The non-partisan think tank says that economic freedom is critical to prosperity and the latest analysis could signal bad news for economic growth in the years ahead.
“The trajectory of economic freedom in Canada could lead to weakness in economic growth and prosperity in the years ahead,” said Fred McMahon, the Dr. Michael A. Walker Research Chair in Economic Freedom at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the report.
The report, Economic Freedom of North America, measures government spending, taxation and labour market restrictions using data from 2021 (the latest year of available comparable data) and has two indexes: a sub-national index which measures restrictions on freedom at the province/state and local level and an all government index which adds federal restrictions.
“Since 2014, all Canadian provinces have suffered significant declines in economic freedom at the all-government level, while a majority of provinces also suffered declines at the subnational level,” McMahon added.
Alberta leads but declines
Alberta is the province enabling the greatest level of economic freedom, but this has been eroded.