—an increase of $13.8 billion, which represents 72.2 per cent of the overall $19.1 billion increase in education spending during the 10-year period.

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Enrolments and Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada

Enrolments and Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada points out how an overall increase in education spending has taken place despite a decline in student enrolment. The study finds that public school enrolment declined by 4.9 per cent—from about 5.3 million students to a just over 5 million between 2003-04 and 2012-13. In aggregate, Canada increased education spending in public schools by $13.8 billion from 2003-04 to 2012-13 more than was necessary to account for enrolment and price changes. If per student spending in public schools had remained constant over this period, the aggregate amount of education spending in public schools in 2012-13 would have been 22.8% lower.

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Improving Union Accountability with Worker Choice

Improving Union Accountability with Worker Choice follows the recent Royal Assent given to Bill C-377, federal legislation that requires Canada’s labour organizations to publicly disclose basic financial information (such as expenditures, revenue, and their financial position). The study finds that, while the new law makes improves union accountability, unionized workers in Canada’s private sector still face a lack of choice when it comes to joining and financially supporting a union.

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Canadian Consumer Tax Index, tracks the total tax bill of the average Canadian family from 1961 to 2014, taking into account both the visible and hidden taxes that families pay to all levels of government (including income taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, health taxes, fuel taxes, alcohol taxes, and more). It finds that, in 2014, the average Canadian family earned $79,010 and paid $33,272 in total taxes compared to $28,887 on food, clothing and shelter combined.

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Residential Land-Use Regulation in Alberta’s Calgary-Edmonton Corridor

With long-term housing affordability continuing to be a concern in major cities across the country, New Homes and Red Tape: Residential Land-Use Regulation in Alberta’s Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the Institute’s first ever survey of Alberta homebuilders. It compares and ranks jurisdictions across the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor (CEC) on several categories of red tape (construction approval times, density opposition, timeline uncertainty, regulatory costs and fees, rezoning prevalence and the effect council and community groups have on development) based on the experiences and opinions of industry professionals. The survey — which is part of a broader effort to understand the effects of land-use regulation on Canadian housing supply — finds that the Rocky View County and the City of Calgary are the most regulated municipalities in the CEC and consequently the most difficult in which to build new housing.

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