Policy Topics | Policy Briefings

COLLAPSE

• Agriculture
• Biotechnology
• Defence & Security
• Environment
• Finance
• Fisheries and Oceans

• Foreign Policy​
• Health
• Industry and Manufacturing
• Infrastructure and Transport
• Innovation
• Intergovernmental

• Indigenous Relations
• Justice
• Labour & Employment
• Lobbying
• Natural Resources and Energy
• Women, Gender and Diversity

Environment

Climate change should be the big story of 2026

OpinionBY BILL HENDERSON

• Fossil-fuel production and use must be reduced by half by 2030. And with fear and fatigue—and in an increasingly insecure world—nobody even wants to think about this sword over our heads, and what we owe our future generations. Economic actors were already backing away before Donald Trump’s corrupt negligence.

Climate change should be the big story of 2026

OpinionBY BILL HENDERSON

• Fossil-fuel production and use must be reduced by half by 2030. And with fear and fatigue—and in an increasingly insecure world—nobody even wants to think about this sword over our heads, and what we owe our future generations. Economic actors were already backing away before Donald Trump’s corrupt negligence.

The real rupture we face: what Carney’s next speech needs to say

OpinionBY TREVOR HANCOCK

How the pursuit of innovation and sustainability can supercharge the Canadian economy

OpinionBY MARENA WINSTANLEY

Canada’s largest pension manager ‘backsliding’ on climate, risks being unable to pay out pensions: report

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Build more homes—but don’t lock Canada into higher emissions

OpinionBY KATE KOPLOVICH

Priorities for Canada as 2026 gets underway

OpinionBY ELIZABETH MAY

Liberals ‘taking a sledgehammer’ to the public service, says interim NDP leader Davies

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Canada’s green jobs strategy needs more than good intentions

OpinionBY LIN AL-AKKAD

Planetary limits: why Canada’s next nation-building project must be grounded in reality

OpinionBY INDEPENDENT SENATOR ROSA GALVEZ, TREVOR HANCOCK, COURTNEY HOWARD

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Environment

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Federal environmental impact assessments are in even more jeopardy   

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

• The federal environment assessment tool was always limited, with powerful enemies fighting back well before the Carney government wanted to curtail its usage.

Federal environmental impact assessments are in even more jeopardy   

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

• The federal environment assessment tool was always limited, with powerful enemies fighting back well before the Carney government wanted to curtail its usage.

Climate advisers ask feds to put Net-Zero Advisory Body on ‘pause,’ say they can’t fulfill mandate in ‘skeleton state’

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Brazil: a catalyst of plurilateralism

OpinionBY EDWARD JACKSON

Buried in the MOU: a licence to lie

OpinionBY LEAH TEMPER, SAMANTHA GREEN

A Faustian climate bargain

OpinionBY DOREEN BARRIE

It’s time to double down on ocean protection

OpinionBY SHEENA KENNEDY

2026: Another year on the edge for Carney and Canada

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

Geoengineering for grown-ups

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

Canada’s plan to boost its economy must include rebuilding wild fisheries

OpinionBY JOSH LAUGHREN

AGRICULTURE

Bloc MP Perron condemns ‘ridiculous’ spending cuts that will shutter research farms across Canada

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

MPs celebrate canola tariff relief, but national security, pork, remain opposition concerns with China

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

‘Unprecedented’ 2025 for canola industry, with record-breaking economic lobbying

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Do Conservatives want the best for the West, or not?

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

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Biotechnology

Canada’s missing life sciences industrial strategy is leaving economic growth on the table

OpinionBY MICHELLE MCLEAN

PMPRB closes all open drug-pricing investigations before implementing new guidelines on Jan. 1

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Bloc joins push for mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Canada’s research strength is world-class—now we need to all pull in the same direction

OpinionBY BENOIT-ANTOINE BACON

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DEFENCE & SECURITY

‘All about’ NATO: bulk of feds’ $5.4-billion spending request boosts defence programs

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

What will it take to re-arm the Army?

OpinionBY SCOTT TAYLOR

Defence Investment Agency needs to do more than reshuffle the staff deck to succeed, say observers

NewsBY IREM KOCA

Documents reveal more about powerful forces behind push for warrantless lawful access

OpinionBY KEN RUBIN

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FINANCE

Canada faces ‘an emergency of extraordinary proportions’ with Trump, say foreign affairs and trade experts

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Building a more innovative Canadian economy won’t be easy, but it will be worth it

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

Liberals see path forward for budget bill, but Conservatives still have ‘huge concerns’ with cabinet’s ‘regulatory sandbox’

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Bill C-15 is one of the biggest threats yet to Canada’s rule of law 

OpinionBY GENEVIèVE PAUL, ANAïS BUSSIèRES MCNICOLL

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Fisheries and oceans

Nearly 2,000 jobs and $1.5-billion to be cut across five departments by 2030, PBO analysis shows

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

Coastal communities ‘running out of time’ without fisheries fund renewal, say opposition critics as DFO faces $544M in cuts

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Q&A | Cod quota ‘pressure is enormous’ on fisheries minister

NewsBY PETER MAZEREEUW

Federal fish science analyses continue to muddy the waters in salmon farm fight

NewsBY STUART BENSON

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FOREIGN POLICY

Why Canada must act now to uphold refugee protection and stability

OpinionBY TRACEY MAULFAIR

Trudeau, Carney, Davos, and Liberal dexterity

OpinionBY NELSON WISEMAN

U.S. President Trump’s bridge outrage is latest example of how corrupt the American political system has become

