C. D. Howe Institute

Motto	Essential Policy Intelligence
Formation	1958
Type	Public policy think tank
Headquarters	67 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario
Key people	William B.P. Robson[1] President & Chief Executive Officer
Website	www.cdhowe.org

The C.D. Howe Institute (French: Institut C.D. Howe) is a nonprofit policy research organization^[2] located at 67 Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The Institute publishes research that is national in scope and it hosts events across Canada on a wide variety of issues in economic and social policy. As a non-profit, politically independent organization, its official mandate is to improve the standard of living for Canadians through sound public policy solutions.^[3]

Rated the number one domestic economic think tank in Canada,^[4] the Institute has won five Doug Purvis Prizes, which are awarded annually by the nonpartisan Canadian Economics Association^[5] to the authors of highly significant Canadian economic policy,^[6] and one Donner Prize (runner-up three times), which are awarded annually by the conservative Donner Canadian Foundation for the Best Public Policy Book by a Canadian.^[7]

History

The C.D. Howe Institute’s origins go back to Montreal in 1958 when a group of prominent business and labour leaders organized the Private Planning Association of Canada (PPAC) to research and promote educational activities on issues related to public economic policy. In 1973, the PPAC’s assets and activities became part of the C.D. Howe Memorial Foundation, created in 1961 to memorialize the late Right Honourable Clarence Decatur Howe. The new organization operated as the C.D. Howe Research Institute until 1982, when the Memorial Foundation chose to focus directly on memorializing C.D. Howe; the Institute then adopted its current name: the C.D. Howe Institute.^[8]

Political Stance

It has been described as a conservative,^[9][10][11] non-partisan^{[12][13][14][15]} and respected^[16][17][18] think tank. It has a history of publishing research on both sides of the ideological spectrum, provided it is supported with empirical evidence.^[19]

Funding

The institute derives the majority of its funding from membership fees paid by corporations as well as individuals in the business, professional and academic fields.^[20]

Research

The C.D. Howe Institute's national offices at 67 Yonge Street, Toronto.

The C.D. Howe Institute’s groundbreaking study of immigration policy reform entitled “Toward Improving Canada’s Skilled Immigration Policy: An Evaluation Approach,” by Charles M. Beach, Alan G. Green and Christopher Worswick won the 2012 Doug Purvis Memorial Prize.

The Institute publishes over 50 research reports per year.^[21]

Major areas of policy research are:

• Fiscal and Tax Policy^[22]
• Monetary Policy^[23]
• Social policy^[24]
• Governance and Public Institutions^[25]
• Trade and International Policy^[26]
• Economic Growth and Innovation^[27]

Current policy topics are:

• Energy, Infrastructure and Environment^[28]
• Healthcare Reform^[29]
• Human Capital and Competitiveness^[30]
• Strengthening Canada’s Charities^[31]
• Financial Services^[32]
• Pensions^[33]

Peer Review Process

Every major policy study receives thorough peer review, which includes the participation of academics and outside, independent experts. The Institute’s peer review process helps ensure the quality, integrity and objectivity of the Institute’s research. The Institute will not publish any major study that, in its view, fails to meet the standards of the external review process. The Institute requires that its authors publicly disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest of which they are aware.^[34]

Researchers

Over 100 economists and academics contribute to the research program.

Notable Researchers

• Richard Blundell, Professor, Department of Economics, University College London
• Willem Buiter, Chief Economist, Citigroup Centre
• Marcel Boyer, Professor Emeritus of Industrial Economics, Université de Montréal
• Janet Currie, Henry Putnam Prof. of Economics & Public Affairs, Princeton University
• Ivan Fellegi, Senior Fellow, C.D. Howe Institute
• Konrad von Finckenstein, Senior Fellow, C.D. Howe Institute
• Claude Forget, former Minister of Health, Quebec
• Peter Howitt (economist), Lyn Crost Professor of Social Sciences, Brown University; C.D. Howe Institute Academic Adviser on Economic Growth and Innovation
• David Laidler, Emeritus Professor, Department of Economics, University of Western Ontario
• Sylvia Ostry, Distinguished Research Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto
• Christoper Ragan, Associate Professor, McGill University
• Grant Reuber, Senior Fellow, C.D. Howe Institute
• John Richards (scholar), Professor, School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University; Roger Phillips Scholar of Social Policy, C.D. Howe Institute
• William B.P. Robson, President and Chief Executive Officer, C.D. Howe Institute
• Joel Slemrod, Paul W. McCracken Collegiate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan
• John Stackhouse (The Globe and Mail), Senior Fellow, C.D. Howe Institute
• Lawrence J. White, Deputy Chair, Economics, New York University

Events

Former Bank of Canada Governors John Crow, Gordon Thiessen and David Dodge standing alongside William Robson, President and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, and Ross Hornby, former Canadian Ambassador to the European Union.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper participates in a public policy roundtable at the C.D. Howe Institute.

Former Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin, standing with former Chairman of the C.D. Howe Institute, William Morneau.

The Institute hosts public policy roundtables and conferences featuring prominent Canadian and International policymakers, business leaders and public servants. The Institute holds over 50 events per year.^[21]

Past speakers include political leaders (including two current or former Prime Ministers), policy makers, business leaders and senior diplomats.^[35]

Members of the Institute attend the 2012 Benefactors Lecture, featuring Charles Evans, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Policy Impact

For more than five decades, the Institute has had considerable impact on Canadian public policy.

Institute policy work has laid the intellectual groundwork in such areas as:

• The development of free trade;
• The development of rigorous inflation targets and related monetary policy;
• The reform of the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans;
• Lower corporate tax rates;^[36]
• The development of the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). ^[37]

References

External links

• The C.D. Howe Institute
• Policy.ca Profile: C. D. Howe Institute
• Canada Revenue Agency registered charity information database: C. D. Howe Institute
• The Canadian Encyclopedia