Here’s a summer reading list for your inner policy nerd
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Dear readers,
We hope you’re continuing to enjoy reading Means & Ways. As you know, our goal is to move beyond the headlines and take a closer look at the policy decisions shaping Canada’s economy, businesses, communities and future prosperity. Whether it’s industrial strategy, trade, affordability, productivity, labour markets, energy, innovation or fiscal policy, we aim to provide context that helps explain not only what is happening, but why it matters — and what comes next.
While the policy landscape never really slows down, Means & Ways will be taking a short two-week summer break. During that time, you’ll still receive your regularly scheduled newsletter, offering a lighter read that’s more of a leisurely swim than a deep dive.
With summer here (and hopefully a little more time to catch up on some long-form reading!) we’ve rounded up a selection of reports and analyses from the past few months that you may have missed. These pieces explore many of the economic and public policy challenges that will continue to shape the national conversation in the months ahead, and we hope they provide useful insights as governments, businesses and Canadians prepare for a busy fall.
As always, we’d love to hear from you. Let us know what’s on your summer reading list, which policy issues you think deserve greater attention, or what questions you’d like us to explore when Means & Ways returns with fresh deep dives later this summer.
Thank you again for your loyal readership!
Bea Vongdouangchanh
Editor-in-Chief
AI needs a human-centred approach; housing affordability; and the state of the media sector
The Senate, as the chamber of sober second thought, has released several informative reports on hot-button issues recently.
First up: The Social Affairs, Science and Technology committee is urging the federal government to move quickly to strengthen artificial intelligence governance, warning that Canada’s reputation as a global AI leader has not translated into public trust or widespread adoption. The interim report, Fuelled by Technology, Powered by Humanity: An interim report on a Human-centred Approach to Artificial Intelligence, found that only 34% of Canadians are willing to trust AI. The report identifies public confidence as one of the biggest barriers to the technology’s safe and effective use.
The report also calls for a national AI literacy strategy, stronger privacy and data protections, a comprehensive legal framework for AI, and measures to prepare workers for labour market disruption. Senators also welcomed the federal government’s renewed AI for All strategy and the introduction of the Safe Social Media Act, saying both reflect many of the committee’s recommendations, while stressing that clear implementation plans and measurable results will be critical.
The committee said AI is already being integrated across Canadian society and that the focus must now shift from whether the technology will be adopted to how it is developed, governed and deployed. Canada has an opportunity to ensure AI advances innovation while protecting privacy, human rights and Canadian values, the report says.
“When it comes to AI, it is no longer a question of ‘if’ or ‘when’ AI is here. It is being integrated throughout Canadian society. However, there is still an opportunity to respond to and influence the questions of ‘how,’ ‘why,’ and ‘for whom’ AI technologies are developed and deployed,” the report says.
Addressing Canada’s housing affordability crisis
Canada should expand the GST/HST rebate on new homes, reduce municipal development charges and cut regulatory delays to help address the country's housing affordability crisis, says a report from the Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy. The report, Out of Reach: Unlocking Canada’s Housing Affordability Crisis, makes 12 recommendations aimed at lowering housing costs, increasing supply, improving transparency and supporting renters, non-profit housing and modern construction methods. The committee warned that persistent housing shortages, lengthy approval timelines and high municipal fees continue to keep homeownership out of reach for many Canadians and called for coordinated action from all levels of government.
“All Canadians should be able to access housing without taking on high levels of debt. Municipal, provincial and federal governments all contributed to housing unaffordability; each must now do its part to de-escalate what’s become a national crisis,” Senator Clément Gignac, chair of the committee, said in a press release.
Senator Toni Varone, deputy chair of the committee, added: “Canada’s housing system is broken. To fix it, governments can start by removing the hidden costs of development charges from homebuyers, while exploring alternative municipal funding models and expanding the GST/HST rebate on all new housing. Improved housing affordability for all Canadians requires more transparency and less regulatory burden.”
Digital disruption undermining news business models
Meanwhile, Senator Andrew Cardozo undertook a study on the state of Canadian media. He partnered with Howard Law at MediaPolicy.ca to draft a comprehensive report, Making News Media Sustainable: Options for the Long Term.
The report argues that Canada’s growing mix of public funding for news has become a permanent part of media policy and should be replaced with a more coherent, transparent framework that supports the long-term sustainability of journalism while safeguarding editorial independence.
It finds that digital disruption has undermined the business model of Canadian news organizations by shifting advertising revenues to online platforms, leading governments to introduce a patchwork of subsidies, tax credits, labour supports and funding programs, while emphasizing the need for innovation, philanthropy and new market-based approaches such as subscription and advertising vouchers to strengthen the sector’s economic viability.
Comparing Canada’s approach with international models, the report concludes that there is no one-size-fits-all solution and recommends considering reforms such as an independent funding agency, stronger protections against the impacts of artificial intelligence, policies that support diverse local and independent news businesses, and measures tailored to Canada's fragmented media market.
