Team project

In anticipation of the Major Team Project, the Program Director will assign you to a team. The PS 622 Course Instructor will provide general direction to all teams during the project term, and each team will be assigned to a faculty member or external consultant, who will serve as their Project Advisor. Following specifications provided to students, teams will develop a project proposal, including a detailed breakdown of the work to be undertaken by each member, which will be approved by the Project Advisor, in consultation with the Course Instructor.

Your team will coordinate work tasks, keep a record of individual contributions to the project and produce a professional, thorough analysis which demonstrates the knowledge and skills you have acquired in the program. The MPS program will also facilitate team collaboration by providing access to web-based communication. Upon completion, the Project Advisor will evaluate the project and determine a final grade, in consultation with the Course Instructor and/or Program Director.

Major Team Project examples

2012 - An Exploration of Priority Care for Rural Ontario’s Seniors (Matthew Johnson, Kayla McKinnon, Brady Olsen, Amy Ross)

Primary health care disparities exist between rural and urban Ontario Seniors. This policy paper uses multivariate analysis to evaluate “Communities in Need”, and outlines a Rural Seniors Health Program to adequately address the aging population's individual needs. These findings could provide relief to some sustainability challenges faced by Ontario's Health Care System.

2013 - An Analysis of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline (Amika Balram, Amisha Patel, Jassamine Tabibi, Shikha Vyas)

In completing an analysis of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project, economic and environmental impacts as well as First Nations issues regarding the pipeline were considered. A cost-benefit analysis was also undertaken in order to make a recommendation as to whether or not the project should be carried out.

2013 - Economic Development in the Greater Toronto Area (Megan Bross, Kyle Deslippe, Tiffany Hudson, Cohen Langerak, Liz Reid)

In order to combat globalization challenges, this project recommends that the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) establish an Investment Promotion Agency (IPA). An IPA would assist the GTA in benefiting from its varied cultural base, promote sustainable economic development, as well as provide other economic benefits.

2013 - International Education and Skilled Immigration in Canada (Thomas Barakat, Mir Islam, Andrea Peebles, Daniel Prelipcean, Jianming Yao)

This project assesses the feasibility of a policy option to double the number of students in Canada by 2022, through a focus on international student and skilled migration issues.

2013 - Municipal Design and Transportation Policy Framework for an Age-Friendly Ontario (Stella Choi, Amanda Leigh, Masooda Mehdizada, Wishnu Bagoes Oka, Abeer Rahman)

Age-friendly communities are designed to meet the needs of all citizens at different stages of life. The project objective is to receive support from ministries to develop a working committee to address growing demands from an aging senior population, in areas such as the physical environment, societal participation, and aging-in-place.

2013 - Should the Region of Waterloo be amalgamated into a single-tier municipality?(Ashley Dean, Jessica Low, Daniela Niculas, Matt Smith)

The project aims to understand the barriers to amalgamation of the Region into one tier of government through careful review of previous studies, polls, and government documents covering the topic, analysis of local cases in which amalgamation has occurred, as well as through interviews with employees within the Region.

2013 - Social Impact Bonds - Funding innovative results-based social initiatives to advance the public good (Jennifer Cao, Keith Chau, Belqies Hamidzada, Janet Im)

The Social Impact Bond (SIB) model modifies the traditional relationships between government and social initiative providers and introduces additional actors: the private investor, intermediary, and evaluator. This project recommends that Canada implements SIBs in four key areas: absolute homelessness, youth recidivism, Aboriginal education and skills development, and Canadian foreign aid.

2014 – Managing Multiple Chronic Diseases in Ontario (Amanda Berg, Lee Chandler, Emily Hay, Robert Nyman)

This briefing book offers an overview of the issue of multiple chronic diseases, its prevalence in and economic impact on Ontario, and how those suffering from multiple chronic diseases are a small, yet significant portion of the population. The briefing book reviews the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's (MOHLTC) current framework and subsequent initiatives that are being implemented to respond to the increasingly important demands of those facing a chronic illness.

