Canadian elections can be staid affairs. For all the talk of big change, campaigns tend to gravitate toward which party can be trusted to “manage the economy.” Trusted by whom? The coveted “middle class” voter, of course. Those at the higher-income end of that group are more likely to vote…
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In November 2018, CCPA released a report, Contract U: Contract Faculty Appointments at Canadian Universities, which looked at the trends in contract faculty appointments using Freedom of Information data from 67 universities. Since November, we have received additional information from Concordia University, McMaster University, Ryerson University, and the University of…
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Last month, as part of the research for a book I am writing on mobilizing Canada for the climate emergency, I commissioned an extensive national public opinion poll from Abacus Data.* The full results of the poll can be found on the Abacus website here. I share highlights and my…
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Why do average rent numbers always seem too low? As I work on major reports, like our recent one looking at rental wages, I have a front row seat to the shortcomings of data collection. Sometimes these shortcomings are small and inconsequential to the overall conclusions. Sometimes they are big…
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When we talk about housing affordability the focus is usually on home ownership and high housing costs. Less discussed is the affordability crisis faced by the third of Canadian households (4.7 million families) who rent their homes. This paper looks at the extent of the problem by determining the hourly…
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“I used to have unfettered access to public spaces, something most people would take for granted, but when I began visibly violating gender norms, I became subject to verbal and physical abuse while in public on a fairly regular basis and have little recourse except to avoid public spaces.” –…
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Not-too-late-to-save-the-world edition View the story Federal election primer: Not-too-late-to-save-the-world edition By Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood The global climate crisis—often framed as an abstract and future problem—is increasingly obvious outside our windows. Summer hasn’t officially started yet, but out-of-control wildfires are already raging across Alberta and British Columbia. Following the record-breaking burns of…
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The urgency of the global climate crisis could not be more obvious than in India right now, where a 50ºC heatwave is causing “heavy casualties” both directly through heat-related deaths and indirectly through water and food shortages. Canadians have been spared that kind of heat so far, but it’s little…
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Yesterday’s announcement from the The Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, led by Dr. Eric Hoskins, was applauded by organizations and researchers across Canada who have long advocated for the introduction of a universal, single-payer pharmacare system. Journalists at the event, however, seemed to be focused on…
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Life is better thanks to taxes View the story Say it out loud: Life is better thanks to taxes By Randy Robinson Long-time CCPA economist Hugh Mackenzie once said that right-wing politicians have succeeded at cutting public services by severing the link, in the public mind, between those services and…
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