The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of 86 think-tanks. Its mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit fraserinstitute.org.
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TORONTO—Combined federal and provincial debt in Canada has nearly doubled from $1.18 trillion in 2007/08 (the year before the last recession) to a projected $2.18 trillion this year, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
VANCOUVER—Wyoming, for a second year in a row, is considered far more attractive for investment than several Canadian provinces according to this year’s survey of petroleum-sector executives released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.
“The message from investors is clear—Canada’s onerous and uncertain regulatory environment continues to hurt the investment attractiveness of the country’s oil and gas industry,” said Elmira Aliakbari, director of the Fraser Institute’s centre for natural resource studies and co-author of the latest Canada-US Energy Sector Competitiveness Survey.
VANCOUVER—Higher university subsidies do not necessarily result in a more educated population, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
TORONTO—As a result of increasing restrictions on liberties in Hong Kong—once among the freest places on earth—it now ranks 46th in the latest Human Freedom Index report, released today by Canada’s Fraser Institute and the U.S.-based Cato Institute.
As recently as 2010, Hong Kong was the 3rd freest jurisdiction on earth. Mainland China has always been less free than the territory and this year, China ranks 149th out of 165 jurisdictions.
VANCOUVER—After Estonia ended socialist rule and transitioned back to a market democracy, Estonians enjoyed vast improvements in their incomes, living standards and other key measures of prosperity, finds a new book published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“The progress of Estonia, which is now one of the most successful countries in Eastern Europe, is a testament to the benefits of markets,” said Matthew Mitchell, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Road to Freedom: Estonia’s Remarkable Rise from Socialist Vassal State to One of the Freest Nations on Earth.
HALIFAX—The number of Canadians donating to charity—as a percentage of all tax filers—is at the lowest point in 20 years, finds a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
VANCOUVER—Canadian patients waited longer than ever this year for medical treatment, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
The study, an annual survey of physicians across Canada, reports a median wait time of 27.7 weeks—the longest ever recorded, longer than the wait of 27.4 weeks reported in 2022—and 198 per cent higher than the 9.3 weeks Canadians waited in 1993, when the Fraser Institute began tracking wait times.
VANCOUVER—After the Soviet Union invaded Estonia and imposed socialism, living standards in Estonia plummeted—particularly compared to neighbouring Finland, finds an upcoming book, which will be published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
TORONTO—In a ranking of employment incomes in the largest 107 metropolitan areas around the Great Lakes region for 2019, London (93rd) and Windsor (99th) are right near the bottom, finds a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
VANCOUVER—To meet international government mandates for electric vehicles (EV), a total of 388 new mines must be built to produce the metals required for EV production, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.
“The sheer scale of mining required to meet EV mandates raises serious questions about the timelines being imposed by governments,” said Kenneth Green, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Can Metal Mining Match the Speed of the Planned Electric Vehicle Transition?
VANCOUVER—Among a group of 30 high-income countries that have universally accessible health care, Canada has some of the lowest availability of doctors, hospital beds, and medical technologies—and the longest wait times, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“In terms of availability of resources and timely access to care, Canadians are not receiving the value they deserve from the country’s health-care system, this much is clear,” said Bacchus Barua, director of Health Policy Studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Comparing Performance of Universal Health Care Countries, 2023.
VANCOUVER—Every Canadian province ranks in the bottom half of jurisdictions in our annual rankings of economic freedom in North America, finds a new report released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, public policy think-tank.
Economic freedom—the ability of individuals to make their own economic decisions about what to buy, where to work and whether to start a business—remains fundamental to prosperity. The report has two indexes: a sub-national index which measures restrictions on freedom at the province/state and local level and an all-government index which adds federal restrictions.
VANCOUVER—Government subsidies for electric vehicle purchases are an extremely costly way to try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.
“By essentially paying people to buy electric vehicles, governments across Canada are spending a lot of money despite questionable benefits,” said Jock Finlayson, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and co-author of A Review of Electric Vehicle Consumer Subsidies in Canada.
VANCOUVER—Despite common misperceptions, middle-class workers in Denmark pay relatively high taxes for Denmark’s large government, notes a new book published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“Foreign admirers, particularly social democrats, often point to Denmark as a policy model but few seem to appreciate who actually pays for the country’s large welfare state,” said noted Danish economist Lars Christensen, co-author of The Free Enterprise Welfare State: A History of Denmark’s Unique Economic Model.
VANCOUVER—The federal government’s new Indo-Pacific trade strategy (IPS), meant to encourage increased Canadian exports to Indo-Pacific countries such as India and China through subsidies and other preferential treatments, unwisely shifts attention from Canada’s largest trading partner and key source of prosperity, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.
TORONTO—In a ranking of employment income growth in the largest 141 metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States from 2010 to 2019, only three Canadian cities rank in the top half, with Toronto—Canada’s largest metropolitan area—ranking 102nd, so finds a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
VANCOUVER—In Canada, the gap between the number of homes built and the number of additional people is the widest it’s been in 50 years, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.
VANCOUVER—Canadians endure relatively poor access to mental health services when compared to what is available in other developed nations with universal access health care systems, particularly for psychiatric care beds, psychiatrists and psychologists, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“Making better use of limited resources, with a focus on improving the availability of services over time, will be essential to properly address Canada’s mental health care gap,” said Nadeem Esmail, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Mental Health Care: How is Canada Doing?
MONTREAL—Private surgical clinics play an increasingly large role in Quebec’s universal health care system, and now perform 1-in-6 government-funded day surgeries, according to a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
VANCOUVER—While the federal government has made progress, it should enact more reforms to improve the economic performance of permanent immigrant workers, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.