Research

Levels of our country's Foreign Direct Investment, or FDI, do not actually tell us much about the state of the economy. One large deal can significantly affect total FDI inflows, which can vary dramatically from year to year. Plus, as SCP Fellow Sarah Doyle and SCP Chair Jon Shell write, not all FDI is created equal. Distinguishing between beneficial and harmful FDI is even more important now, in the context of a global trade war and threats to Canada’s economic sovereignty. In this explainer, they unpack FDI: what it is, when it is and isn’t beneficial and why understanding these nuances matters.

There has never been a federal budget quite like this one. Canada faces a moment of extreme peril, threatened by an American administration that has abandoned our mutually beneficial trading and security regime. In our pre-budget submission, Social Capital Partners recommends that Budget 2025 focus on broadening ownership to ensure the benefits of economic growth are more widely shared. Policy choices should move us away from an economy fueled by wealth extraction that enriches billionaires and inflates the bottom lines of foreign funds, and instead, move us towards more local reinvestment that builds an inclusive, sustainable and resilient democratic future where all Canadians have realistic chances to build economic security.

There is a growing recognition, both globally and within Canada, that competition is essential to fostering a strong, resilient and productive economy. Yet, despite this consensus, the Canadian economy is becoming increasingly consolidated, and entrepreneurship is in steep decline. SCP's feedback on the Competition Bureau's Review of the Merger Enforcement Guidelines outlines our concern with serial-acquisition strategies wherein large firms acquire smaller companies in ways that evade regulatory scrutiny, and shares our recommendations to address this issue.

Statistics Canada's official wealth survey significantly underestimates wealth inequality. Canada’s wealth concentration is not as extreme as in the United States, but closer than official data suggest. This misleading portrait undermines Canadians’ ability to have an evidence-informed conversation about how to address growing wealth concentration and the threats it represents for economic resilience and democratic stability.

Canada’s existing competition regime is unfair for small business. We surveyed over 1,000 small business owners to understand how competition policy has affected them.

The concentration of corporate power in Canada can be traced back to the antiquated objectives of our nation’s competition policy. Our submission to the government’s review of the Competition Act provides sharp critiques and recommendations on a path forward.

New research continues to demonstrate that employee ownership fosters economic resilience. As in previous economic crises, employee-owned companies were better at retaining employees and at maintaining hours and salaries throughout the pandemic. In a post-pandemic economic environment, the demonstrated benefits of increased employee retention and alignment by employee-owned companies will be even more important to support economic growth.

Small, independent businesses are the backbone of our economy. Unfortunately, they’ve become harder to start and struggle to compete with large chains. We’ve been inspired by owner-owned cooperatives that help small businesses thrive.