Over the last several years, Canada’s GDP per capita—a key indicator of average living standards—has stagnated and had even declined in some recent quarters, culminating in a lost economic decade.
Today, The Hub is proud to announce that 10 finalists have been selected for the third annual Hunter Prize for Public Policy, based on their groundbreaking ideas to fundamentally fix Canada’s living standards crisis.
This year’s competition features a diverse group of finalists targeting areas such as regulatory and tax reform, competition policy, and AI deployment, to find a policy solution that will begin to alleviate Canada’s stalled real GDP per capita growth.
The finalists were picked from nearly 250 entries, which included some of the best thinkers in Canadian public policy.
The winner will be chosen by an esteemed panel of judges, including senior vice president at the Business Council of Canada and journalist Theo Argitis, vice-chair of CIBC and former federal MP and minister Lisa Raitt, senior vice president and chief economist at RBC Frances Donald, president’s fellow at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy Jack Mintz, and director of policy and economics at the Business Council of Alberta Alicia Planincic.
In coming weeks, The Hub will publish 10 opinion editorials and policy papers written by the finalists, where they will break down their high-impact policy reforms aimed at improving Canadian living standards. The winner will be unveiled in November.
The finalists are vying for $50,000 in cash prizes, including $25,000 for the winner to help translate their idea into actionable public policy. The runner-up will receive a $5,000 prize. Those placing third through 10th will receive prizes of $2,500.
The 10 finalists, in no particular order, are as follows.
- Amanda Shatzko for a proposal that would see the federal government launch a Digital Productivity Bond program to finance productivity-enhancing infrastructure
- Charles Lammam for a proposal to embark on a Big Bold Tax Reform (BBTR) initiative to unleash Canada’s economic potential, and drive investment, entrepreneurship, and innovation, while encouraging talent attraction and retention
- Matthew Chiasson for a proposal that would reduce regulatory barriers to competition in the economy by taking stock of barriers, incentivizing reductions, and monitoring outcomes
- Joel Blit, Danielle Goldfarb, Paul Samson, and Stephen Tapp for a proposal that would see Canada launch a bold, nation-building effort to become a global artificial intelligence (AI) leader by embedding AI across the economy
- Vass Bednar and Denise Hearn for a proposal that would see Canada adopt a coordinated, whole-of-government approach to competition policy, which would embed competition goals across ministries, better align federal-provincial policies, and engage municipalities to remove local barriers
- Alex MacDonald and Joe McKinnon for a proposal to embrace tax reform that will enhance Canada’s industrial competitiveness
- Mitchell Davidson for a proposal to reform post-secondary education in a way that reduces the time it takes to earn undergraduate degrees
- Shane Joy for a proposal to create a Canadian Productivity Commission tasked with analyzing, reporting, and advising on national productivity trends, sectoral performance, and reform opportunities
- Leo Xu for a proposal to establish Moonshot Zones that would use targeted legislation, tax incentives, and regulatory streamlining to attract private investment aimed at catalyzing innovation and entrepreneurship
- Steve Allard for a proposal that would see the federal government make index fund investments in Canadians at birth, offsetting lifetime public costs like healthcare, pensions, and infrastructure
The Hunter Prize for Public Policy, funded by the Hunter Family Foundation, aims to shake up Canadian policymaking by promoting fresh ideas to take on a “wicked problem” and improve the economic and social well-being of Canadians.