OpinionBY SHEILA COPPS

Republican Party can rein in U.S. President Trump—if it’s brave enough

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

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health

Beyond funding: why flexible, locally grounded care models matter now

OpinionBY BERNARD LORD

Canada is facing a teen vaping crisis

OpinionBY DOUG ROTH

Canada on path to become a superaged country

OpinionBY SHARON STRAUS, FRANçOISE BAYLIS

Canada’s health-care crisis is fuelled by too little public spending, not too much

OpinionBY DANYAAL RAZA

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Industry and Manufacturing

Industrial benefits policy needs a ‘relook,’ says ex-senior public servant, as Conservative MP pushes for contract records

NewsBY IREM KOCA

Canada’s auto sector ‘hangs in the balance’ as CUSMA review looms in 2026: ‘there’s no sugar-coating it, this is going to be a critical year for the industry’

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Renewable energy sector adds concerns about wind-tower costs to steel industry crisis talks: ‘there’s a ton of urgency’

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Steel tariff missteps threaten Canada’s energy future

OpinionBY VITTORIA BELLISSIMO, FERNANDO MELO

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infrastructure and transport

‘Back to the future’: Senators react to idea of turning Senate Building back into original train station for high-speed rail hub

NewsBY IREM KOCA

Ottawa has a housing initiative, but not a homeownership plan

OpinionBY KEVIN LEE

Arctic security investments must also improve living conditions in the North, say territories

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Feds looking for Canadian steel supplier to keep high-speed rail project on track

NewsBY IREM KOCA

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innovation

To ban or not to ban? Experts wary of restricting social media access for kids, as feds watch Australian approach

NewsBY DAVIS LEGREE

Building Canada’s digital future

OpinionBY DELPHINE ADENOT-OWUSU

From promise to reality: scaling innovative housing in Canada

OpinionBY TASNIM FARIHA

Canadians concerned about AI’s impact on environment, children: federal consultation

NewsBY DAVIS LEGREE

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intergovernmental

Hearings at National Assembly offer insight into Bill 1

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Alberta MPs shouldn’t just quietly wait for separatist issue to blow over

OpinionBY EDITORIAL

Will we actually see the new Arctic vehicles on order?

OpinionBY SCOTT TAYLOR

Alberta Conservative MPs ‘walking a fine line’ on politically explosive referendum issue, and don’t want to give it more oxygen, say politicos

NewsBY ABBAS RANA, JESSE CNOCKAERT

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justice

Tory Senator Housakos proposes invoking notwithstanding clause to uphold certain mandatory minimums

NewsBY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

Despite early ‘spirit of co-operation’ on some bills, Liberal agenda still failing to launch in Parliament, say politicos

NewsBY STUART BENSON

Emergencies Act architect says courts checked government overreach, advises against further appeal

NewsBY STUART BENSON

America lost justice when Renee Nicole Good was killed

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

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Labour & employment

Investing in Indigenous housing strengthens Canada, and the solutions are ready

OpinionBY JOHN GORDON

Keeping the North strong and free also means ensuring a better way of life for northerners

OpinionBY EDITORIAL

Solving Canada’s housing crisis starts with a reality check

OpinionBY JANICE MYERS

Build Canada Homes is poised to make a generational investment in non-market and public housing—but will it?

OpinionBY MARC LEE

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Lobbying

Ottawa’s lowered lobbying registration thresholds will reshape government relations

OpinionBY SUZANNE SABOURIN, MICHAEL WALSH

Libya was a warning, Venezuela is the test

OpinionBY AKOLISA UFODIKE

‘It’s like molasses in January’: pharmacare implementation stalled, say health-care groups, but others argue time needed to get deals right

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Joly top-lobbied minister in November, universities push to attract research talent driven away from U.S.

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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natural resources and energy

The world has too much LNG—so why is Canada fast-tracking more?

OpinionBY MARK KALEGHA, OLAF WEBER

Trump’s hit on Venezuela just gave Canada a bruise

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

Canada’s rising disaster costs call for adaptive design

OpinionBY HOSSEIN BONAKDARI

Four key steps can help secure Canadian sovereignty

OpinionBY JON SHELL

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Women, Gender and Diversity

Celebrating Black Canadian trailblazers who’ve played a critical role in public life

OpinionBY WAHEED KHAN

Here’s how Parliament can tackle the rise in anti-feminist ideology

OpinionBY SHARI GRAYDON

Pierre Poilievre came to Calgary and Canadians should be paying attention

OpinionBY ANNA MURPHY

The Conservatives’ other favourite boogeyman makes a comeback

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

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Indigenous Relations

A partial table cannot deliver justice for Indigenous people

OpinionBY BRENDAN MOORE

Wide-eyed patriotism is an Indigenous value

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

Indigenous innovation: part of the tradition, not the trend

OpinionBY KATHY MANNERS

‘The ground on which we stand’: innovation and Indigenous sovereignty

OpinionBY JESSICA KOLOPENUK

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Upcoming Policy briefings

Exclusive lists

Who’s backing the NDP leadership contenders?

Who’s backing the NDP leadership contenders?

Tracking job cuts in the federal public service

Tracking job cuts in the federal public service

Take The Hill Times year-end news quiz

Take The Hill Times year-end news quiz

First-quarter expenses: MPs spent nearly $28-million

First-quarter expenses: MPs spent nearly $28-million

This Parliament’s ethics roundup: blind trusts, recusals, gifts, and more

This Parliament’s ethics roundup: blind trusts, recusals, gifts, and more

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Take The Hill Times politics quiz

Carney government bills: tracking their progress into law

Carney government bills: tracking their progress into law

The number of sick days claimed by bureaucrats, broken down by department

The number of sick days claimed by bureaucrats, broken down by department