Policy Forum: Tax Credits for Healthy Behaviour—Evaluating Newfoundland and Labrador's Fitness Tax Credit Through a Difference-in-Differences Analysis
Joseph Scarfone
What the paper says
Canada's publicly funded health-care system faces growing fiscal pressures, which are prompting governments to explore tax-based instruments to encourage healthier behaviour. This article evaluates a provincial tax credit introduced in Newfoundland and Labrador to promote participation in physical activity as a Pigouvian-style subsidy intended to support public health objectives. Using regression analysis based on a difference-in-differences design, the study analyzes Canadian provincial panel data to estimate the effect of the credit on fitness-related industry activity following its introduction. The results show no statistically significant effect of the tax credit on industry outcomes, suggesting that the policy did not materially alter behaviour relative to trends in other provinces. These findings are consistent with earlier evidence on other health-related fitness tax credits and highlight ongoing challenges in using provincial tax measures to influence behaviour. The article concludes by discussing alternative policy frameworks for promoting health-related behavioural change within provincial public policy.
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
| M · momentum | 0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.