Projects & Initiatives

We have several special projects and initiatives:

Alternative Federal Budget

The CCPA has been coordinating the Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) since 1994 with the participation and support of researchers, activists and leadership from a broad spectrum of civil society organizations representing millions of Canadians. The Alternative Federal Budget is a "what if" exercise — what a government could do if it were truly committed to an economic, social, and environmental agenda that reflects the values of the large majority of Canadians — as opposed to the interests of a privileged minority. It demonstrates in a concrete and compelling way that another world really is possible. Find out more here.

Climate Justice Project

An initiative of our BC Office, this project looks at climate change from a social justice perspective, asking how we can tackle global warming with fairness and equality. It is a partnership between the CCPA, the University of British Columbia, a multi-disciplinary team of academics from three BC universities, and more than 40 trade unions, environmental organizations, First Nations, social justice groups, and other research institutes. Find out more here.

Economic Security Project

The Economic Security Project, completed in 2009, examined the impacts of policy changes in BC on "vulnerable" groups such as seniors, people living in poverty, recent immigrants, and children and youth. The project was led by the CCPA and Simon Fraser University, and brought together a network of more than 20 academic researchers and 25 community organizations. Find out more here.

Education Project

The CCPA Education Project was established in 1996 to monitor corporate intrusion in public education. With a wide circle of research associates representing all aspects of the education sector, accessible research, case studies and thoughtful commentary and analysis, the CCPA Education Project provides a welcome — and often humorous — balance to the rhetoric of market-based education reform that continues to erode our public education system. Find out more here.

Good Economy Project

The Good Economy Project was created to propose an alternative economic vision for British Columbia — one that puts public investment, tax fairness and the creation of good, sustainable jobs at the core of economic policymaking. Find out more here.

The Growing Gap

Canada's income gap between the rich and the rest of us has been growing, unchecked, over the past generation. The Growing Gap team works with economists and researchers across Canada to document the problem and put forward solutions for a fairer, more equal society. Find out more here.

Labour Matters

Labour Matters is a product of the Trade Union Research Collective. Its goal is to promote greater understanding of the positive role unions play in the workplace, in the labour market, in the community, and in wider society — and to provide a platform for sharing research of interest to unions and the broader community.  Find out more here.

Making Women Count

Making Women Count measures the size of Canada's gender gap and offers solutions to the inequalities that persist between women and men in Canada. Closing the gender gap in Canada will provide a significant engine for long-term economic growth, as well as an immediate increase in the social and economic well-being of women and girls in Canada.  Find out more here.

Manitoba Research Alliance

The Manitoba Research Alliance is a closely-knit group of academic researchers and community and government partners who have undertaken a number of multi-year research projects. While the focus is on Manitoba, in order to build on previous research and to ensure an in-depth analysis, this research has broad importance and will interest academics, policy makers and community organizations at local, national and international levels. Find out more here.

Public Interest Research Project

The BC Office's Public Interest Project is a special research desk staffed by economist Iglika Ivanova, who investigates issues and trends in areas such as health care, education, social programs, and crown corporations. She also examines the relationship between taxation and government spending on public services, and the impact of public services on quality of life. Find out more here.

Resource Economics Project

The BC Office's Resource Economics Project is a special research desk staffed by award-winning journalist and researcher Ben Parfitt. This environmental justice initiative looks into the causes of economic and social insecurity in BC’s resource-dependent communities. It offers policy solutions aimed at meeting the joint challenges of environmental sustainability, jobs and social justice. Find out more here.

Seniors Care Project

The Seniors Project works for policy changes to ensure that BC seniors can age and die with dignity, and to improve conditions for family members and health care workers. We believe that seniors should be at the centre of decisions about their own care, as well as the public policy decisions that affect them. Find out more here.

Think Upstream

Think Upstream is a project of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives National Office. We're working with a growing network of people who recognize that social, ecological, and economic conditions shape people’s health and the wellbeing of our communities. We call these the social determinants of health. To learn more, visit the Think Upstream website.

Trade and Investment Research Project

The Trade and Investment Research Project (TIRP) is an independently funded project administered by the CCPA. TIRP pools the trade policy research resources and expertise of Canadian non-governmental organizations from a variety of sectors. It produces expert research on a wide range of important trade and investment policy issues. Find out more here.

Undertanding Precarity in BC

Undertanding Precarity in BC is a research and public engagement initiative investigating precarious work and multi-dimensional precarity in British Columbia. UP-BC is jointly led by Simon Fraser University’s Morgan Centre for Labour Research and the CCPA-BC. The project is supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and brings together four BC universities, 26 community-based organizations with deep connections to populations most impacted by precarity and more than 80 academic and community researchers and collaborators. Find out more.