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Ce rapport examine la manière dont l'investissement direct étranger (IDE) contribue au développement durable du Canada, en particulier dans les domaines du commerce, de la productivité et de l'innovation; de la qualité de l'emploi et des compétences; de la diversité et de l'inclusion; et de la transition vers une économie à faibles émissions de carbone. La revue offre certaines réflexions sur la manière dont la promotion et la facilitation de l'investissement peuvent améliorer ces impacts.

While means-tested benefits such as minimum income benefits (MIB) and unemployment assistance (UA) are an essential safety net for low-income people and the unemployed, incomplete take-up is the rule rather than the exception. Building on desk research, open-ended surveys and semi-structured interviews, this paper investigates the opportunities and risks of using artificial intelligence (AI) for managing these means-tested benefits. This ranges from providing information to individuals, through determining eligibility based on pre-determined statutory criteria and identifying undue payments, to notifying individuals about their eligibility status. One of the key opportunities of using AI for these purposes is that this may improve the timeliness and take-up of MIB and UA. However, it may also lead to systematically biased eligibility assessments or increase inequalities, amongst others. Finally, the paper explores potential policy directions to help countries seize AI’s opportunities while addressing its risks, when using it for MIB or UA management.

Improving rural development, well-being and maximising the potential in rural areas requires greater horizontal and vertical co-ordination at the national, regional, and local level as well as the mainstreaming of rural issues across all policies. However, taking an integrated approach to rural development - where rural ministries and non-rural ministries coordinate in the development of polices and initiatives - is often very challenging. Rural proofing is a tool to help policy makers overcome this challenge and develop more nuanced rural-friendly policies. It involves making policy decisions based on evidence on rural dynamics available in a timely fashion to enable changes and adjustments. In practice, however, it is a mechanism that has proved complex to design, implement, and sustain. This article explores how more robust rural proofing models can be developed, with health as a focal point. Drawing on lessons from different OECD member countries, it develops a roadmap for more effective rural proofing mechanisms to help embed the practice in the policy space and culture of governments.

Most workers who will be exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) will not require specialised AI skills (e.g. machine learning, natural language processing, etc.). Even so, AI will change the tasks these workers do, and the skills they require. This report provides first estimates for Canada on the effect of artificial intelligence on the demand for skills in jobs that do not require specialised AI skills. The results show that the skills most demanded in occupations highly exposed to AI are management, communication and digital skills. These include skills in budgeting, accounting, written communication, as well as competencies in basic word processing and spreadsheet software. The results also show that, in Canada, demand for social and language skills have increased the most over the past decade in occupations highly exposed to AI. Using a panel of establishments confirms the increasing demand for social and language skills, as well as rising demand for production and physical skills, which may be complementary to AI. However, the establishment panel also finds evidence of decreasing demand for business, management and digital skills in establishments more exposed to AI.

While child poverty has decreased significantly in recent years due to increased support for families with children, measures to assist socio-economically disadvantaged children only partially address their challenges. To enhance equality of opportunity and social mobility in Canada, it is crucial to strengthen efforts addressing the root causes of socio-economic disadvantages and bridge gaps in policies aimed at reducing child poverty. This paper presents an overview of child poverty trends in Canada and discusses the challenges associated with the Poverty Reduction Strategy aimed at enhancing equality of opportunity and social mobility.

Given the fast pace of global socio-economic development, more tailored, focused, and localised efforts to strengthen public sector capacity in small island developing states (SIDS) is increasingly important. SIDS have unique vulnerabilities, rich histories and contexts, and strengths that can be harnessed for sustainable development. Development partners need to adapt how they provide capacity-strengthening support, taking individual SIDS’ circumstances and needs into account to better help them achieve their ambitions. This report summarises perspectives from small island developing states (SIDS) on current experiences and opportunities to improve capacity-strengthening support to make it more tailored, impactful, and sustainable. The report uses the broad definition of capacity-strengthening as activities that improve the competencies and abilities of individuals, organisations, and broader formal and informal social structures in a way that boosts organisational performance. It concentrates on public sector capacity, including interactions with other stakeholders across sectors.

This paper first presents a meta-analysis of the causal impact of cultural participation on well-being. The meta-analysis classifies the literature according to the strength of the evidence available and various types of cultural activities. Secondly, this paper uses data from time use surveys from Canada, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States to study individuals’ emotional responses to a series of daily activities. This is then used as a basis for an empirical assessment of the drivers of time allocation across different activities, showing that expectations of future well-being are one of the reasons why individuals decide to engage in cultural activities. Furthermore, the model helps explain why cultural participation, in spite of being one of the most enjoyable human activities, is also the least undertaken. We show that heterogeneity of preferences results in a strong selection effect in available statistics.

Innovation is broader than science and technology, yet often statistics and government programmes narrowly focus on this type of innovation. In rural places, this is particularly relevant as not all firms have the capacity to be competitive in high-tech innovation. With around one in five Canadians living in Canada’s rural regions, better understanding how to promote broader notions of innovation for rural places by increasing entrepreneurship, including for women, advancing the green transition, and improving the provision of services is critical to boost rural productivity, and increase well-being standards. The report sets the scene for rural innovation in Canada, explores the policy and governance environment for key regional innovation initiatives, and includes a special topic chapter on green innovation in rural regions of Canada.