The Mowat Centre would like to inform its many partners and supporters that, as the result of the cancellation of its funding agreement with the Government of Ontario, it will soon be closing. We are currently in the process of completing our final projects, and we expect to cease operations no later than June 30, 2019. Specific Mowat Centre initiatives relating to the not-for-profit sector and education and skills will continue but will be relocated within other agencies.

Over the past 10 years, the Mowat Centre has made its mark on policy-making and informed public discussion in Ontario, across Canada and internationally. The Centre has published almost 200 reports and countless shorter articles addressing the central challenges facing governments. It has advanced innovative approaches to improving programs and services within the context of constrained budgets, and championed the use of evidence in the development of more effective public policies. And it has repositioned Ontario as a forceful and constructive voice in the federation, one which balances a concern with fairness for the province with the need to strengthen collaboration among the federation’s 14 partner governments.

We would like to take this opportunity thank our colleagues in the government of Ontario, the federal government, the municipal sector, the not-for-profit sector, the private sector, and at other think-tanks and universities for their collegiality and partnership over the past decade. The Mowat Centre has always sought to work collaboratively with other researchers and organizations and, by doing so, to strengthen our collective capacity to meet the policy challenges that confront us. We will miss working with you directly through the Centre, though we know that our many professional and personal relationships will continue.

We would also like to thank our colleagues at the Munk School of Global and Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto for providing the Mowat Centre with a prestigious and stimulating home. We have appreciated the School’s support and the connections with faculty. Above all, we have benefitted enormously from our opportunities to interact with the Master of Public Policy program’s remarkable students, including those who spent time at the Centre as interns.

As Director, I have been struck by the talent and dedication of the Mowat Centre’s current staff, as well as former staff who have since taken up positions of influence in other organizations. It has been a privilege to work with you. The province’s investment in the Mowat Centre has produced, not only a collection of publications that can guide future work, but a cohort of Mowat alumni who constitute some of the best policy researchers and knowledge mobilizers that Ontario has to offer. They will shape the province’s future for decades to come. Thank you all for your contributions.

The list of others who have supported Mowat’s work over the years is too long to allow each person to be given the individual recognition they deserve. I would, however, like to thank all those who served on the Centre’s Advisory Board, its Editorial Board or as a Mowat Centre Fellow. I would also like to thank our founding director, Matthew Mendelsohn, for his vision and energy, and Bill Forward, who served as interim director, for his good humour and wise counsel.

I am sure that it is not lost on any of us that the Mowat Centre is closing at a time when the twin challenges of transforming government and strengthening the federation are perhaps more acute than ever. I sincerely hope that the work that the Mowat Centre has conducted since its inception will continue to be a useful resource for all of us working to address these issues.

Yours truly,

Andrew Parkin
Director,
Mowat Centre