Institute for Research on Public Policy

The Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) is one of Canada's oldest nonpartisan public policy think tanks. It is an independent, national, bilingual, not-for-profit organization. The IRPP’s inception was sparked by a proposal by prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau in 1968 for the establishment of an “independent and autonomous” institute for public policy research, whose work would be “available to all governments.”

The Institute was founded in 1972 and is based in Montreal. Graham Fox is the current President and CEO, and Graham W.S. Scott is the current Chair of the Board of Directors. The IRPP publishes Policy Options magazine, currently edited by Jennifer Ditchburn; IRPP Studies; IRPP Insights; and Policy Horizons. In addition, the IRPP initiates and publishes peer-reviewed research, and organizes policy-focused conferences, roundtables, and events.

The IRPP has been described as an “information broker.” The IRPP attempts to broker pertinent policy research between expert researchers, and policy makers and the “educated lay public.” The Institute does not have a large in-house research force, due in part to budget limitations but also because the IRPP is not an issue-specific think tank: it shifts its research foci based on perceived contemporary policy gaps. Although the IRPP actively sought research commissions in its early days, the Board of Directors decided in 1991 that such external commissions compromised research independence and took a stance against them.

The IRPP’s current research agenda is focused on three central issues, according to the Institute’s website: the aging of Canada’s population, its growing diversity and pluralism, and the impact on the Canadian economy of rapidly changing patterns of global trade and production.

The IRPP is financed by an endowment fund, to which federal and provincial governments and the private sector contributed in the early 1970s. The IRPP is a registered charity under the Income Tax Act, and is incorporated under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act.

IRPP’s stated mission is to “improve public policy in Canada by generating research, providing insight and informing debate on current and emerging policy issues facing Canadians and their governments.”