November 18, 2016 OTTAWA—Cardus unequivocally condemns the expressions of hatred that have appeared recently through graffiti in several places within Canada, including in Ottawa and Montreal. The appearance of swastikas and other hateful messages targeting synagogues, as well as a church and a mosque, have no place in Canadian society. These incidents run counter to the message that Cardus tries to underline each day through its Faith in Canada 150 program—that faith has always had a positive place in Canadian public life and will continue to do so well past the 150th anniversary of Confederation. We extend our heartfelt support and encouragement to the faith communities that have been shocked and saddened by the recent expressions of hatred. -30- About Cardus Cardus is a think tank dedicated to the renewal of North American social architecture. It conducts independent and original research, produces several periodicals, and regularly stages events with Senior Fellows and interested constituents across Canada and the U.S. To learn more, visit: www.cardus.ca and follow us on Twitter @cardusca. About Faith in Canada 150 Faith in Canada 150 is a program of Cardus that exists to celebrate the role of faith in our life together during Canada's anniversary celebrations in 2017. For more than 450 years, faith has shaped the human landscape of Canada. It has shaped how we live our lives, how we see our neighbours, how we fulfill our social responsibilities, and how we imagine our life together. To learn more, visit: faithincanada150.ca/about MEDIA INQUIRIES Daniel Proussalidis Cardus - Director of Communications 613.241.4500 x.508 dproussalidis@cardus.ca 905-528-8866

STERLING LEGAL MINDS EXPLORE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ISSUES IN NEW BOOK Cardus hosts official release of newly published compilation Religious Freedom and Communities. November 17, 2016 OTTAWA – – Dr. Dwight Newman, who is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Rights in Constitutional and International Law and a University of Saskatchewan law professor, has gathered together the writings of some of Canada’s top legal minds for a fresh examination of religious freedom issues. The result is Religious Freedom and Communities, a new book that takes a fresh look at some of the most vexing issues that have found their way into Canada’s courtrooms. More than a dozen authors have contributed to this rich compilation, including retired Supreme Court Justice Louis LeBel who highlights the collective aspects of religious freedom. Law professors Carissima Mathen and Michael Plaxton dive into the controversy over Trinity Western University’s effort to open a law school amid questions about LGBTQ rights. Newman himself explores religious freedom as it relates to Canada’s Indigenous communities. “Religion is a vital part of the lives not only of individuals, but of communities as well,” says Newman in the new book. “Religious freedom jurisprudence needs to continue to recognize this reality effectively through strong protections even in the context of challenging questions.” Religious Freedom and Communities was officially released at the Ottawa office of Cardus during a panel discussion on the issue of religious freedom. The book is available through the LexisNexis Online Store. -30- About Cardus Cardus is a think tank dedicated to the renewal of North American social architecture. It conducts independent and original research, produces several periodicals, and regularly stages events with Senior Fellows and interested constituents across Canada and the U.S. To learn more, visit: www.cardus.ca and follow us on Twitter @cardusca. MEDIA INQUIRIES Daniel Proussalidis Cardus - Director of Communications 613.241.4500 x.508 dproussalidis@cardus.ca

