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

Foregin Policy

What’s next for Cuba?

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

• Now that the U.S. president has reimagined Washington’s right to control hemispheric affairs, the next steps with Cuba are a more pressing question than ever.

What’s next for Cuba?

OpinionBY LES WHITTINGTON

• Now that the U.S. president has reimagined Washington’s right to control hemispheric affairs, the next steps with Cuba are a more pressing question than ever.

Pilgrimages prove politicians paying attention

OpinionBY TIM POWERS

Carney’s cold calculation

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

EU putting pressure on laggard members to fully ratify trade pact with Canada 

FeatureBY NEIL MOSS

Japan not expecting ‘major shift’ in Canada’s posture in the Indo-Pacific: official 

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

Can Carney reconcile his Davos goals with complicity in the Iran war?

OpinionBY DOUGLAS ROCHE, ERNIE REGEHR

Netanyahu makes a sucker out of Trump with Iran attack

OpinionBY GWYNNE DYER

It’s time to prioritize Canada’s media sovereignty and democratic resilience

OpinionBY KEVIN DESJARDINS

Mining a collective defence against Trump’s threats

OpinionBY SCOTT TAYLOR

MOST RECENT POLICY BRIEFINGS

Transportation and Trade Policy Briefing

• DOWNLOAD

Canada Part I: Interprovincial Trade & Labour

• DOWNLOAD

Tariffs, trade, and the border

• DOWNLOAD

• VIEW ALL POLICY BRIEFINGS

Feds’ defence industrial strategy promises much potential for Canada, but it will need public and private-sector champions

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

• Increases in federal R&D spending and new initiatives through the Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Innovation and Science—BOREALIS—are important. The strategy also promises $4-billion in new venture funding through the Business Development Bank of Canada. 

Feds’ defence industrial strategy promises much potential for Canada, but it will need public and private-sector champions

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

• Increases in federal R&D spending and new initiatives through the Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Innovation and Science—BOREALIS—are important. The strategy also promises $4-billion in new venture funding through the Business Development Bank of Canada. 

Drug cartels put Mexican government on notice

OpinionBY SHEILA COPPS

What’s up with Trump’s unprecedented demand for state voter lists?

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

Polls show Carney’s riding a wave of support buoyed by global pressures, but Canadians also nervous about life at home

NewsBY JUSTIN S. CAMPBELL

Canada ‘abandoning’ international law with support for U.S. strikes on Iran, say former diplomats

NewsBY NEIL MOSS

As Canada redefines its place in the world, rare disease patients are still looking south

OpinionBY KAIT LAFORCE

Why Canada can bridge the EU and CPTPP trading blocs

OpinionBY KUMARAN NADESAN

Trump’s steady coarsening of public life threatens democracy

OpinionBY JOHN MCKAY

UAE marks its national day

FeatureBY SAM GARCIA

AGRICULTURE

The grass is greener where you water it

OpinionBY CSG SENATOR TODD LEWIS

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

See all

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

See all

DEFENCE & SECURITY

‘A fundamental shift’: new strategy an opportunity to grow domestic industrial base, say lobbyists

NewsBY SERGIY SLIPCHENKO

Carney should call for extradition of Indian officials linked to Nijjar killing, says ex-Liberal minister Dhaliwal

NewsBY MARLO GLASS, PETER MAZEREEUW

Jobs, guns, and the GDP: selling defence as economic policy

OpinionBY BHAGWANT SANDHU

Bill C-15 contradicts Liberals’ social covenant to veterans

OpinionBY ANTHONY BROSKI

See all

Environment

The bathtub is overflowing: why Canada’s climate strategy needs to pull the plug

OpinionBY NA’IM MERCHANT

‘Once you get a carveout from one province, it’s game over’: Ottawa-Alberta MOU draws advocates with economic and environment concerns

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Pipelines or a national power grid: what should Canada build now?

OpinionBY ISG SENATOR ROSA GALVEZ, GEOFF STRONG, RICHARD VAN DER JAGT

The EV revolution: baby steps and tinkering won’t get us to the podium

OpinionBY SUSAN RILEY

See all

FINANCE

B.C.’s Eby may not be long for the job

OpinionBY ANDREW CADDELL

Feds are ‘silencing’ an agent of Parliament by leaving post vacant, says ex-budget watchdog Giroux

NewsBY IREM KOCA

With global hegemony attacking the world order, what are middle powers like Canada to do?

