Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated developing geopolitical shifts that are unlikely to dissipate even after the pandemic's economic shock wanes. As a country long used to a more benign international environment, the future prosperity, security and well-being of Canadians will depend in no small measure on how well we navigate this unfamiliar world.

Gig work & gig workers are on the rise, fuelled by technology that makes this form of work more easily accessible. What does this mean for Canada’s labour market and how should we respond? Understanding how workers enter, navigate and experience the gig economy is a critical component to better understanding what policies are required to best protect and support them. This report explores what we know, and what we need to know, about the nature of Canada’s gig economy and the experiences of its workers.

Indigenous businesses are growing and — importantly — creating employment for others. Further, self-employment and entrepreneurship is increasing. If there is an opportunity for the next generation, and for current adult workers, to leapfrog into the future of Canadian work, it may very well be through Indigenous-led business.

How can Canada use its highly skilled workforce as we transition to a knowledge economy? In their new report, AJ Tibando and Arvind Gupta explore Palette Inc., a not-for-profit platform that was created to upskill diverse and non-traditional workers in an ICT sector biased against hiring them. It looks like the Palette model is working.

Artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, the sharing economy and other emerging technologies were expected to upend the nature of how people work, eliminate an array of routine and repetitive tasks, and put pressure on social support frameworks designed for a different era. These impacts expected to be felt in the near to medium term suddenly find themselves present. The need to reinvent Canada's social and economic policy frameworks has a newfound urgency.

By drawing parallels to elections, climate change and the anti-vaccination movement, author Christopher Dornan illustrates how disinformation about COVID-19 can pose significant risks for public health, social cohesion and collective trust. Dornan identifies several useful recommendations for citizens, governments and social media platforms to consider to effectively combat disinformation and engage in evidence-based discussion about scientific findings.

An urban-rural scan of potential long-term effects of the future of work shows the negative effects of a displaced workforce will be felt disproportionately among rural residents, who make up the majority of high-risk employment sectors that will succumb to technology-induced disruption. Understanding how these changes could affect urban centres vs. rural areas is a crucial ingredient to long-term policymaking and key to creating an effective place-based policy agenda for Canada to manage those disruptions and keep an urban-rural economic divide that already exists from growing

Explore the findings of PPF regional consultations in Atlantic Canada in a province-specific report on employers and communities experiences with skills and labour shortages in context to key provincial factors.

Carbon capture has a powerful allure. If there's too much CO2 in the atmosphere, why not remove the excess, and store it deep underground or use it in manufacturing other products? It sounds like a considerable solution on the way to a net zero carbon economy by 2050.

Intangibles are the new basis for competition, and the U.S.-China tech “cold war” is changing assumptions about global commerce and geopolitics. Authors Sean Speer, Robert Asselin and Royce Mendes make the case for a bold policy response to adapt to these geo-economic trends: a challenge-driven industrial strategy that will give Canada a competitive edge as it rebuilds post COVID-19.

This report examines four interlinked factors that contribute to Indigenous inclusion in the labour force and which are incorporated into a suggested framework for developing a tool to measure how inclusive an organization’s workplace is.

The evolution of the Canadian labour market threatens to aggravate the challenges facing resettled refugees. We propose six recommendations for the Government of Canada to better support GARs to succeed in the labour market.

This report is about the future of work and how building an inclusive, resilient economic future requires a critical look at how we understand and value older workers.

In 2012, Mowat established a research hub to provide evidence-based research and analysis on systemic issues facing the non-profit sector in Canada. In its final year of operation (2019-2020), Mowat NFP focused its research on implementing the recommendations of the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector and exploring the future of finance and funding in the sector.

Canadians are among the best-educated people on the planet. But are they getting the education they need — particularly in the fields of social sciences and humanities — to maximize their employment prospects in today's fast-changing workplace? This report explores the level of the so-called "skills gap" and identifies issues and solutions to equip university graduates with the tools to transition from student to employee.