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October 25, 2016 HAMILTON – Cardus welcomes a report by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) calling for better consumer education about payday loan costs. The issue is especially important given that the FCAC found Canadian households’ use of these high-cost loans doubled between 2009 and 2014. However, consumer education alone will not solve the issue. “The FCAC’s focus on educating Canadian consumers about payday loan costs is laudable,” says Brian Dijkema, Cardus Program Director of Work and Economics. “But that will make a limited difference since many payday loan users are in desperate situations and financial alternatives simply aren’t available to them.”. The Cardus report Banking on the Margins shows practical measures can help consumers: Reforming the payday loan industry. Colorado passed a law in 2010 that required all loans to be repayable over at least six months, established a new fee structure, and provided consumers the ability to pay back loans early without penalty. With more-affordable payments, borrowers’ risk of falling into a cycle of repeat borrowing is significantly reduced. Municipalities can freely promote and encourage low-cost microfinance alternatives that are often available through community organizations. Governments, community foundations, churches, or charitable organizations could help decrease the risk for financial institutions to make small-dollar loans available by offering funds to backstop loan losses or by providing market-based incentives for new alternatives. While there is no silver bullet for the problems associated with payday loans, there are ways to help consumers. Action and collaboration among governments, banks, credit unions, and community groups would go a long way toward developing new and innovative small-dollar credit products. To arrange an interview with Brian Dijkema, contact Daniel Proussalidis, Director of Communications. -30- About Cardus Cardus is a think tank dedicated to the renewal of North American social architecture. It conducts independent and original research, produces several periodicals, and regularly stages events with Senior Fellows and interested constituents across Canada and the U.S. To learn more, visit: www.cardus.ca and follow us on Twitter @cardusca. MEDIA INQUIRIES Daniel Proussalidis Cardus - Director of Communications 613.241.4500 x.508 dproussalidis@cardus.ca 905-528-8866

HAMILTON, October 11, 2016—As debate rages across Canada over the role of independent schools within the public education system, major think tank Cardus has released its latest national education survey. "The Cardus Education Survey (CES) is the only national survey commenting on the contribution of graduates from religious and independent schools to the public life of the nation," says Dr. Beth Green, program director of Cardus Education. CES 2016 confirmed findings from 2012 that undermine the stereotype that public school graduates are more civically minded than those from independent schools. "Public and separate Catholic school graduates are less likely than evangelical Protestant, Catholic independent, and nonreligious independent school graduates to feel responsible for helping those in need," says Dr. Green. "The data indicate that public school graduates are also less willing than evangelical Protestant and nonreligious independent school graduates to give blood, volunteer, and to donate to charity." Dr. Green adds that the latest survey shows educational diversity and encouraging a role for independent schools within the public education system would benefit Canadian society as a whole. CES 2016 surveyed graduates from 968 public schools and 359 independent schools earlier this year. To arrange an interview with Dr. Beth Green, contact Daniel Proussalidis, Director of Communications. Get the full report at www.cardus.ca/education. Download the media backgrounder at this link. -30- About Cardus Cardus is a think tank dedicated to the renewal of North American social architecture. It conducts independent and original research, produces several periodicals, and regularly stages events with Senior Fellows and interested constituents across Canada and the U.S. To learn more, visit: www.cardus.ca and follow us on Twitter @cardusca. CONTACT INFORMATION Daniel Proussalidis Cardus - Director of Communications 613.241.4500 x.508 dproussalidis@cardus.ca 905-528-8866

FIVE REASONS WHY MARRIAGE IS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE OTTAWA, September 29, 2016—Marriage is a private choice in Canada, but a new Cardus report indicates that it also has very public consequences for our universal, taxpayer-funded healthcare system. Marriage is Good for your Health reviews 50 published, empirical medical studies that have established a correlation between marital status and health. In fact, the research indicates that a happy marriage provides five main health benefits to adults, compared to those who are single, co-habiting, divorced, separated, or widowed: A 20 percent increase in cancer survival rates Reduced chances of a heart attack and improved surgical recovery rates Improved mental health Healthier lifestyles and habits Better responses to psychological stress With cancer, heart disease, and stroke estimated to cost Canadians in excess of $43 billion annually, reversing the declining participation in marriage has the potential to save scarce public healthcare resources. As such, there is a public interest in preventing the failure of marriages and helping couples overcome conflict. And if the medical community took marital status into account in treating patients, they could target extra support to unmarried individuals to improve their health outcomes. Quotes "If marriage was a pill, we would be clamouring for it." —Susan Martinuk, Author - Marriage is Good for your Health "The science is clear that marriage confers tangible health benefits to individuals and that the failure of marriages takes those benefits away. Our public healthcare system can't afford to ignore this reality." —Andrea Mrozek - Cardus Family Program Director To arrange for interviews, contact Daniel Proussalidis, Director of Communications. Get the full report at www.cardus.ca/family and learn about marriage and health here. -30- About Cardus Cardus is a think tank dedicated to the renewal of North American social architecture. It conducts independent and original research, produces several periodicals, and regularly stages events with Senior Fellows and interested constituents across Canada and the U.S. To learn more, visit: www.cardus.ca and follow us on Twitter @cardusca. CONTACT INFORMATION Daniel Proussalidis Cardus - Director of Communications 613.241.4500 x.508 dproussalidis@cardus.ca 905-528-8866

