Cardus

A statement from Cardus Health program director Rebecca Vachon, PhD:

"The Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (AMAD) has recommended that the Government of Canada permanently pause the impending expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for persons with mental health conditions as sole underlying conditions.

"It is encouraging to see that the voices of many experts and professionals who live and work with the realities of Canada’s MAiD regime were listened to, and that this group of Members of Parliament have recognized their role and responsibility in protecting our most vulnerable members of society.

"We call on the federal government to support legislation that will enact this recommendation into law, thereby protecting Canadians who live with mental illnesses. Parliamentary committees should continue to investigate MAiD in a transparent and publicly accountable way, particularly with regard to the impacts MAiD has had on vulnerable Canadians, as has been continually attested to by disability advocacy organizations and demonstrated through reviews of data."

Link to the full statement below ⬇️

"With Canada currently charting one of the lowest birthrates on Earth, a new survey finds that if young Canadians felt able to, they would happily be posting one of the highest fertility rates in the Western world.

“'The data suggest that for many Canadian women and men, achieving the family life they desire remains a challenge,' reads the report 'Home Alone' by Cardus, an Ontario-based non-partisan Christian think tank.

“'Across most ethnic or linguistic groups, Canadians generally desire to have around two children,' read the report.

"In 2024, Statistics Canada first confirmed that Canadian fertility rates had reached a record low of 1.25 children per woman, officially placing Canada in a small club of 'ultra-low fertility' countries such as Italy (1.18), South Korea (0.75) and Japan (1.15).

"'But if Canadians were hitting their 'ideal' fertility rate of two children per woman, Canada would instead be a statistical outlier among wealthy countries in the sheer quantity of babies it was producing."

Link in the comments ⬇️

Recent data show that young men feel demoralized. One contributing factor is that men are struggling to achieve the family lives they desire. In a new memo for federal policymakers, Cardus Family program director Peter Jon Mitchell recommends a renewed emphasis on family life in the upcoming Men and Boys' Health Strategy.

Read the full proposal here ➡️ https://bit.ly/4vvtF6w

Tara Henley saw the crisis in Canadian journalism from the inside, and she's written the most clear-eyed diagnosis of it yet. Her new book The Trust Spiral traces how the media's abandonment of objectivity set off a downward cycle of eroding public trust, and what it will take to reverse it. Join us June 9 in Ottawa for a conversation with Tara, moderated by National Post Parliamentary Bureau Chief Stuart Thomson, with audience Q&A to follow. Register here ➡️ https://bit.ly/4wyJieB

Canada's fertility rate just hit a historic low—but this isn't just a demographic statistic. It's the story of millions of Canadians who wanted more children and couldn't have them. Swipe through to learn five things you need to know from our latest research on Canada's fertility crisis, by Cardus Senior Fellow Lyman Stone.

Read our new report, Home Alone: Why Most Canadians Have Fewer Children Than They Want, in full here ➡️ https://bit.ly/4dNd8U3

We stand with Pallium Canada in calling for a National Palliative Care Training Standard for Long-Term Care. Residents and families deserve care centred on quality of life, dignity, and compassion. A national standard will play a critical role in ensuring every Canadian who needs palliative care can access it.

Recent Cardus polling, conducted in partnership with the Angus Reid Institute, shows how important this issue is to Canadians. Nine in ten believe high-quality palliative care should be a right, yet that right isn't recognised in the Canada Health Act. One in five Canadians who've tried to access palliative care for a loved one say it was difficult to get. Four in five would want palliative care if they became seriously ill. Only 57 percent are confident they could access it.

The time is now to build a system of high-quality palliative care, accessible to every Canadian. Read Pallium Canada's full 2026 Federal Budget Submission ➡️ https://bit.ly/4x063bG

And read more about our polling ➡️ https://bit.ly/4uldgAF

Canada needs Christian leaders in every sector—equipped young, formed through prayer, study, and mentorship, and ready for a vocation of public life.

That's why Cardus founded the NextGEN Fellowship: twelve remarkable young professionals brought together each year to develop the leadership capacity needed to build the common good of our country.

Today, we're thrilled to announce the 2026 NextGEN Fellows. They are extraordinary young leaders like Brenda, a systems change strategist appointed to the Order of Canada for her work in education equity, and Brandan, a son of Cambodian refugees now serving as a senior leader in national advocacy. Across industries and professions, they share a deep desire to play a part in God's plan for a more flourishing Canada.

Their journey is about to begin. Would you like to be part of it? Applications for the 2027 cohort are open and accepted year-round. If you're a young professional called to public life, we'd love to hear from you. Learn more and apply ➡️ https://bit.ly/4x18kU3

What broke public trust in the media... and can it be fixed? In The Trust Spiral, Canadian journalist Tara Henley traces the roots of journalism's credibility crisis and makes a direct case for what it will take to reverse it. On June 9, Tara joins us in Ottawa for a conversation moderated by National Post Parliamentary Bureau Chief Stuart Thomson, with audience Q&A to follow. If you care about the health of public discourse, this one is worth your evening. Register here ➡️ https://bit.ly/4dJB5ge

In a new article on the rise in home schooling globally, The Economist cites data from the Cardus Education Survey on graduate outcomes of home-schooled students. Read the full article here ➡️ https://econ.st/4nIZUw3

"In 2025 Cardus, a Canadian think-tank, published research which factored in childhood poverty, whether the respondent grew up with both biological parents and whether they were in a religious household. The paper, by Ms Watson and Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas, found that American adults who had been home-schooled were less likely to work full-time or have a household income above the median wage... The Cardus report [also] found that pupils taught at home for eight years or more reported the highest levels of optimism and close social bonds. But those taught that way for one to two years reported the highest levels of anxiety, and those who were home-schooled for three-to-seven years had the fewest close social bonds and lowest life satisfaction..."

The Cardus Education Survey (CES) examines a range of outcomes for a nationally representative sample of adults aged 24 to 39 who attended public schools, Protestant schools, Catholic schools, nonreligious independent schools, or were homeschooled. The CES examines respondents’ academic, spiritual, cultural, civic, and relational outcomes, and their life patterns, views, and choices. The CES controls for a range of respondents’ demographic characteristics to estimate the specific effect of school type on graduate outcomes.