Work
We suggest:
- Human beings were made to work.
- Government policies should incentivize work.
- Everyone should have access to work and should receive just compensation for their labour, enabling them to have access to productive leisure.
- All work has dignity.
- The state, the market, and civil society (particularly institutions like unions) should work together to encourage just and meaningful work.
Supporting Research

Start Here
Ray Pennings,
Brian Dijkema
November 19, 2014
A social bias against employment in the skilled trades exists in this country. This culminating document of the Building Meaning project includes the Building Meaning in the Skilled Trades background paper, and our final series of recommendations for industry and labour stakeholders; educational institutions; governments; and researchers.

Brian Dijkema,
Morley Gunderson
December 17, 2019
There is a large hole in our public talk about work and wages. Reviewing the latest research, "Work is About More Than Money" uncovers the personal, social and psychological costs of unemployment. It identifies the missing pieces in our thinking and policymaking about labour to show why it is urgent to attend to the non-monetary benefits of work.

Albert Flootman
July 15, 2022
Governments need to consider how CBAs can increase costs, both internally through greater project-management costs and externally on businesses, and how they can lead to overall cost increases for projects.
Explorations

September 10, 2021
Join Mark Carney and Fr. Raymond de Souza as they sit down for a conversation on Mark’s latest book, Value(s): Building a Better World For All.

June 22, 2021
Join us as we Exit COVID: Toward what matters most.
Media Coverage


July 12, 2022
Cardus is calling on Ontario’s government to reduce barriers to volunteering in order to help reverse the decline in formal volunteer rates and hours, as researcher Joanna DeJong VanHof explains to CBC Ottawa.
Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash


July 11, 2022
"In the most in-depth analysis to date on Community Benefits Agreements in jurisdictions across the country, the independent think-tank Cardus found while CBAs in Canada have serious flaws, nowhere is this more plainly clear than in B.C.," writes Paul de Jong, president of the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada.
Photo by Kosuke Noma on Unsplash


April 22, 2022
$272.6-million to improve the employment prospects of people with disabilities is “pretty underwhelming,” says Cardus's Brian Dijkema, compared to what the government spends on other priorities.
Work
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What else are we working toward?
Strong Family Projects
Human Dignity Projects
Religious Freedom Projects
Healthy Community Projects
Formative Education Projects
Recent Projects
Strong Family Projects
Human Dignity Projects
Religious Freedom Projects
Healthy Community Projects
Formative Education Projects
Recent Projects
Strong Family Projects
Human Dignity Projects
Religious Freedom Projects
Healthy Community Projects
Formative Education Projects
Recent Projects
Strong Family Projects
Human Dignity Projects
Religious Freedom Projects
Healthy Community Projects
Formative Education Projects
Recent Projects
Strong Family Projects
Human Dignity Projects
Religious Freedom Projects
Healthy Community Projects
Formative Education Projects
Recent Projects
Strong Family Projects
Human Dignity Projects
Religious Freedom Projects
Healthy Community Projects
Formative Education Projects
Recent Projects