PPF Blog

The Public Policy Forum is delighted to announce Ilse Treurnicht has been elected the organization’s new Board Chair, and thanks outgoing Chair Anne-Marie Hubert for 10 years of service to PPF and its Canada-wide network of policy leaders.

With Brian comes rigour, quality and depth. Welcome!

The debate over the employment status of gig workers continues to play out in California legislation. What can Canadian regulators learn for our own first attempts at legislation from California’s decision to enact Assembly Bill 5?

The economic gap between urban and rural places in Canada is significant and we cannot afford to let distressed communities come to the view that they don’t matter. PPF’s Prime Ministers of Canada fellow Sean Speer stresses the importance of cultivating a shared understanding of urban and rural cultures, and will travel across the nation in order to formulate a policy agenda that can bridge the urban-rural divide.

What does it mean to be adaptable and resilient as a worker, in the face of radical changes to work? With a focus on Alberta, emerging leaders from the Banff Forum and the City of Edmonton discussed policy lessons and policy solutions to prepare individuals and employers for workforce change.

What can we do about workers living paycheque to paycheque, with the rise of the gig economy and future changes to work? Emerging leaders from the Banff Forum gathered and came up with a holistic set of policy measures for improving the well-being of workers and to help prevent economic marginalization as work changes.

In the third edition of our Brave New Work Newsletter: Five things we learned at our Brave New Work Conference, our latest report on the correlation between Canadians’ fear of job losses from automation and populist and nativist views, and a new blog post on why 'robots will replace us' thinking is not that simple - or that scary!

The most popular way of analyzing the future of work — the labour substitution model — is far too narrow for our complex world. By looking at three other dimensions of change, we can better understand, and prepare for, tomorrow’s opportunities.

PPF’s 2019 Prime Ministers of Canada Fellow Sean Speer to study urban-rural divide.

The prospect of losing our jobs to automation may keep us up at night and change our politics, but there are other factors at play, too. Here are five key challenges and some smart policy responses that emerged at the inaugural Brave New Work Conference.

In the fifth edition of our Atlantic Immigration & Revitalization Newsletter, Kelly Toughill looks at what Atlantic Canada is doing to attract newcomers who will start or take over businesses, create jobs and build the economy. Successful immigrant entrepreneurs share their lessons learned and give advice to fellow and future entrepreneurs.

The Atlantic region is consistently becoming more supportive of immigration than any other part of Canada, which is now paying dividends in population growth driven by newcomers

Atlantic Canada is competing globally to attract newcomers to start or take over businesses, create jobs and build the economy. It’s obvious why governments want to recruit them, but it’s surprisingly hard to do.

Lin expected to spend $150,000 and launch her New Brunswick candy business in a little more than a year. It took more than three years and $650,000. She praises government settlement and business support programs, but wishes they weren’t so hard to find.

Nova Scotia’s premier developer feels an obligation to talk about why he came to Halifax from Lebanon, why he stayed, and why immigration is good for Canada