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Cision Canada
3 days ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
Fraser Institute News Release: This Sunday, June 8, is Tax Freedom Day, when Canadians finally start working for themselves
VANCOUVER, BC, June 5, 2025 /CNW/ - This Sunday, June 8, Canadians will celebrate Tax Freedom Day, the day in the year when they start working for themselves and not government, finds a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. "If Canadians paid all their taxes up front, they would work the first 158 days of this year before bringing any money home for themselves and their families," said Jake Fuss, director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute. Tax Freedom Day measures the total annual tax burden imposed on Canadian families by federal, provincial, and municipal governments. In 2025, the average Canadian family (with two or more people) will pay $68,266 in total taxes. That's 43.1 per cent of its annual income ($158,533) going to income taxes, payroll taxes (including the Canada Pension Plan), health taxes, sales taxes (like the GST), property taxes, fuel taxes, "sin" taxes and more. Represented as days on the calendar, the total tax burden comprises more than five months of income—from January 1 to June 7. On June 8th—Tax Freedom Day—Canadians finally start working for themselves, and not government. But Canadians should also be worried about the nearly $90 billion in deficits the federal and provincial governments are forecasting this year, because they will have substantial tax implications in future years. To better illustrate this point, the study also calculates a Balanced Budget Tax Freedom Day—the day of the year when the average Canadian finally would finally start working for themselves if governments paid for all of this year's spending with taxes collected this year. In 2025, the Balanced Budget Tax Freedom Day won't arrive until June 21. "Tax Freedom Day helps put the total tax burden in perspective, and helps Canadians understand just how much of their money they pay in taxes every year," Fuss said. "Canadians need to decide for themselves whether they are getting their money's worth when it comes to how governments are spending their tax dollars." Tax Freedom Day for each province varies according to the extent of the provincially and locally levied tax burden. 2025 Provincial Tax Freedom Days The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax 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. Visit SOURCE The Fraser Institute
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fraser Institute News Release: Switzerland has nearly 65% more doctors and much shorter wait times than Canada, despite spending roughly same amount on health care
VANCOUVER, BC, May 29, 2025 /CNW/ - Switzerland's universal health-care system delivers significantly better results than Canada's in terms of wait times, access to health professionals like doctors and nurses, and patient satisfaction finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian policy think-tank. "Despite its massive price tag, Canada's health-care system lags behind many other countries with universal health care," said Yanick Labrie, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Building Responsive and Adaptive Health-Care Systems in Canada: Lessons from Switzerland. The study highlights how Switzerland's universal health-care system, which consistently outperforms Canada on most metrics tracked by the OECD. In 2022, the latest year of available data, despite Canada (11.5 per cent of GDP) and Switzerland (11.9 per cent) spending close to the same amount on health care, Switzerland had 4.6 doctors per thousand people compared to 2.8 in Canada. In other words, Switzerland had 64.3 per cent more doctors than Canada (on a per-thousand people basis). Switzerland also had 4.4 hospital beds per thousand people compared to 2.5 for Canada—Switzerland (8th) outranked Canada (36th) on this metric out of 38 OECD countries with universal health care. Likewise, 85.3 per cent of Swiss people surveyed by the CWF (Commonwealth Fund) reported being able to obtain a consultation with a specialist within 2 months. By comparison, only 48.3 per cent of Canadians experienced a similar wait time. Beyond medical resources and workforce, patient satisfaction diverges sharpy between the two countries, as 94 per cent of Swiss patients report being satisfied with their health-care system compared to just 56 per cent in Canada. "Switzerland shows that a universal health care system can reconcile efficiency and equity – all while being more accessible and responsive to patients' needs and preferences," Labrie said. "Policymakers in Canada who hope to improve Canada's broken health-care system should look to more successful universal health-care countries like Switzerland." Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook 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. Visit SOURCE The Fraser Institute View original content to download multimedia:
Cision Canada
27-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Fraser Institute News Release: Moving to single 8% provincial personal income tax rate would help restore the Alberta Advantage
