The productivity, resilience, inclusive growth and economic sovereignty objectives Canada is trying to achieve are not independent of its financing system. Canada ranks second-worst in the G7 as a place to be an entrepreneur, with 55 per cent of small-business owners saying they would not recommend starting a business here right now.

Large Canadian pension plan OMERS announced earlier this week that it will attempt to increase its investments in Canada by $10B over the next five years. This is a good sign, says SCP CEO Matthew Mendelsohn, but announcements and good intentions will not be enough. The incentive structure for fund managers, and the allocation of resources across asset classes and geographies, will need to change if pension funds are able to deliver on what their contributors and beneficiaries expect of them.

Growing the non-market housing sector is a national priority and building the capacity of non-profits to deliver more of it is one of the most important levers available. Unfortunately, explain Michelle Arnold and Savraj Syan, at the very moment governments are counting on non-profit housing providers to deliver more affordable housing, a set of overlooked technical barriers is preventing those same providers from leveraging their own assets—which is key to increasing their borrowing power—to do exactly that.