HAMILTON, September 14, 2016—The consortium of Canadian universities that just lobbied Ottawa for $900 million in funding is poised to expel smaller schools unless they accept membership changes that violate human rights law, Convivium magazine reports. In a story posted today on its website, the magazine says Universities Canada is set to vote in October on amendments to its governing bylaws that could lead to the expulsion of faith-based institutions across the country. The proposed new rules were approved by Universities Canada's board of directors in June. Presidents of Canadian post-secondary institutions have until this week to respond. Michael Van Pelt, president of the think tank Cardus that publishes Convivium, said he felt it was important to go public with the story before the decision is made quietly behind closed doors by the country's university presidents and senior administrators. "This kind of thing must be a matter of public debate and scrutiny," Van Pelt said. "Some issues it involves are already before the courts, and in one case are almost certainly going to the Supreme Court of Canada. Universities Canada needs to explain why it's so eager to decide them behind closed doors before Canada's highest court even gets to hear the arguments." Van Pelt appeared on the Evan Solomon radio show in Ottawa today to talk about the story. He went public only hours after the Hill Times newspaper reported on Universities Canada's successful two-year lobbying campaign with the previous Conservative government to get a $900 million research pot. Part of the pitch in the lobbying effort, the Hill Times reported, was the pitch that smaller schools would benefit from the funding announced last week. But while that promise was being held out, Convivium says, Universities Canada officials were putting the finishing touches on a non-discrimination clause in their bylaws that would force faith-based schools such as B.C.'s Trinity Western University to scrap their community covenants under which students and staff agree to live according to Christian moral standards. The rule changes would prohibit dismissal of employees who disavow an institution's Christian character. Documents obtained by Convivium make clear that schools wishing to remain part of Universities Canada must abide by the provision whether or not "exemptions would otherwise be permitted under Applicable Human Rights Law." "Universities Canada says it is a voluntary organization and at the same time bills itself as the voice of Canadian universities," Van Pelt said. "Right now, it seems to be acting more like a private club using the pretext of non-discrimination to exclude those whom some members dislike. Anyone who cares about academic freedom and religious freedom has to be concerned." -30-

OTTAWA, September 2, 2016—Labour Day marks the end of summer holidays and a return to school and work. It's a busy time and new poll results show that Canadians feel this. In a recent Nanos Research poll about one in three (30%) of working Canadians said they are dissatisfied with their work-life balance. Eighty-five percent of respondents said a satisfactory work-life balance is very important to them. That said, only 21% of survey respondents believe that we as a society do a very good job of promoting good work-life balance. Canadians cited an array of challenges in finding the right work-life balance: Work pressure to do longer hours and bring more work home (22%) Financial insecurity (19%) Not enough time with family (16%) Commute and travel time to and from work (5%) Health issues (4%) Want to work more (2%) Cannot find good childcare (1%) It's worth noting that 13% of Canadians had no challenges, and 70 percent of Canadians are satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their work-life balance. Solutions are hard to come by. Canadians cited a desire to work less and earn more. About 18% of respondents suggested shorter workdays, more time off or flexible hours. About 12% indicated that lower income tax and lower taxes in general would be helpful. And one in ten respondents suggested an increase in wages or an increase in the mandatory minimum wage. Only a small percentage (5%) thought the expansion of parental leave or more flexible parental leave would help. "When we ask about work-life balance, Canadians are obviously feeling a tension between work and home life," says Cardus Senior Researcher Peter Jon Mitchell. "While hard to get at in a poll, there are deeper questions here about how we view work and our vocations as citizens, mothers, fathers and community members. As a result, solutions are also difficult to come by, but worth discussing on the part of private citizens and government." This release is the fifth of five releases as part of the Canada Family Life Project. For the full release, click here. --30-- Cardus Family aims to create a larger body of Canadian family research to show the importance of family to building civil society. We aim to bring existing experienced and reliable academic and think-tank voices together in a healthy discussion. And finally, Cardus Family aims to help create a renewed and informed interest in the strength of the Canadian family for our communities and country amongst decision makers, media and the general public.