CALGARY, AB, May 27, 2025 /CNW/ - Moving to a single eight per cent personal income tax rate for all working Albertans would dramatically improve the province's competitiveness among energy-producing jurisdictions, according to a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. "It's crucial to restore Alberta's historic tax advantage and understanding how changes to personal income tax rates affect provincial revenues is critical for informed policy decisions," said Ergete Ferede, Fraser Institute senior fellow and author of Revenue Effects of Tax Rate Changes in Alberta. The report examines two potential tax reform scenarios and their impact on provincial revenue: an immediate adoption of an eight per cent single tax rate starting in 2025; and a gradual move to that same rate over three years. An immediate switch to an eight per cent single personal income tax (PIT) rate would decrease PIT revenue by about $6.1 billion (a 35.6 per cent reduction) in the first year. A gradual transition over three years would start with a smaller loss of $264 million (a 1.5 per cent reduction) in 2025 increasing to $6.9 billion (37.0 per cent reduction) by 2027. However, these estimates may overstate provincial revenue losses as they do not account for the potential positive economic effect of personal income tax reductions on other revenue sources. Alberta's current combined federal and provincial personal income tax rate stands at 48 per cent—ranking 10th highest out of 61 jurisdictions in North America—and is significantly higher than other energy-producing regions such as Texas or Wyoming. Implementing a single 8 per cent tax rate would help re-establish Alberta as a low-tax jurisdiction, lowering its rank to the 16th lowest among the 61. "The potential to strengthen Alberta's economic position through tax cuts must be considered along with the revenue implications for the government," Ferede said. The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax 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. Visit SOURCE The Fraser Institute
Cision Canada
22-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Fraser Institute News Release: Doubling Canadian natural gas production and exporting to Asia could reduce global emissions by up to 630 million tonnes--nearly as much as Canada produces in a year
VANCOUVER, BC, May 22, 2025 /CNW/ - Canada could help significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by increasing natural gas production and exporting the additional supply to Asia in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to a new study from the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think tank. "As countries like China and India continue to burn coal for power, Canadian LNG offers a lower-emission alternative with the potential for major global impact," said Elmira Aliakbari, director of natural resource studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the study, Exporting Canadian LNG to the World: A Practical Solution for Reducing GHG Emissions. The study estimates the impact from Canada doubling its natural gas production and exporting to Asia to replace coal-fired power. In that scenario, global emissions could drop up to 630 million tonnes annually, which is the equivalent of removing approximately 137 million cars from the road. More specifically, replacing coal-fired power in China with Canadian LNG could cut emissions by up to 62 per cent for every unit of power produced. "Focusing only on domestic emissions ignores Canada's potential to support global climate goals," said Aliakbari. "By displacing coal abroad, Canadian LNG can play a critical role in cutting total global emissions even if domestic emissions were to increase." However, regulatory uncertainty and a range of federal and provincial policies continue to hinder LNG development in Canada, despite strong global demand. "Policymakers need to clear a path if Canada is going to play a meaningful role in reducing global emissions," Aliakbari added. The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax 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. Visit SOURCE The Fraser Institute
Cision Canada
15-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Fraser Institute News Research: Canada had third-largest increase in total government debt (relative to the economy) among 40 high-income countries
VANCOUVER, May 15, 2025 /CNW/ - Since 2014, Canada's total government debt—including federal, provincial and local governments—has exploded, finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. "Over the last decade, the growth of Canada's government debt burden has outpaced virtually every other advanced country and contributed to a marked deterioration in the state of government finances," said Jake Fuss, director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Deterioration of Canada's Finances Internationally. How did this happen? From 2014 to 2024, total government spending in Canada increased from 38.4 per cent of the economy to 44.7 per cent—the second-largest increase in government spending among 40 advanced countries (behind only Estonia) and the largest increase among G7 countries. Federal and provincial governments in Canada borrowed money to fund this substantial spending increase. As a result, during that same 10-year period, Canada's total government debt increased from 85.5 per cent of the Canadian economy to 110.8 per cent—the third-largest increase among 40 advanced countries and the highest increase in the G7. Consequently, among 40 advanced countries, Canada's total government debt increased from 14 th highest to 7 th highest over the decade. "Taxpayers ultimately pay for government debt in the form of interest payments, which divert money away from key services, and future generations of Canadians could face higher taxes to pay for today's borrowing," said Grady Munro, policy analyst at the Fraser Institute and study co-author. "If governments across Canada want to stop adding to their debt burdens, they must better control their spending," Fuss said. The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax 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. Visit SOURCE The Fraser Institute
