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The article discusses the key issues regarding the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) policies on increasing the economic well-being of Canadians that was presented through four papers. The first paper examines the impact of universities on the living standards in Canada. Labor and well-being are discussed in the second paper. The third paper tackles on the new social policy, based on the importance of human capital. The last paper focuses on adult benefits.

The North American Agreement on Free Trade (NAFTA) has stirred passionate debates in Canada. Proponents predicted that increased trade liberalization would create more jobs, greater multinational investment, and an overall better standard of living. Opponents, however argued that NAFTA would lead to wage cuts, job losses, the erosion of labor standards, and the ha harmonization of labor laws to the lowest common denominator. I systematically examined the evidence and found that with some exceptions, the predicted negative effects have not materialized. Furthermore, the NAFTA labor side agreement has enjoyed moderate success in bringing labor concerns to the fore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]