Fiscal Policy and Recessions: The Role of Public Infrastructure Spending finds that infrastructure spending is not an effective policy for stimulating the economy during a recession because major infrastructure projects have very long timelines, and the recession will be over by the time shovels hit the ground. There is also evidence from the United States and Canada that increased federal spending on infrastructure merely replaces spending from lower levels of government, meaning the level of overall government spending remains the same.

Prime Ministers and Government Spending, 2020 finds that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has now recorded the highest ever per-person spending level of any federal government, including those that fought wars or faced recessions. Adjusting for inflation, the study finds that spending in 2019 ($9,066 per Canadian) tops the previous all-time record of $8,811 (in 2019 dollars) set by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2009 during the global recession.

Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2019 Generosity Index finds that the amount of money Canadians donate to registered charities—as a share of their income—has hit a 20-year low, and Canadians remain far less generous than Americans. According to the index, Utah remains the most generous of all 64 jurisdictions in North America, and Manitoba is again the most generous Canadian province or territory, but still only ranks 44th out of 64. Of the bottom-15 least generous jurisdictions in North America, 12 are Canadian.