OpinionBY KEVIN LYNCH, PAUL DEEGAN

‘Everyone should feel the hit’: ministerial offices and PMO should be cut, too, say some leading public policy experts

NewsBY ABBAS RANA

See all

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

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

OpinionBY JOSH LAUGHREN

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

See all

health

Outspoken health advocate Joss Reimer talks about finding ‘common ground’ with government as she becomes Canada’s top doctor

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

‘It’s not my bill, it’s our bill’: Senator Henkel and 50 advocacy groups push for law calling for women’s health framework

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

New policy adding nurse practitioners to public health-care plans will go ahead April 1

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Ongoing grievance over public service health-plan switch an ‘interesting’ case, says labour lawyer

NewsBY MARLO GLASS

See all

Industry and Manufacturing

Canadians can’t afford to wait for Right to Repair legislation 

OpinionBY EMILY CHUNG

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

See all

infrastructure and transport

The water emergency in Kashechewan must spur action on federal legislation

OpinionBY ALVIN FIDDLER

Diversifying Canada’s trade and ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ share in the opportunity

OpinionBY LIBERAL MP JUDY SGRO

Canada can’t trade on hope

OpinionBY RODRIGUE GILBERT

Infrastructure is the missing link in Canada’s diversification strategy 

OpinionBY PASCAL CHAN

See all

innovation

Ottawa unsure how to regulate AI chatbots after Tumbler Ridge report, as Solomon says ‘all options are on the table’

NewsBY DAVIS LEGREE

‘He comes from our side’: Writers’ Union CEO calls Solomon an AI ‘cheerleader,’ asks him to slow down strategy

NewsBY MARIA COLLINS

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

OpinionBY DAVID CRANE

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

NewsBY DAVIS LEGREE

See all

intergovernmental

‘Playing with fire’: Tony Manera recalls pushback during sovereignty debate

OpinionBY TONY MANERA

Sole Quebec NDP MP Boulerice says potential provincial run has ‘absolutely nothing to do with’ party’s status

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

Four crucial outcomes Canadians need from the Alberta-Ottawa MOU talks

OpinionBY CHRIS SEVERSON-BAKER

‘This is our home, so we need to be part of the solution’: Inuit-led university to strengthen Canada’s Arctic, say Senators

NewsBY JUSTIN S. CAMPBELL

See all

justice

‘We’re getting closer’: religious groups lobbying feds say they’re hopeful of progress on stalled Liberal anti-hate bill

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

Reconciliation is not dead, but Indigenous Peoples are still dying in Canada’s hospitals

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

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

OpinionBY MICHAEL HARRIS

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

NewsBY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

See all

Labour & employment

When it comes to affordable childcare, both public and private operators need federal support

OpinionBY CHLOE DUSSER

Ottawa has a housing initiative, but not a homeownership plan

OpinionBY KEVIN LEE

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

See all

Lobbying

Questions loom over NDP’s voter verification process as leadership contest enters final stretch

NewsBY ELEANOR WAND

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

NewsBY JESSE CNOCKAERT

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

See all

natural resources and energy

Building industrial strength: a regional approach to Canada’s critical materials 

OpinionBY ALISON CRETNEY

Canada’s critical mineral moment is real, but delivery depends on people

OpinionBY MEGAN GORDON

Mineral exploration and mining: a Canadian signpost for the future

OpinionBY JEFF KILLEEN

Canada’s critical minerals opportunity runs through First Nation lands

OpinionBY MARK PODLASLY

See all

Women, Gender and Diversity

Liberals hope ‘national unity’ council quells divisions after scrapping Islamophobia and antisemitism envoys

NewsBY STUART BENSON

The politicking of identity has always been a nation-building project

OpinionBY ERICA IFILL

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

See all

Indigenous Relations

Urban Indigenous funding cutbacks threaten ‘backbone’ of Friendship Centre services, says Ontario federation head

NewsBY STUART BENSON

A partial table cannot deliver justice for Indigenous people

OpinionBY BRENDAN MOORE

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

NewsBY TESSIE SANCI

Wide-eyed patriotism is an Indigenous value

OpinionBY ROSE LEMAY

See all

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