FRASER UPDATE
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Latest Research Dec 9-15, 2019
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Canada’s health-care wait times eclipsed 20 weeks in 2019; second-longest wait ever recorded
Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2019 finds that the median wait time for medically necessary treatment in Canada this year was 20.9 weeks. This is the second-longest wait ever recorded by the Fraser Institute, which has been measuring wait times across Canada since 1993 when patients waited just 9.3 weeks. Among the provinces, Ontario had the shortest median wait time this year at 16.0 weeks, and Prince Edward Island recorded the longest wait time (49.3 weeks).
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Spending in public schools across Canada up more than 10% in recent years
Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, 2020 Edition finds that nominal spending on public schools across Canada has increased in every province in recent years. After adjusting for inflation and enrolment changes, per-student spending still increased in seven out of 10 provinces from 2012/13 to 2016/17, the most recent year of available Statistics Canada data.
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Recent Commentary and Blog Posts
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Canadians pay a lot for ‘free’ health care ([link removed])
(Appeared in Calgary's Business) by Milagros Palacios, Bacchus Barua.
Between 1997 and 2019, the cost of public health care for the average Canadian family grew 1.7 times faster than the average income.

Controlling government wages crucial to Ford’s deficit-reduction plan ([link removed])
(Appeared in the Ottawa Sun) by Ben Eisen.
Government-sector workers enjoy a wage premium of 10.3 per cent over workers in the private sector.

Canadian cheers over pending USMCA may be short-lived ([link removed])
by Steven Globerman. 
Stronger enforcement of labour provisions will likely increase manufacturing costs in Mexico.

Spending reductions in the 1990s dwarf Kenney’s budget plans ([link removed])
(Appeared in the Calgary Sun) by Ben Eisen and Tegan Hill.
Premier Ralph Klein’s government reduced program spending by 21.6 per cent over three years.

‘Mini Schengen’—moving toward freedom and markets ([link removed])
by Tanja Porčnik. 
There’s no need to wait for EU membership to increase the level of freedom in these countries.

Tax gap growing between Canada and the U.S. ([link removed])
by Livio Di Matteo.
Canada had an overall tax-to-GDP ratio of 33 per cent.

Trump tariff threat highlights fundamental change in Canada-U.S. relations ([link removed])
by Steven Globerman. 
U.S. officials say WTO rules disproportionately advantage other countries.

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. For more, call (800) 665-3558 ext. 590.

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