Non-profit

Fraser Institute

Tax ID:

98-0032427

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2019):

Revenue: $8,506,433
Expenses: $8,506,100
Assets: $8,773,197

Website:

fraserinstitute.org

Location:

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Formation:

1976

Type:

Non-Profit

Executive President:

Niels Veldhuis

Executive President's Salary:

$218,720 1

References

  1. The Fraser Institute, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.

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The Fraser Institute is a non-partisan public policy think tank based in Vancouver, Canada. The Fraser Institute intends to improve the quality of life for Canadians by producing research and policy recommendations on issues like taxation, health care, education, economic freedom, natural resources, and the environment. 1

The Fraser Institute is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of free-market state-level policy organizations. 2

Activity

The Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of North America 2021 uses data from 2019 to analyze the effect of policy and regulations on the economic freedom of individual provinces in Canada and states in the U.S. and Mexico. The report concludes that economic freedom has increased in both the U.S. and Mexico, while Canada has been in decline. The Institute points to independent research that claims increases in economic freedom support economic growth, entrepreneurship, lower unemployment, and reduced poverty. 3

The Fraser Institute advocates for reform of Canada’s health care system based on Canada’s welfare reforms from the 1990s, which led to substantial policy innovation and reform in individual provinces. The Institute supports using a similar methodology, which would decentralize Canada’s health care system, allowing provinces to regulate provisions relevant to their residents, while the federal government permitted the provinces maximum flexibility in creating these regulations. 4

The Fraser Institute claims that raising the minimum wage in Canada will not reduce poverty. In an October 2021 paper, the Institute shows that the majority of Canadian minimum-wage earners do not live in low-income households and are between the ages of 15 and 24. The report claims that for many young people, minimum-wage jobs will ultimately lead to higher paying jobs. 5

Funding

The Fraser Institute is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. The Fraser Institute discloses some of its donors in its annual reports and tax filings confirm donations from the Lilly Endowment ($300,000 in 2016), 6 the Charles Koch Foundation ($150,000 in 2017), 7 and the John Templeton Foundation ($210,571 in 2019). 8

People

Staff

Niels Veldhuis is the president of the Fraser institute and the co-director of the Center for U.S. and Canada at the Atlas Network. 9

Jason Clemens is the executive vice president of the Fraser Institute and the president of the Fraser Institute Foundation. Clemens formerly worked as the director of research at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and at the Pacific Research Institute. 10

Elmira Aliakbari is the director of the Fraser Institute’s Centre for Natural Resource Studies. Aliakbari formerly worked as the director of research, energy, ecology and prosperity at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. 11

Steve Lafleur is a senior policy analyst at the Institute and a former senior policy analyst at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. 12

Paige MacPherson is the associate director of education policy. MacPherson formerly worked as the Atlantic Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and as a communications officer for the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. 13

Alex Whalen is a policy analyst at the Institute and the former vice president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. 14

Board of Directors

Peter Brown serves as the chair of the board of the Fraser Institute and on the board of the Business Council of British Columbia. Brown is a former member of the Finance Ministry’s Economic Advisory Council. 15

Alex Chafuen is the international managing director of the Acton Institute, president and founder of the Hispanic American Center of Economic Research, and the former president and CEO of the Atlas Network. 16

Derwood Chase is the president of the Chase Foundation of Virginia, a trustee of the Reason Foundation, and sits on the board of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy. 17

Geoffrey Cumming is a former governor at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. 18

Paul Hill sits on the board of the C.D. Howe Institute. 19

Eleanor Nicholls sits on the board of the Canadian Freedom Institute. 20

Catherine Swift is the president and CEO of Working Canadians and formerly served on the board of the C.D. Howe Institute. 21

Michael A. Walker is a co-founder, former executive director, and honorary member of the board. 22

