C.D. Howe Institute

The Globe and Mail Editorial Board's latest Sunday editorial draws on recent research from Don Drummond and Parisa Mahboubi, PhD.

“He and economist Parisa Mahboubi co-authored a recent study for the C.D. Howe Institute, that forecasts the long-term GDP growth rate through to 2060 for Canada at 1.2 per cent, well below the 1.5 per cent projection in the spring economic update.

That means Ottawa’s official estimate is 25 per cent higher than the C.D. Howe Institute figure.”

Canada’s AI future will be shaped by the choices we make now.

Join Ivan Zhang of Cohere, Brent Barron of CIFAR, and Mark Schaan of ISED on June 11 in Ottawa as they discuss AI commercialization, computing infrastructure, and competitiveness. https://cdhowe.org/events/artificial-intelligence-the-way-forward-for-canada/

Canada needs long-term labour market reform, not temporary fixes.

2025 Labour Market Review: Trade Uncertainty, Structural Pressures, and Policy Priorities for Canada by Parisa Mahboubi and Tingting Zhang In 2025, Canada’s labour market cooled as employment growth slowed, unemployment rose, and job vacancies declined from the unusually tight conditions seen after the pandemic. Trade tensions with the United States, slower immigration-driven labour force growth,...

It’s time to find a less confrontational, more reliable labour relations process, one that works for workers, businesses, and investors alike. Julian Karaguesian and Daniel Safayeni outline the urgency.

How Labour Instability Could Affect Canada’s Infrastructure Ambitions To: Labour relations watchers From: Julian Karaguesian and Daniel Safayeni Date: May 29, 2026 Re: How Labour Instability Could Affect Canada’s Infrastructure Ambitions Canada needs a better labour dispute settlement mechanism, especially in nationally important sectors. The need for labour stabili...

Millions of Canadian jobs depend on US demand, with many potentially vulnerable ahead of July’s CUSMA review.

In a new report for the C.D. Howe Institute, Parisa Mahboubi and Tingting Zhang outline how smarter mobility, training and investment policies can help protect Canada’s workforce from uncertainty.

The C.D. Howe Institute is pleased to welcome Allan Shapira as a Fellow-in-Residence.

Mr. Shapira is a past Senior Partner with Aon’s Wealth Solutions business in Canada, where he served as an actuary for 48 years, advising pension plans across the private and public sectors on plan design, funding, and administration. He has also been a member of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Pension Policy Council since 2014.

“Through my participation in the Pension Policy Council, I have seen the value of the C.D. Howe Institute’s outstanding evidence-based research in supporting provincial and federal policymakers,” says Shapira. “I look forward to contributing in my own way to this important work.”

Mr. Shapira has held several senior advisory roles in pension policy and regulation, including Chair of the Actuarial Advisory Committee to the former Financial Services Commission of Ontario, member of the Ontario Minister of Finance’s Advisory Council on Pensions and Retirement Income, and member of the Ministry of Finance’s Stakeholder Reference Group. A Fellow of both the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries, he currently sits on the Ontario Financial Services Tribunal.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, OSFI’s role has expanded significantly as Canada’s financial system has grown more complex. Modernizing its governance could strengthen accountability, oversight, and transparency.

Fit for Purpose: Modernizing OSFI’s Governance by Mawakina Bafale and Jamey Hubbs Since its creation in 1987, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has served as Canada’s federal micro-prudential regulator, operating under a single-head governance model that was suitable at the time but has not undergone a major rev...

The policy dinner of the year is less than 2 weeks away!

We’re thrilled to welcome Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario Minister of Finance, and Amanda Lang, Chief Financial Correspondent and Anchor for CTV News, as we celebrate William Robson’s retirement.

Join us June 2 at the Fairmont Royal York: https://cdhowe.org/events/2026-c-d-howe-institute-directors-dinner-testimonial-dinner-featuring-william-b-p-robson/

As financial risks evolve, should Canada’s top regulator evolve with them?

Fit for Purpose: Modernizing OSFI’s Governance This commentary examines OSFI governance reform and why Canada’s financial regulator needs stronger oversight and modernization.

About 3.6% of potential filers don’t file taxes in Canada. That’s roughly 1.2 million people.

However, the challenge isn’t just cost; it’s complexity and behaviour. Automation alone won’t bridge that gap.

Simple on Paper, Complex in Practice: The Limits of Automatic Tax Filing Can automatic tax filing improve benefit access in Canada? This report examines tax complexity, barriers for non-filers, and policy limits.