HAMILTON, June 16, 2016—A study of the economic effects of 10 Toronto-area religious congregations finds they contribute services valued at more than $45 million to their surrounding communities every year. The study, Valuing Toronto's Faith Congregations, was published today by Cardus, an Ontario-based public policy think tank. "This clearly shows that faith-based groups generate substantial and measurable value for local neighbourhoods. And while this initial study looks only at congregations in Toronto, it's reasonable to expect the findings are applicable to congregations across Canada," said Milton Friesen, Senior Fellow and Social Cities Program Director at Cardus. "The value of religious congregations to the wider community is somewhere in the order of four to five times of a congregation's annual operating budget. For example, if you removed a congregation with a $250,000 annual budget, the very conservative estimates of the study suggest you would need about $1.2 million every year to sustain their economic contribution to the community." Valuing Toronto's Faith Congregations examined 10 Toronto-area congregations: Portico (Pentecostal), University Presbyterian Church, Taric Islamic Centre, St. Andrew's United Church, Masjid Islamic Centre, All Saints Parish and Community Centre (Anglican), Flemingdon Park Ministries (Anglican), Woodbine Heights Baptist Church, Metropolitan Community Church, and Kingston Road United Church. The research approach and methodology builds on work done by Dr. Ram Cnaan at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy in 2010 but adapts the methodology for the Canadian experience. For the Toronto version, researchers examined a matrix of 41 common economic and market measures broken into seven categories: open space, direct spending, education, magnet effect, individual impacts, community development, and social capital and care. Alongside clear direct spending such as operational budgets and capital projects, and the magnet effect which looks at money spent in a community by congregation members or others attending events (services, weddings, funerals) held at the congregation site, the study dug into other specific, less tangible variables such as availability of garden plots, children's play structures, playing fields, parking, nursery schools and day cares, assistance to refugees and new immigrants, treating substance abuse, youth programs, counselling, housing initiatives, social programs, and volunteerism. "We used established economic indicators such as those used in placing a value on a local hockey tournament. We wanted to know what would happen if a local congregation and all the economic and quality of life contributions it represented suddenly disappeared. What we found was that the loss to the community would be considerable," Friesen said. The study concludes that far from being a drain on local municipalities, faith-based congregations provide critical support for existing municipal investments and are an essential part of healthy, functioning communities. "This is not simply an evaluation of the fixed worth of the respective churches; it's the early development of a tool that can identify what may have been previously hidden economic contributions made by local faith communities. This will help city planners and elected officials when it comes to making decisions on land use development and civic expenditures; they can eliminate duplication of services and seek more creative partnerships with faith communities and other institutions to better serve all community residents," Friesen said. This is the first in a series of studies to measure the value provided by faith-based congregations. In Phase 2 of the project, Cardus will expand the study to include 50 faith-based groups across the Greater Toronto Area. Free copies of the report are available: http://www.haloproject.ca --30-- Media Contact: Milton Friesen Cardus Program Director, Social Cities Phone: 905-528-8866 x124 Cell: 289-880-2200 mfriesen@cardus.ca