The Student Work Placement Program is an investment in the future prosperity of Canada

An antidote to the pandemic’s economic aftershocks, the Student Work Placement Program is helping to course-correct the impacts COVID-19 had on skills development, and ensuring the workforce remains agile.
Immigrant women trained in STEM are an invisible talent pool

Instead of making full use of this much-needed supply of talent, we do not recognize or remove the many obstacles in their way.
Revamped design catalogue aims to grow more than just Canada’s affordable housing stock, says Minister Fraser

The housing design catalogue is a welcome ‘blast from the past,’ but the way in which new homes are built doesn’t have to be, says CHRA’s Ray Sullivan.
Advocates call on Liberals to fund Canada Disability Benefit in Budget 2024

Persons with Disabilities Minister Kamal Khera will need support at the cabinet table to push for a new multi-billion-dollar social program at a time when the finance minister has spoken of the need for fiscal restraint, say disability and poverty experts.
Gun control and affordability legislation provides much-needed ‘arrow in the quiver’ for Liberals going into 2024, say political strategists

Bills that received royal assent on Dec. 15 as the House wrapped up its work for 2023 include Bill C-21, the Liberals’ gun control legislation; and Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act.
Union urges public sector pension fund not to pursue rent increases, mass evictions at Toronto apartment buildings

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Starlight Investments are moving to evict up to 100 tenants who have been withholding payments in protest against proposed rent increases.
Greater investment needed in municipal infrastructure to accommodate housing demand, says FCM

A local infrastructure investment of about $600-billion will be needed to handle construction of 5.8 million housing units by 2030, according to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Looking beyond productivity stats will improve outcomes for Canadians

Having a bad short-term productivity performance since 2020 is a problem. Avoiding it at the cost of a continuing decline in the employment rate and increased inequality in the distribution of labour income would have been far worse.
Tenants describe ‘dramatic erosion’ of existing affordable housing, call on feds to take action

A House Human Resources Committee report called for a fund to help non-profits acquire affordable housing. The Nov. 21 fiscal update did not include such a fund, but advocates call for one to be created in the next federal budget.
The cost of not caring

One in four Canadians of employment age combine paid work with caregiving for a loved one, but the majority of employers do not offer accommodations for carers.