Who was Barbara Mitchell?
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Report Card on Alberta’s Elementary Schools 2016

Report Card on Alberta’s Elementary Schools 2016 ranks 812 public, separate, francophone, private, and charter schools based on seven academic indicators derived from provincewide test results. In addition to five years of academic results, the report card shows which Alberta elementary schools have improved, or fallen behind, in terms of language arts, mathematics science and social studies over the past five years.

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Moving Targets: Re-estimating Federal Deficits and Debt-to-GDP

Given the government’s rapidly evolving deficit and debt targets, the study, Moving Targets: Re-estimating Federal Deficits and Debt-to-GDP through 2020/21, spotlights the federal government five-year budget plan and raises questions about the government’s fiscal targets. It finds that federal deficits could reach nearly $200 billion over the next five years along with a corresponding increase in the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio.

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Rates of Return for the Canada Pension Plan

Amid the ongoing debates about expanding the CPP, the study, Rates of Return for the Canada Pension Plan, calculates the rates of return Canadians can expect in return from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The study finds that, contrary to widely held public opinion, the CPP provides only a meager rate of return for most Canadian workers—especially younger workers.

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Child Care in Canada: Examining the Status Quo in 2015

Child Care in Canada: Examining the Status Quo in 2015 explores the wide range of government-funded childcare programs in Canada including daycare programs, cash benefits and tax deductions flowing to families with children. It finds that governments in Canada spent more than $25 billion on childcare in 2015.

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Measuring Personal Income Tax Complexity in Canada

Measuring Personal Income Tax Complexity in Canada, examines the evolution of Canadian tax legislation, tax guides and tax expenditures in an effort to quantify complexity. For example, the study finds that between between 1981 and 2014, the number of federal personal income tax expenditures (i.e. targeted tax breaks for particular individuals or activities including deductions, exemptions, exclusions, and tax credits) available to Canadians increased from 101 to 128—an increase of 27 per cent.

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Learning from the Saskatchewan Surgical Initiative to Improve Wait Times in Canada

In 2010, the Saskatchewan government launched the Saskatchewan Surgical Initiative (SSI) – a program to tackle long wait times for medically necessary surgeries and which included the controversial introduction of private for-profit clinics. The study, Learning from the Saskatchewan Surgical Initiative to Improve Wait Times in Canada, cites Government of Saskatchewan statistics from 2014 showing a 75 per cent decline in the number of patients waiting for more than 3 months for medical treatment.

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Measuring Income Mobility in Canada, 2016 finds that Canada has high levels of income mobility -- the ability of individuals to move up the income ladder. For example, within a 10 year period (1993 to 2012), nine of every 10 Canadians in the lowest income group moved to a higher income group.

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