Frontier Centre Releases First Canadian Freedom Index

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is pleased to announce the launch of the Freedom Index a new report on the state of various freedoms across the Canadian provinces. The […]
Published on June 24, 2014

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is pleased to announce the launch of the Freedom Index a new report on the state of various freedoms across the Canadian provinces.

The Index assesses a large number of laws and measures, across fiscal, regulatory and personal freedom, in an attempt to measure how free each province is relative to the rest of the country.

While some level of government is required to protect people and property and to provide a social safety net, the Freedom Index is designed to show the degree to which each provincial government is involved in people’s day-to-day lives, over and above these core functions.

“By considering fiscal, regulatory, and personal freedom, the Index is able to provide a broader assessment of the true level of freedom people have in their lives, compared with other more narrow evaluations that only assess economic or tax matters,” explained Peter McCaffrey, one of the report’s authors.

Alberta took first place in the Index by a wide margin, placing first in fiscal freedom, first in personal freedom, and second in regulatory freedom.

Saskatchewan finished in second, while British Columbia and Ontario finished third and fourth, respectively.

Newfoundland finished in the middle of the pack having placed first in regulatory freedom but last in fiscal freedom, but still maintained a healthy lead over the rest of Atlantic Canada.

Manitoba edged out New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island for sixth, while Nova Scotia and Quebec finished ninth and tenth.

For more information about the project, details about the laws and measures evaluated and the scores received for each province, please visit the Freedom Index website for the full report:

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