Research Hub

Canada's first sovereign wealth fund raises structural questions about dual mandates, political independence, and what market-rate returns actually mean when borrowed money does the investing. CTI's analytical assessment.

CUSMA protected 85% of Canadian goods exports from US tariffs. Non-US exports are growing. The FTA pipeline is the largest in a generation. What the numbers actually mean for Canadian businesses.

Parliamentary-record testimony and published research showing Canada's share of global FDI has declined across every benchmark. Quantifies that investment restrictions cost Canada ~$10B annually in foregone productivity. Essential for inbound investment policy and Investment Canada Act analysis.

Documents specific zoning, regulatory, and construction system barriers keeping housing construction below target regardless of federal funding. Cited by CMHC, federal housing policy, and municipalities. The most practically grounded analysis of why Canada can't build at the rate it needs to.

Identifies the gap between ambition and fiscal commitment on housing — federal programme spending projected to decline 56% from $9.8B (2025–26) to $4.3B (2028–29). Essential counterweight to government communications for Build Canada tracking. Published November 2025.

Monthly data on imports and exports by product and country. The primary source for actual trade flows — not policy intentions, but what is physically moving across Canadian borders and to whom. Updated monthly with a 4–6 week lag.

EDC's annual forecast of Canadian export performance by sector and market. Combines macro analysis with sector-specific projections. Consistently shows that SMEs significantly underutilize available trade agreement access — the gap between theoretical access and actual market penetration is one of the central findings.

Assesses Canada's 2025–2030 window to build domestic defence industrial capacity while allied procurement budgets are expanding. After that window closes, procurement patterns will set for a generation. The Build-Partner-Buy framework arrived late; execution speed is the constraining variable. Published Q1 2026.

Canada's low-carbon grid is a genuine competitive advantage that is currently underleveraged. Pembina's analysis shows the transition creates sustained procurement demand for Canadian cleantech and grid infrastructure. Policy coherence between federal clean electricity regulations and provincial grid investment is the constraining variable.

107 calls to economic prosperity organized around ownership, revenue, capacity, and infrastructure. Required reading for resource development, infrastructure, and procurement with northern or Indigenous dimensions. The primary policy document for Indigenous economic development in Canada.

Rigorous academic work on Indigenous governance frameworks and their interaction with resource development and corporate law. Analysis of how UNDRIP implementation interacts with project approval processes is essential for any company with northern or resource operations.

How immigration policy, housing costs, and social investment interact with Canada's ability to scale its most labour-intensive sectors. Analysis of the 2025 immigration cut's economic implications — particularly for construction, agri-food, and care — is directly relevant to workforce and supply chain tracking.

Biennial assessment providing international comparative context domestic sources lack. Flags housing costs and regulatory complexity as constraints on labour mobility compounding productivity decline. Canadian business investment as share of GDP has been declining for a decade, particularly in machinery, equipment, and intellectual property.

"We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition" — Canada as energy superpower, middle power coalition-builder, and strategic partner. The clearest articulation of Canada's foreign and trade policy posture in the current era. The framing directly informs how Canada is repositioning its trade relationships across all 11 Canada Forward themes.

CFIB research estimates removing interprovincial trade barriers could add $200 billion annually to the Canadian economy — equivalent to a 21% tariff by IMF analysis. Carney's "free trade by Canada Day" goal makes this the most actionable near-term domestic trade policy opportunity. Updated Q1 2026.

Canada's most rigorous independent economic policy research organization. Strong on trade policy, investment climate, and the intersection of clean energy access with industrial location decisions. Sees clean electricity as a reason for manufacturers and data centre operators to locate in Canada. Regularly cited in federal policy development.

Primary government data source for fisheries, aquaculture, and offshore resource activity. Canada's ocean sectors generate ~$35B annually. The blue economy — including offshore wind, Arctic shipping, and deep-sea minerals — is at an early policy stage but represents a structural long-term opportunity with significant sovereign advantage.