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Pressure Cooker

Sub Title: 
Declining real wages and rising inflation in Canada during the pandemic, 2020–22
Author(s): 
Release Date: 
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Number of pages in documents: 
26 pages
Download
1.12 MB26 pages

This report looks at real wage growth and rising inflation over the past two years. 

The study finds that wages for a majority of Canadian workers has not increased at the same rate as inflation. In particular, many public sector workers who have faced salary freezes from provincial governments are falling behind.

Other sectors, such as information, culture and recreation, saw wage growth above inflation levels as many workers moved toward working from home.

Federal budget makes inroads into dental care; Missed opportunity on pharmacare and long-term care

There's room to go bolder on climate change, housing, EI, the care economy, taxes
Release Date: 
Thursday, April 7, 2022

OTTAWA —Today’s federal commitment to create a national dental care program will help millions of Canadians, but many key areas like long-term care and pharmacare are missing in action, says Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) Senior Economist David Macdonald.

“This budget puts in place one of the pieces to complete Canada’s medicare project, dental care, but there’s a huge missed opportunity to move forward on pharmacare, long-term care and needed health care spending to deal with the pandemic’s impact,” Macdonald says.

Attached Document Title: 
Offices: 

Homelessness during a pandemic

Sub Title: 
Learning lessons for disaster preparedness in Nova Scotia
Release Date: 
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Number of pages in documents: 
20 pages
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958.15 KB20 pages

Authored by a team of researchers out of Dalhousie University, University of Toronto and Cape Breton University, this report summarizes a study exploring the homeless sector in Nova Scotia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One Step Forward

Sub Title: 
Assessing the labour market impacts of Ontario’s 2018 minimum wage increase
Release Date: 
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Number of pages in documents: 
28 pages
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1.07 MB28 pages

This report examines the impact of increasing Ontario's minimum wage to $14 per hour in 2018. 

Despite dire predictions that increasing minimum wage would eliminate jobs, employment actually increased in the period after the change.

The study, funded by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF), also found racialized workers, especially women, benefitted from the minmum wage increase, largely due to the gendered and racialized nature of low-wage work.

Employment in almost all industries with lower-than-average wages increased. 

Raising Ontario's minimum wage boosted incomes while employment rose: report

Racialized workers, especially women, saw gains
Release Date: 
Tuesday, April 5, 2022

 TORONTO—Ontario’s move in 2018 to raise the minimum wage reduced the racialized wage gap, particularly for women, amid rising employment, according to a new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

When the $14-per-hour minimum wage was implemented in 2018, business lobbyists made dire predictions that it would lead to massive job losses. That simply didn’t happen. In fact, far from being a “job-killer,” wages grew in Ontario while total employment increased by 1.7 per cent in 2018 and by 2.8 per cent in 2019, according to the new report.

Attached Document Title: 
One Step Forward
Offices: