Our Research
As we at Cardus continue to advance our efforts to better comprehend, reveal, and reflect on our common life, freedom of religion or conscience looms large. This freedom enables us to live fully as we are and are called to be. It bears witness to the fact that we as human beings have a metaphysical need to make sense of our world and to encounter God.
Beyond the legal framings of religious freedom contained in international human rights covenants is a freedom to contemplate who I am: Who I am in relationship to you; who I am in relationship to the created world; and who I am in relationship to God or to a particular philosophy. The ability to freely and both publicly and privately act on that metaphysical need is foundational to our democracy, our common life together, and indeed to our capacity to recognize and actively embrace the dignity each one of us bears. Without the guarantee of this freedom we are no less free in our interior life, but when freedom of religion is threatened or ignored, the living out of our public lives of faith can be undermined, sometimes gravely so.
Cardus Family Program Director Andrea Mrozek's summary of the top five issues surrounding families in Canada this past year.
Jonathan Schwarz and David Sikkink examine if religious school attendance has a direct, independent effect on adults' orientation toward science.
At the heart of the book is the idea that an intimate relationship inescapably exists between biological parent and child.
As Canada is experiencing a demographic shift towards an aging society, the growing demand on natural caregivers will require the mobilization of community support systems. This paper acknowledges the current federal and provincial caregiver policies, then explores innovative international initiatives that build on community connectivity to support natural caregivers and those they care for. The initiatives are consistent with a public health approach and move towards the creation of a culture of care.
A look at the Statistics Canada data pointing to a decline in stay-at-home parents.
The 2016 Cardus Education Survey report is available now. This is the second instalment focusing on Canadian graduates.
As governments and individuals struggle to make informed and well-considered public policy decisions on the issue of healthcare it is becoming increasingly important that they take into account the state of Canadian marriages. Marriage is Good for Your Health examines more than 50 published, empirical studies on the correlation between marital status and health. An overwhelming majority of the studies indicates that married couples are happier, healthier, and live longer than those who are not married. Moreover, there is strong research to back the conclusion that the quality of a marriage is a critical variable in the health benefits that couples enjoy.
One in three of working Canadians said they are dissatisfied with their work-life balance. Yet eighty-five percent said a satisfactory work-life balance is very important to them – so what gives? Canadians' Work-Life Balance is the fifth of five parts in the Canada Family Life project and is based on data from Nanos Research.
Trust, cooperation, and belonging are vital contributors to resilience. How well do understand these dynamics at neighbourhood levels?
Vibrant civic life requires effective balancing of freedom and responsibility at all scales of society. How do we discover and foster this balance?
How do millennial Canadians perceive the role of marriage in family life and its function in society? Canadian Millennials and the Value of Marriage is the fourth of five parts in the Canada Family Life project and is based on data from Nanos Research.
A reform Rabbi writing recently in the New York Times makes this case using the Hebrew Bible as justification. In reality, God transcends gender, responds Rebecca Walberg.
When subsidies go to childcare spaces or centres, rather than directly to parents, these act as a form of soft coercion.
The evidence from studying quotas show neutral or negative results, both for women's advancement and company performance.
Helping families, combating social isolation, building strong communities: It's all in a day's work for Jennifer Francis, executive director of Safe Families Canada. Andrea Mrozek, program director of Cardus Family, talks with her about the charity she founded in Canada, and the needs and challenges they face.
Churches and faith communities of various traditions have a great deal to offer to society and to the common good. Typically, these contributions have focused on qualitative contributions that congregations make to the cultural, spiritual, and social well-being of the communities that surround them. Few studies, however, have assessed these contributions in quantitative monetary terms. Even fewer, qualitative or quantitative, have begun to explore how these realities might create a space for faith communities at the social policy table. Welcome to the Halo Project.
Though seldom sensational, Canada's charitable activities are essential to our civil society. Our charities provide meaning, purpose, and belonging amid the dark labyrinths of alienation that characterize our time.
Canadians place a high value on family. Yet a number of obstacles threaten their ability to achieve the family lives to which they aspire. Nanos Research reveals a number of gaps between Canadians’ realities and their expectations, especially regarding children and child care, the role of marriage, and care for aging parents and the elderly.
Plus: download the Nanos Research data reports and crosstabulations:
CARDUS Fertility Intentions Summary
CARDUS Family Life Summary
CARDUS Caregiving Summary
This brief provides a national snapshot, identifying the gaps in data collection. It then provides short provincial summaries, noting specific provincial budgetary commitments to palliative care and a short review of demographic projections for each province.
This document is a revised version of the Agenda used for the Cardus—Pallium Canada Roundtable held on April 27, 2016, in Ottawa, Canada. It is provided only to provide context for the roundtable summary document.
On April 27, Cardus, in partnership with Pallium Canada, convened an expert multi- disciplinary roundtable focused on the delivery of palliative care in Canada.
Ontario's Ministry of Government and Consumer Services is seeking input and comment on whether to lower the cost of borrowing a payday loan and, if so, what the maximum total cost of borrowing should be. In particular, the government outlined a series of questions intended to guide responses. Here is the Cardus response.
For access to profitability analysis based on interest rates of payday loan providers, click here.
Following a series of meetings, consultations and document reviews over the past two years, Cardus is pleased to release this City Soul context report for the city of Cambridge, Ontario. The Cambridge City Soul project has four objectives: that the City learns more about faith communities; that faith community leaders learn more about city planning; that stronger relationships between both are developed; and that stronger collaboration is explored.