Patrick Boyle is a co-founder and honorary chairman of the board for life. 23

References

  1. “About.” Fraser Institute, 2021. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/about.
  2. “The Network.” State Policy Network, 2021. Accessed November 3, 2021. https://spn.org/directory/.
  3. Stansel, Dean, Torra, Jose, and McMahon, Fred. “Economic Freedom of North America 2021.” Fraser Institute, November 16, 2021. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/economic-freedom-of-north-america-2021.
  4. Lafluer, Steve, Li, Nathaniel, Eisen, Ben, and Clemens, Jason. “Less Ottawa, More Province, 2021: How Decentralized Federalism is Key to Health Care Reform.” Fraser Institute, October 19, 2021. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/less-ottawa-more-province-2021.
  5. Eisen, Ben and Palacios, Milagros. “Who Earns the Minimum Wage in Canada?” Fraser Institute, October 19, 2021. Accessed October 28, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/who-earns-the-minimum-wage-in-canada.
  6. [1] Lilly Endowment Inc, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2016, Part XV, Line 3a.
  7. Charles Koch Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV, Line 3a.
  8.  John Templeton Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2019, Part XV, Line 3a.
  9. “Niels Veldhuis.” LinkedIn, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nielsveldhuis/.
  10. “Jason Clemens.” Fraser Institute, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/profile/jason-clemens.
  11. “Elmira Aliakbari.” Fraser Institute, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/profile/elmira-aliakbari.
  12. “Steve LaFleur.” Fraser Institute, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/profile/steve-lafleur.
  13. “Paige MacPherson.” Fraser Institute, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/profile/paige-macpherson.
  14. “Alex Whalen.” Fraser Institute, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/profile/alex-whalen.
  15. “Current Positions.” Peter M. Brown. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://peterbrowncapital.com/current-positions/.
  16. [1] “Alejandro A. Chafuen, PhD.” Acton Institute, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.acton.org/about/staff/alejandro-chafuen.
  17. “Derwood S. Chase, Jr.” Virginia Institute for Public Policy, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://virginiainstitute.org/leaders/board/derwood-s-chase-jr/.
  18. “Geoffrey Cumming.” Alberta Business Hall of Fame, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://south.abhf.ca/laureates/inductees/geoff-cumming.html.
  19. “Paul Hill.” The Wilson Center. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/paul-hill.
  20. “Eleanor Nicholls.” Canadian Freedom Institute, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://canadianfreedominstitute.com/people/eleanor-nicholls/.
  21. Swift, Catherine. “Ontario’s aging population comes home to roost.” The Niagara Independent, November 12, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://niagaraindependent.ca/ontarios-aging-population-comes-home-to-roost/.
  22. “Board of Directors.” Fraser Institute, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/about/directors.
  23. “Board of Directors.” Fraser Institute, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/about/directors.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: August 1, 1976

  • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2019 Dec Form 990 $8,506,433 $8,506,100 $8,773,197 $7,632,456 N $7,676,112 $0 $180,128 $457,090 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $9,845,008 $8,473,342 $7,326,576 $6,199,769 N $7,436,772 $0 $114,541 $483,214 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $7,982,930 $8,008,925 $6,418,861 $5,284,671 N $6,950,011 $0 $63,795 $548,144
    2016 Dec Form 990 $7,609,952 $7,650,798 $5,221,305 $4,136,477 N $7,008,117 $0 $52,846 $525,607
    2015 Dec Form 990 $7,668,859 $7,539,367 $5,556,585 $4,465,030 N $6,346,588 $0 $61,820 $513,832 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $11,369,260 $11,214,432 $6,043,138 $4,712,496 N $10,371,720 $0 $88,680 $736,595 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $8,505,378 $8,390,389 $4,593,175 $3,417,361 N $7,362,993 $0 $58,043 $769,883 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $10,177,439 $10,182,941 $4,606,392 $3,545,568 N $8,590,635 $0 $45,514 $1,075,261 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $9,694,821 $9,654,094 $5,132,690 $4,096,566 N $8,766,022 $0 $48,875 $2,250,066 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)