Our Work

For Ontario to close the prosperity gap with its North American peers, it must increase GDP per capita by $8,000. In Course correction: Charting a new road map for Ontario, the Task Force identifies a number of key measures needed in both the public and private sectors to get Ontario’s economy on the right track. The lack of business investment in innovation and productivity enhancing equipment continues to be a problem. Improving labour productivity continues to be a challenge. Without...

Ontario has improved its tax system markedly in recent years by introducing the harmonized sales tax, phasing out the capital tax, and lowering corporate tax rates. However, many changes can still be made that would benefit individuals, businesses, and government. In Taxing for growth: A close look at tax policy in Ontario, the Institute picks up on its previous recommendations for tax reform in Ontario and examines current policy to identify ways Ontario can create a tax system that spurs...

A rising number of workers in Toronto are employed in temporary, part-time, low-paying positions in routine-service industries, but there is a way forward.

Ontario’s economy, and its traditional economic stronghold in the Toronto region, are slowly returning to pre-recessionary levels of employment. Yet there has been growing concern about the kinds of jobs the economy is creating. The growing prevalence of “precarious employment” – jobs that are temporary, part-time, with few benefits and low...

The task of how to improve the Ontario government’s efficiency has become a widespread topic of debate. While most observers have looked at cost-cutting measures and administrative inefficiencies within the government, a central concern is missing from the debate: how to get Ontario back on a path of strong growth. In its latest Working Paper, Making sense of public dollars: Ontario government revenue, spending and debt, the Institute looks at how Ontario’s fiscal policy can be used as a tool...

There is a lively public debate about the “dead cash” problem in Canada. People are asking if companies are holding excessive amounts of cash and cash equivalents in reserve. After touching on this issue in the Eleventh Annual Report of the Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity & Economic Progress, A push for growth, the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity has taken a deeper look at the dead cash issue to offer a way forward.

There are two versions of the paper: short and long...