Commentary

Making the Best of It: Options for Carbon levy Revenue in Alberta

Recently, the Trudeau government announced it would increase the federal backstop carbon levy to $170 per tonne between now and 2030. This backgrounder considers options for fiscal policy reform in Alberta that would be made possible by the provincial government repatriating the full amount of the carbon levy (most of…
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Reforming GST Rules for Foreign Digital Suppliers

The Trudeau government recently announced the extension of the GST to include digital products and services sold remotely to Canadians by foreign suppliers. This change is sometimes referred to as the “Netflix Tax.” The tax policy change is long overdue, and will ensure foreign suppliers of digital services to Canadians…
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The Fiscal Wages of Sin

Provincial governments across Canada face a conflict of interest surrounding the policy treatment of alcohol, tobacco and gambling. On the one hand, all provinces derive substantial revenues from “sin taxes” or from providing these goods and services through government monopolies. These revenues flow into consolidated revenue funds for the year…
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It’s time to increase taxes on capital gains

To address wealth inequality, and to improve functioning of our tax system, tax rates on capital gains income should be increased. The current tax preference for capital gains costs upwards of $15 billion annually. To equalize the tax treatment of gains and other income, the inclusion rate for capital gains…
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Large Corporate Groups that Received CEWS Payments

We identified over 4000 recipients of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy that are part of large corporate groups with at least $600 million in assets. This list includes 190 companies owned by Canadian billionaires, including the Thomson, Irving, Rogers, and Péladeau families, and 1829 companies in foreign-controlled multinational enterprises. These…
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News about CEWS

Federal emergency wage subsidies are poorly targeted, resulting in a fiscal cost of about $14,500 for each person-month of employment saved through the program, or $188,000 per job year. Reductions in subsidy rates which began in September had only small impacts on employment, while reducing the fiscal cost of the…
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