(Disclosure: I participated in one of the Senator’s roundtable discussions on the subject.)
Women are disproportionately exposed to AI-driven job disruption
Speaking of artificial intelligence, it’s rapidly transforming workplaces across corporate Canada, but organizations are adopting it faster than governance frameworks can keep pace, creating significant risks for workplace equity, says a new report by The Prosperity Project.
The report, From Risk to Reinforcement: What Corporate Canada Needs to Know About AI Adoption and Gender Equity, finds that women are disproportionately exposed to AI-driven job disruption and face greater reputational and career risks when using AI. This is despite having comparable capabilities, threatening to widen gender gaps in leadership over time.
Researchers argue that current corporate strategies, which largely focus on training and upskilling, fail to address the underlying issue of unequal exposure to risk and accountability. To promote fair and effective AI adoption, the report recommends requiring human rights–based AI impact assessments, designing AI to enhance rather than replace workers’ roles, and creating workplace cultures where employees can use AI without fear of unfair penalties.
“Canada’s growth depends on its ability to fully mobilize its workforce,” writes Julie Savard-Shaw, Executive Director of The Prosperity Project. “When women are constrained in how they participate in emerging technologies, the impact isn’t limited to individual outcomes or organizational performance. It affects productivity, our capacity to innovate, and long-term competitiveness at the national and international level. Conversely, when women are positioned to fully participate in and shape AI, the gains extend across sectors, industries, and regions. Canada can lead, not only in developing AI, but in demonstrating how it can be deployed in ways that strengthen both economic performance and equitable participation.”
Should the Bank of Canada rethink its inflation target?
The Bank of Canada will complete its monetary policy framework review this fall, and C.D. Howe Institute senior fellow Bill White says the inflation-targeting regime requires a fundamental overhaul.
“As a guiding philosophical principle, central banks should recognize that the economy is not a linear and deterministic system, but rather, complex and adaptive. Such systems require a totally different governance framework. Consistent with this belief, central banks, in association with other government institutions, should adopt a macrofinancial stability framework,” White, a former deputy governor of the Bank of Canada from 1988 to 1994, writes.
He argues that the bank’s narrow focus on maintaining two per cent inflation has contributed to rising debt, financial instability and recurring economic crises. Drawing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, he says the bank has improved its forecasting models and policy tools but maintains these reforms do not address deeper structural flaws in the current framework. He warns that prolonged low interest rates have fuelled excessive borrowing, asset bubbles, weaker productivity growth and widening wealth inequality while leaving governments and households increasingly vulnerable to future financial shocks.
A “macrofinancial stability framework” would place greater emphasis on managing credit growth, debt accumulation and systemic financial risks over a longer policy horizon, he says, noting the review should prioritize reducing debt-related vulnerabilities and consider broad reforms to monetary policy to lower the risk of future economic and financial crises.
Energy security key to competitiveness: Energy Transition Index
Canada ranked 32nd out of 120 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2026 Energy Transition Index, scoring 63.7 and recognized for its reliable, diversified energy system. The report found global transition progress has slowed due to policy uncertainty, financing challenges and infrastructure constraints, with leading economies struggling to convert clean energy investment into faster decarbonization. Major energy consumers continue to show strong energy system performance, but sustainability remains the key challenge as rising demand and grid pressures increase the need for cleaner, more flexible energy systems.
“Overall progress has flatlined, and transition readiness has declined for the first time in over a decade, signalling a weakening of the foundations needed for future gains – one that we hope proves temporary, rather than the start of a more prolonged period of stagnation,” wrote Muqsit Ashraf, Global Lead for Industry and Enterprise, Accenture, and Roberto Bocca, Head, Centre for Energy and Materials; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum, in the report's foreword. “The transition is shaped by compounding stresses: geopolitical fragmentation, supply and price volatility, accelerating demand and capital concentrating in a limited number of markets while high-growth economies remain underserved.”
Another key takeaway, they said, was that energy security has become an emerging “core determinant of competitiveness.”
“Countries that integrate resilience into system design are better positioned to attract investment and sustain deployment, but at the risk of widening regional divergence,” the report says.
PBO projects mild growth in 2026 and 2027
In case you missed it, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released an economic and fiscal outlook last month. Canada’s economy grew 1.7% in 2025, but the PBO expects growth to slow to 1.1% in 2026 and 1.6% in 2027 because of the effects of the geopolitical and trade uncertainty.
Stronger energy prices are boosting nominal GDP, the PBO says; however, the office projects the federal deficit will nearly double to $72 billion in 2025-26 following the introduction of $68.4 billion in new spending measures announced in Budget 2025 and the Spring Economic Update 2026. Deficits remain higher than previously forecast over the coming years. Assuming there are no additional policy changes, the deficit is expected to narrow to $58.2 billion by 2030-31, although persistent shortfalls are projected to push the federal debt-to-GDP ratio up from 41.3% to 42.5% over the same period.
