Canada's Quiet Bargain: The benefits of public spending

Abstract

This study adds a dimension that has been missing to the public debate over taxes and public spending in Canada. It weighs the benefits of public services pro¬vided by federal, provincial, and municipal governments against the benefits of re¬cent tax cuts. Using a sophisticated array of data sets and analytical tools from Statistics Canada, this study concludes that Canadians depend to a significant extent on public services such as education, health care, child care, public pensions, employment insurance, and family benefits for their living standard. In fact, this study puts a number on it: Canadians enjoy an average $17,000 benefit from the public services which our taxes fund — about the same amount a Canadian working full-time, full-year at the minimum wage would earn. The results of this study show the vast majority of Canadians are getting a quiet bargain by investing in taxes that produce enormous public benefits.