Digital currencies are not supported by any government or central authority, such as the Bank of Canada. Financial institutions, such as banks or credit unions, don't manage or oversee digital currency. What is the future of cryptocurrency? Will Canada eventually be looking at including cryptocurrency as legal tender? Can it learn from international jurisdictions? What are some of the risks that cryptocurrency poses? Learning from international counterparts, what are some successful policies that could be translated in the Canadian context.
Analysts: Napas Thein, James Yeretsian, Afraz Bakhtiar, Wanyi Wang
Team Lead: Mary Mikhail
April 2023
Addressing Food Insecurity: Nutrition North Canada
In Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted men and women differently in a variety of ways. Female-dominated industries were among the hardest hit in Canada, resulting in a greater job loss for women than men. Additionally, since women often bear the bulk of childcare responsibilities and lockdowns resulting in school closures, women experienced significant challenges when re-entering the workforce.
Analysts: Zainab Nizar and Jessie Fan
Team Lead: Anna Hardie
April 2023
Multilateralism and the Digital Economy: Regulating Global Platforms
Web2, the moniker for the current internet, is characterized by user-generated content and emphasizes usability and audience participation. Information is usually stored in a single server, thereby centralizing much data. However, many digital insiders have started looking at the next generation: Web3, characterized by decentralization, blockchain technologies, and decoupling from traditional sources of legitimacy.
Analyst: Madison Hollington, Weidi Nie and Armaan Sahgal
Team Lead: Nathan Gueidon
April 2023
The Canadian Digital Skills Gap
To be successful, just transition strategies aimed at greening the economy must acknowledge the unique economic, social and environmental circumstances of individual countries. This report focuses on three aspects of Canada’s social, economic and environmental landscape that exemplify opportunities to make just transition a reality.
Analyst: Kateryna Antonyuk, Ibtesaam Moosa and Andre Fajardo
Team Lead: Emma Hull
April 2023
Canada and Climate Technology
Energy has always been at the heart of innovation and global policy. It also acts as one of the largest contributors to climate change and global warming. Many policymakers now include platforms on energy transition in an effort to steer the world away from fossil-fuel energy to reduce carbon emissions. Climate technology is a new term that has slowly made its way to the forefront of innovation and investment. This broad term encompasses any technology that interacts with the complex nature of climate change, including hydroelectricity, mini-grid systems, and electric vehicles. How can climate technology help Canada meet its climate change commitments?
Analyst: Jane Wang
Team Lead: Chanel MacDiarmid
April 2023
The Digital Front Line: Threats to Canadian Cybersecurity
Technological advancements such as AI and big data, cryptocurrency and increasing reliance on the internet have resulted in an abundance of data that flows constantly across borders. The effects of this often expand beyond the control of state jurisdiction into areas where regulations are lacking which leads to unregulated competition often governed solely by national ambitions. New threats have also emerged as a result that could affect essential societal functions related to finance, energy delivery, military and police operations, supply chains and other businesses.
Analyst: Karan Brar and Nicholas Quadrini
Team Lead: Vedant Puthran
April 2023
Indigenomics: Combating Energy Poverty in Indigenous
Communities with SMRs
In the midst of this the Indigenous economy has grown at a rapid pace currently estimated at $32 billion annually. But further growth is still possible and indigenomics is geared towards achieving just that. Through fostering an understanding of indigenous ways of being and worldviews, indigenomics is about drawing on traditional indigenous economic principles and implementing them in the modern age in new and innovative ways.
Analyst: Emma Martin, Vicky Zhou and Daniel Costanzo
Team Lead: Delaney Murphy
April 2023
Redesigning the Future of Work: Designing a Stronger
Health Ecosystem
The future of work, jobs and skills was a core theme of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. Discussions with respect to the future of work range from tackling skills shortages to the multiple benefits of investment in social infrastructure (education, healthcare, care), and redesigning organizational structures all together.