Think Tanks

Local & Regional

• The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies offers “a distinctive Atlantic Canadian voice on public policy regionally, nationally and internationally.”
   
• The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council undertakes specific research and policy analysis in the area of economic issues as they relate to Atlantic Canada.
   
• The Canada West Foundation is “A leading source of strategic insight, conducting and communicating non-partisan economic and public policy research of importance to the four western provinces, the territories, and all Canadians.”
   
• The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is “an independent, Winnipeg-based “think tank”. Our mission is to develop and popularize policy choices that will help Canada’s prairie region live up to its vast but unrealized economic potential.”
   
• The Montreal Economic Institute “participates in debates on Quebec and Canadian public policy by providing wealth-generating solutions, primarily in areas of taxation, regulation, health and education reform.”
   
• The Parkland Institute studies political, economic, social and cultural issues facing Albertans and Canadians, using the perspective of political economy.
   
• The Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy “strives to engage government, business, academia and the non-profit sector to support the exchange of ideas and the development of creative and innovative solutions to the policy challenges of today.”

National

• The Caledon Institute of Social Policy “seeks to inform and influence public opinion and to foster public discussion on poverty and social policy; and develops and promotes concrete, practicable proposals for the reform of social programs at all levels of government and of social benefits provided by employers and the voluntary sector.”
   
• The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives “works to enrich democratic dialogue and ensure Canadians know there are workable solutions to the issues we face.”
   
• The Canadian Council on Social Development develops and promotes progressive social policies “inspired by social justice, equality and empowerment of individuals and communities.”
   
• The Canadian Foundation for the Americas “fosters informed analysis and debate on social, political and economic issues facing the Americas.”
   
• Canadian Policy Research Networks aims to help make Canada a more “just, prosperous and caring society” through research, networking and dissemination, and by providing a neutral space within which open dialogue among all interested parties can take place.”
   
• The Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy is “dedicated to improving the effectiveness of social policy in Canada, to help Canadian communities provide better education and care for their children, and to contribute to capacity-building efforts in developing countries.”
   
• The C.D. Howe Institute “aims to improve Canadian’s standard of living by fostering sound economic and social policy.”
   
• The Centre for Cultural Renewal seeks to “provide a vision of civil society that addresses the fundamental connection between public policy, culture, moral discourse and religious conviction.”
   
• The Centre for Social Justice is “an advocacy organization that seeks to strengthen the struggle for social justice.”
   
• The Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy promotes honest, accountable and constitutional government.
   
• The Commonwealth Centre for e-Governance supports “a world in which traditional notions of government, government transactions and democracy are enhanced and/or reinvented through the deployment of electronic methods.”
   
• The Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs aims to “increase the awareness and understanding of domestic and international issues amongst people in Canada, through open and inclusive discussion, without advocacy or partisanship.”
   
• The Council of Canadians “lobbies Members of Parliament, conducts research, and runs national campaigns aimed at putting some of the country's most important issues into the spotlight.”
   
• Democracy Watch “works with Canadian citizens and organizations in pushing Canadian governments and businesses to empower Canadians in their roles as voters, citizens, taxpayers, consumers and shareholders.”
   
• The Douglas-Coldwell Foundation supports education and research into social democracy.
   
• Equal Voice publicly addresses the issue of women’s under-representation at all levels of government in Canada.
   
• The Fraser Institute promotes market solutions to economic problems in areas such as welfare reform, privatization, taxation, free trade, government debt, education, poverty, deregulation, healthcare, labour markets, economic restructuring, and the role of government.”
   
• The Institute of Intergovernmental Relations (Queens University) supports “research on all aspects of federalism and intergovernmental relations, both in Canada and in countries around the world.”
   
• The Institute of Public Administration of Canada “strives to advance the theory and practice of public management and governance.”
   
• The Institute on Governance promotes effective governance.
   
• The Institute for Citizen-Centred Service supports high levels of citizen satisfaction with public service delivery.
   
• The Institute for Research on Public Policy “aims to enhance the quality of the debate on the issues that matter most to Canadians by focusing on the strategic choices they must make to promote economic performance, social progress, and sound democratic governance.”
   
• The Mackenzie Institute adheres to the belief that our liberal democratic tradition must be fostered and safeguarded.
   
• The Monarchist League of Canada supports “the full expression and better understanding of the benefits of Constitutional Monarchy to Canada.”
   
• The National Citizens’ Coalition is “Canada’s foremost organization for the defence of our basic political and economic freedoms.”
   
• The Public Policy Forum “strives for excellence in government – to serve as a neutral, independent forum for open dialogue on public policy, and to encourage reform in public sector management.”
   
• The Parliamentary Centre works to improve “the effectiveness of representative assemblies and governance mechanisms in Canada and around the world.”
   
• The Pearson-Shoyama Institute for Inclusive Policy Development is “devoted to facilitating the involvement of a wider cross-section of Canadians in the development of public and private sector policy.” 
   
• The Polaris Institute seeks to enable citizen movements to re-skill and re-tool themselves to fight for democratic social change “in an age of corporate driven globalization.”
   
• The Policy Research Initiative “conducts research in support of the Government of Canada’s medium term agenda.”
   
• The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation works to “help policy-makers and practitioners identify social policies and programs that improve the well-being of all Canadians, with a special concern for the effects on the disadvantaged, and to raise the standards of evidence that are used in assessing social policies and programs.”
   
• The St. Lawrence Institute aims to “promote public debate, in the highest sense of the term, and counter the misinformation and manipulation of public opinion that occur in culture, politics and education.”
   
• The Tommy Douglas Research Institute is an independent non-profit Canadian economic and social research and education organization that aims to redirect public attention to the respective role of both the large business sector and governments in providing for the well-being of Canadians.
   
• Vive le Canada is a web-based organization dedicated to involving Canadians in “grassroots efforts to protect and improve Canadian sovereignties and democracy,” especially using existing and emerging communications tools.

International

• The African Union
   
• The Arab League
   
• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
   
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
   
• The Commonwealth of Independent States
   
• The Commonwealth Secretariat
   
• The Council of Europe
   
• The European Free Trade Association
   
• The European Union
   
• Group of 7
   
• Group of 20
   
• Group of 77
   
• The Gulf Cooperation Council
   
• The International Court of Justice
   
• The International Criminal Court
   
• The International Monetary Fund
   
• The Non-Aligned Movement
   
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (now Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement)
   
• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
   
• The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
   
• The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
   
• The Organization of American States
   
• The Southern African Development Community
   
• The Union of South American Nations
   
• The United Nations
   
• The United Nations System of Organizations: The official web directory of the United Nations bureaucracy; Includes alphabetic lists, theme lists, centres and charts.
   
• The Western European Union
   
• The World Trade Organization

For a comprehensive listing of international governmental and non-governmental organizations please see:

• International Agencies and Information on the Web is a list of Web sites by name of the organization (from the University of Michigan Documents Center).