RESEARCH
Selected Publications
Long COVID: Episodic Disability and Labour Force Participation
Published in partnership with the Long COVID Episodic Disability study team (University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and international partners) and Habitus Consulting Collective, this paper highlights 13 calls to action for governments, employers, benefit providers, HR professionals, and insurers to create conditions that facilitate better outcomes for people living with Long COVID and their employers.
Levelling Up: The Quest for Digital Literacy (2018) is a landscape map of digital literacy education and training in Canada that breaks down the barriers learners face as they navigate the system; and gaps in programming and supports, particularly for marginalized and underserved groups. It has been used as a resource by municipal and provincial governments, non-profit service providers, libraries, technology advocates, and educators to inform digital skill development policies and programs and on the curriculum at several universities.
Plugging In: Empowering Communities to Ensure Digital Literacy Access to Youth (2020) is the final report for the Brookfield Institute’s Digital Literacy + Coding Pilot. The pilot tested a flexible, scalable model for delivering effective and accessible digital literacy and coding education in after-school settings, in partnership with youth-serving community organizations across Ontario. This report shares what we learned about designing, implementing, and testing informal community-based digital literacy programming for youth who are underserved by or barriered in accessing more formal, for-fee, and/or BYOT programs.
Mapping Toronto’s Digital Divide (2021)
The digital divide in Canada is often described as an urban-rural divide. However, overall rates can mask critical dimensions of the divide in cities — who is not connected and why, and whether access is sufficient and affordable. This report analyzes home internet and device access in Toronto, as well as quality, affordability, and usage, during pandemic closures of businesses, schools, and community organizations. It received front page Toronto Star coverage and was used by the municipal government to design the ConnectTO program.
The Policymaker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2019-2020)
This interview series paired speculative writers with researchers in conversations on the future of work and the economy, exploring the role of science fiction in the policy imaginary. It lives on as a lecture and a speculative writing workshop for policymakers and public policy students.
A Portrait of Creative Entrepreneurship and the Creative Economy in Canada (2020)
Creative entrepreneurs and creative workers are a vital and vibrant component of Canada’s economy, from solo-production crafters, muralists, tattoo artists, and illustrators to internationally-competitive companies in video games, animation, VR, software, film, and the world of dance, theatre, and galleries. This report looks at the role of the creative sector in Canada’s innovation economy, demographic analysis of workers and entrepreneurs, and pandemic-related shifts to the virtual.
Who Are Canada’s Tech Workers? (2019)
Canada’s tech workers span the country, working both in and out of the tech sector. This report offers a new methodology to identify Canada’s tech workers based on skills used on the job, and provides a unique demographic analysis including age, ethnicity, education, gender, and location.
Conceptual framework of episodic disability in the context of Long COVID: Findings from a community-engaged international qualitative study (PLOS ONE, 2024)
Is Canada’s workforce ready to deal with ‘Long COVID’? (First Policy Response, 2020)
Creative entrepreneurship in the era of physical distancing? (Brookfield Institute, 2020)
Invisible labour and tangible risk (This Magazine, 2020)
Anything but static: Risk of COVID-19 to workers in Canada (Brookfield Institute, 2020)
Imagining a more equitable future of work (Brookfield Institute, 2020)
Close encounters of the creative kind: a guide to experimental approaches to policy research and knowledge translation (Brookfield Institute, 2020)
An economist, a futurist, and a designer walk into a research institute (Brookfield Institute, 2020)
Moving in and out of the public service shouldn’t be so hard (Policy Options, 2019)
Intro to AI for policymakers (2018)
10 tips for building supportive government fellowship programs - and convincing people to stay (CPS Renewal, 2017)
Against office homonationalism (Medium, 2017)
Open government and the 2.0 model of engaged citizenship (University of Ottawa, 2014)