2014 – Examining the gap between TCHC’s Eviction Prevention Policy and Practice (Sasha Afzal, Satinder Banwait, Vinothini Kajendran, Mythragi Mailvaganam, Sohaeb Raashid)

Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), Canada’s largest social housing provider has been under scrutiny for failing to implement their Eviction Prevention Policy for Rent Arrears, as documented in the reports by Justice Patrick LeSage in 2010 and Ombudsman Fiona Crean in 2013. The mandate of this report is to make recommendations to the Toronto City Manager, Joseph Pennachetti, to help prevent evictions of vulnerable tenants at TCHC.

2014 – Smart Growth Implementation Report (Aishah Butt, Khanh Dang, John Johnston, Joshua Murray)

Toronto has taken early steps to begin implementing Smart Growth strategies to combat sprawl. The objective of this report is provide support for City of Toronto’s Smart Growth, through evidence-based research and recommendations. The Team has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of sprawl and Smart Growth to highlight the cost-savings of curbing sprawling development.

2014 – Enabling Governments to Plan, Prepare, and Recover from Tropical Cyclones (Jeff Bunn, Melanie Goodfellow, Amy Jazienicki, Jessica Muller, Jessica Wu)

Every nation affected by natural disasters must be equipped with the technical knowledge, political will, and humanitarian compassion to deliver effective emergency management responses that mitigate the risks of loss of life, financial destabilization, and structural damage. Our comparative examination of five tropical cyclone case studies provides the empirical foundation required to critically assess local, regional, national, and international responses to impending and subsequent issues inflicted by such a disaster.

2014 – An Investigative Study of Deaf Education in Ontario (Adwoa Alorse, Jigme Duntak, Rachel Skinner, Matthew Stancek, Jerry Xue)

This paper seeks to answer the following question: what approach to deaf education returns the best results for deaf students? An in-depth literature review of deaf education in Ontario and around the world helps determine the effectiveness of three main approaches to deaf education in mainstream and residential school settings: Auditory-Verbal (AV), Sign (Visual) Language (SL), and d/Deaf Bilingual-Bicultural (dBiBi).

2014 – The Canadian Skills Gap (Zenia Ferreira, Alexa Maxwell, Elizabeth Phillips, Julia Turkheim, Jessie Xiong)

This report examines the current and projected labour market information to determine that while the possibility of a skills gap is not widely apparent, it is necessary for the Government to take actions towards strengthening the national economy and labour market by ensuring Canada has a responsive and skilled working population. An overview of government, private sector and non-government organization (NGO) stakeholders explores what initiatives are currently in place to support Canada’s labour force and identifies the need for more skills development training, continued support for private sector industries and increased attention to the call for more detailed and informative labour market indicators and data.

2014 – Improving Rail Transit Infrastructure along the Kitchener-Toronto (KiTo) Corridor (Niyi Adeyemi, Setor Awuye, Melanie Gunness, Christopher Gunn-Isaacs, Rajbir Sian)

This research proposes a Two- Way Kitchener – Guelph – Toronto (KiTo) GO train service that will travel from the City of Toronto, through the City of Guelph and ending in the Region of Waterloo. These research efforts have been developed to meet growing transit demands in this area of Ontario. It will link the talent pool in Toronto with talent demand in the Region of Waterloo. This paper analyzes the extensive economic, social, environmental and technological benefits while also identifying important considerations of such an investment.

2014 – Rural Schools and Unequal Access to Quality Education (Amad Abdullah, Karan Jandoo, Tamish Tariq, Athar Zia)

This report provides the Ministry of Education with an analysis examining the inequalities between rural and urban schools in Ontario. The report will entail a detailed breakdown of costs and benefits affiliated with the inequality gap. The Ministry will effectively be able to determine if the long-run effects align with its current objectives and make policy decisions accordingly.

