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In a world undergoing upheaval, education and workforce development are more essential than ever as key levers to improve productivity and reduce inequality. To achieve tangible results, people from all economic sectors must have the opportunity to acquire the key skills that will enable them to understand, adapt to, and benefit from current transformations. Failing to include the entire population in this process risks exacerbating social inequalities.
Under the leadership of lead researchers Benoit Dostie (HEC Montréal) and Fabian Lange (McGill University) for the major theme Skills, Raquel Fonseca (ESG UQAM) and Markus Poschke (McGill University) for the major theme Inequality and Poverty, and coordinated by Geneviève Dufour (CIRANO), the activities of the 2025–2026 thematic year will revolve around four interconnected pillars:
Planned activities related to the 2025–2026 thematic year:
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| | We are pleased to present the 2025–2026 research programming. More than 60 research projects will be carried out this year across CIRANO’s 10 major research themes. In addition, CIRANO is proud to unveil the theme for the 2025–2026 year: « Éducation et main-d’œuvre : pour une société plus productive et équitable ». |
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| | CIRANO is pleased to announce the nomination of Robert Gagné as Chair of its Scientific Committee. A CIRANO Researcher and Fellow since 1999, Robert Gagné is a Full Professor in the Department of Applied Economics at HEC Montréal. His research focuses primarily on the effects of public policies in Quebec and Canada. |
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| | On June 2, CIRANO held an award ceremony to recognize the winners of the 2025 Bourstad Contest and to thank the partners who have supported the initiative for many years. This 38th edition of the contest brought together 3,085 participants from across the country. In total, more than 20,000 people used the Bourstad financial simulation tool in 2024–2025. |
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| | CIRANO is pleased to welcome David Ardia, Professor in the Department of Decision Sciences at HEC Montréal, as a new CIRANO Researcher, and Tiffanie Perrault, Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Grand Valley State University, as an Associate CIRANO Researcher. |
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| | The 42nd edition of the Jean-Yves Rivard Symposium, Between Public and Private: Quebec’s Health Care System at a Crossroads, served as the closing event of CIRANO’s 2025–2026 thematic year. This edition brought together decision-makers, managers, clinicians, and members of the academic research community, including several CIRANO researchers. |
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| | Have the policies implemented since 1975 to attract family doctors to rural areas paid off? A CIRANO study conducted by Bernard Fortin (Université Laval, CIRANO researcher and Fellow), Justin Ndoutoumou, Josette Gbeto, and Maude Laberge (Université Laval, CIRANO researcher) shows that certain measures have indeed influenced the practice location of new general practitioners. The results were presented during an online event held on May 20. |
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| | Since the beginning of the year, 7 workshops have brought together researchers and doctoral students in economics who are interested in natural resource and environmental economics. Fourteen speakers led these sessions and discussed their respective studies. At the end of April, we concluded the season with an interdisciplinary day focused on the theme of eco-anxiety. |
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| | Following the Action AI Summit held in Paris from February 6 to 11, Guillaume Avrin, France’s National Coordinator for Artificial Intelligence, will be in Montreal to present an exclusive summary of the main advances in responsible AI serving the public interest. This presentation will be followed by a France–Canada roundtable organized by CORIM and moderated by Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin, Professor at Polytechnique Montréal, researcher at Obvia, and President and CEO of CIRANO. |
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| | Olivier Jacques and Philippe Chassé |
| The combined effect of rising health care costs and significant budget constraints limits the resources that can be allocated to the health care system. Governments therefore face difficult trade-offs when it comes to distributing public funds both within the health care system and across various state functions. The authors show that Quebecers are generally very dissatisfied with the health care system and that there is strong public consensus in favor of increased health spending. However, this desire does not necessarily translate into a willingness to pay more taxes to support additional expenditures. |
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| | Marie Connolly and Fabian Lange |
| This CIRANO report evaluates the extent to which the level of education among men and women explains differences in labor market participation, employment income, government transfers, and income tax paid. It then analyzes what employment income, taxes paid, and government transfers could be expected if boys' high school graduation rates were raised to match those of girls. |
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| | Olivier Jacques, Emna Ben Jelili, Alexandre Prud'homme and Emmanuelle Arpin |
| In this report, the authors show that CIHI tends to overestimate public health spending in all provinces except Quebec. However, public health is defined in different ways by various public and governmental entities. Differences in how public health expenditures are classified from one province to another make interprovincial comparisons difficult and can affect the perception of provinces’ financial efforts in public health. By aligning the levels of public spending across provinces, this study offers a renewed perspective on Quebec’s efforts in public health. |
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| | Daniel J. Caron, Steve Jacob and Vincent Nicolini |
| This report examines the factors that influence the attraction and retention of information technology personnel. It presents a literature review that identifies these factors and groups them into three dimensions—individual, organizational, and collective. Based on the findings of the literature review, the report proposes a tool to measure the importance IT professionals place on each of these factors. This tool is intended to help organizations develop workforce attraction and retention strategies that align with the attitudes, beliefs, and aspirations of IT professionals. |
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| | Daniel J. Caron and Vincent Nicolini |
| This report proposes a model for measuring the digital maturity of organizations based on the development of a theory of change, in which the program to be transformed is the operation of health care institutions and facilities. What makes this model unique is its multidimensional nature—rooted in the three levels of organizational action (strategic, tactical, and operational)—and its adaptability to the organization’s specific context and environment. This flexibility allows the organization to assess its digital maturity while taking into account its realities (budgets, available skills, etc.), all while consistently considering every level of organizational action. |
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| | Racha Soubra, Slim Ayari, Yedidya Ebosiri, Hassane Alami, François Castonguay, Delphine Bosson-Rieutort, Nadia Sourial and Nathalie Clavel |
| This report presents a summary of the discussions from the 41st edition of the Jean-Yves-Rivard Colloquium, which focused on the workforce crisis in Quebec’s health care system. Through four conferences and two roundtables that brought together researchers, health care professionals, managers, decision-makers, union representatives, and patients, the event highlighted the structural, organizational, cultural, and individual factors driving this crisis. The document offers a multi-level analysis of the causes and identifies integrated courses of action, ranging from professional recognition to the modernization of governance and human resource management. |
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| | Maurice Doyon and Benjamin Roy |
| Sugar maple stands located on public land are particularly sought after. They are coveted both for maple syrup harvesting and for the production of timber destined for processing, leading to frequent tensions between the forestry and maple syrup sectors. In this paper, the authors demonstrate that maple syrup production generates greater economic benefits compared to the harvesting and processing of hardwood, even when the least favourable scenario for maple syrup production is compared to the most favourable scenario for the hardwood sector. This marginal dominance of maple syrup production suggests that an optimal resource allocation should favour maple syrup production over hardwood forestry. |
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| Lucien Chaffa, Martin Trépanier and Thierry Warin |
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| Philippe Goulet Coulombe, Massimiliano Marcellino and Dalibor Stevanovic |
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