2015 – Proposed Policy Solutions to the Canada – U.S. Price Gap (Diedre Beintema, Tara Bucholtz, Nicole Frantz, Whitney Philippi)

This report examines relevant research to date that has looked at the Canada-U.S. price gap issue within the small scale retail goods and grocery goods sectors. It will also review a number of major contributions to the discussion of the Canada-U.S. price gap, summarizing the findings, and providing insight into the relevance of those studies to the issue as whole.

2015 – Reforming Ontario’s Automobile Insurance System (George Boshnakis, Daniel Hann, Bradley Merklinger, Henry Wong)

While possessing automobile insurance is a universal requirement across all Canadian jurisdictions, what is not universal is the price that motorists pay and the type of coverage motorists receive. This report seeks to determine why Ontario has the highest automobile insurance premiums in the country. Furthermore, the team will also examine what changes could be introduced or whether a complete reform of the current system is required to lower auto insurance premiums.

2015 – The changing landscape of retirement (Sheldon Frey, Mehreen Khan, Marvi Memon, Arubah Nadeem)

As Canadians are living longer with better health, the concept of retirement is evolving with a significant proportion of Canadians returning to work after having previously retired. Based on an analysis and observed trends of Canadians retirement planning and expectations, this study recommends two policy options to improve and facilitate adequate retirement planning for Canadians.

2015 – Task Force Review of the Greenbelt Plan (Ian Chesney, Vince De Cicco, Emmanuel Dowuona, Thuwanika Kandasamy, Brittany Sandie)

The Greenbelt has expanded since its inception in its efforts to continuously support and protect farmland, green space, and clean water. It plays a fundamental role in protecting the most threatened environmentally sensitive and agricultural lands from major urban development while continuing to meet the needs of growing communities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH). This report provides pertinent information on the current state of the Greenbelt and recommendations for the upcoming 10-year review.

2015 – Inter-Ministerial Coalition to Reduce Childhood Obesity (Hina Ahmed, Vydehi Kamalanathan, Mathura Karunanithy, Ramona Petz)

Childhood obesity is a complex problem with many interrelated causes. This review will focus on three major environmental influences that repeatedly emerge throughout literature. These factors include: changes in the food market; sedentary behaviours and inactivity, and lastly, socioeconomic status.

2015 – Mitigating Climate Change in Canada (Amanda Ally, Sadaf Khorsand, Vanja Kilibarda, Roji Seevachandran)

Global climate change and its damaging effects are viewed as the predominant environmental issue facing the world today. In an effort to mitigate climate change, nations around the world have taken measures to combat its effects and future damage. This report recommends that the federal government design and implement an efficient and comprehensive market-based policy to adequately reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

2015 – Fostering Neighbourhood Associations to Support Community Development (Shiffat Ahmed, Alana Bauer, Nathan Duh, Janet Standen)

The City of Waterloo has a current interest in understanding how they can best support neighbourhood associations to enable them to be more effective in delivering programs and service to their local areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of best practices from other municipalities with active neighbourhood associations, to help guide the City of Waterloo in its investment in, and engagement with neighbourhood development.

2015 – Cost Reduction Strategies for Municipal Police Services in Ontario (Christian Eng, Calvin Ostner, Justin Riese, Kamaldeep Singh)

This report is motivated by the following public policy question: How can Ontario’s municipalities such as the City of Toronto reduce policing costs while maintaining adequate service levels? The paper will include an analysis of the available research associated with increased policy costs in Ontario’s municipalities, a comparison of the City of Toronto’s practices in contrast with similar municipalities, and recommended policy options. 

2015 – Barriers to the Effective Implementation of Electronic Health Records in Ontario (Colin Boland, Julian Greer, Shaed Hashimkhial, Saharia Kanak)

The transition from paper health records to electronic health records (EHRs) effectively utilizes the advancements of digital technology in providing better overall patient care and services. This research paper assesses the implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) in Ontario. More specifically, it investigates potential barriers to effective implementation of EHRs in Ontario and offers recommendations where applicable.