Below are some commonly asked questions about AIMS. We hope these are helpful in providing orientation to the work of the Institute. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact our Communications Officer. Contact information is provided at the bottom.
Who are the people behind AIMS?
Please visit our About AIMS section for a complete list of our Board of Directors, Advisory Council, Board of Research Advisors, Research Fellows, Authors and Staff.
How long has AIMS been in operation?
AIMS was established in Halifax in 1994.
How is AIMS funded?
AIMS is a federally incorporated, non-profit, non-partisan organization with charitable status from Canada Revenue Agency as well as the IRS (as a 501 c 3) in the United States. We are financed by contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations and other organizations, as well as by the sales of our publications. Our most recent Annual Report including audited financial statement and list of contributors is available on this website.
How do I describe AIMS?
In common with many other Canadian public policy think tanks, such as the C. D. Howe Institute, the Montreal Economic Institute, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, the Institute for Research on Public Policy, etc., AIMS exists to promote informed debate on public policy; we are a registered charity for educational purposes and our status is therefore regulated by the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency, which oversees the activities of charities in this country. Such institutes are not “lobby groups”, because we do not lobby governments to pursue one course of action over another. AIMS is not “business-funded”: the bulk of our funding comes from charitable foundations that support public policy work in Canada. We strive to have as diversified a funding base as possible in order to ensure that we are not answerable or beholden to any particular industry, interest or individual. Because we seek to comment objectively on government policy, we do not accept any funding from government. The independence, objectivity and integrity of our research effort is guaranteed by our Board of Research Advisors, which includes prominent and reputable academics and policy thinkers from around the region and the country, including Canadian Nobel Laureate Robert Mundell. The Institute has a formal policy, embodied in resolutions of its Board of Directors, forbidding any involvment or influence by the Board in the Institute’s research effort. AIMS does not subscribe to any political ideology; the Institute has published papers that praise as well as criticise government policies, just as it has hosted speakers from across the political spectrum, such as former Ontario premiers Bob Rae and Mike Harris, former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, then Nova Scotia Premier John Savage, prominent American Democrat Mayor John Norquist of Milwaukee, Federal Opposition Leader Stephen Harper and independent and non-partisan experts such as former Auditor-General Denis Desautels, Nobel Laureate James Buchanan and Jack Granatstein, one of Canada’s foremost commentators on defence policy. The Board of Directors, Advisory Council, Board of Research Advisors and staff and officers of the Institute include people of a wide variety of political persuasions and none.
Taking all these facts into account, the correct way to describe AIMS is as a privately-funded independent economic and social policy think-tank. The Institute is not right-wing, left-wing, free-market, interventionist, conservative, neo-conservative, liberal or neo-liberal nor is it a lobby group.
How can I get material from AIMS?
AIMS makes all of its finished research material, commentary and publications available on-line at no charge. If you wish to receive printed versions, we will bill you cost-recovery and shipping charges.
How do I get media accreditiation to AIMS events and/or book interviews?
Please contact our Administrative Assistant for media accreditation and interview requests.
How do I keep updated on AIMS activities?
You can subscribe to our email newsletter by clicking here. We will automatically send you information on our latest work and upcoming events.
How do I get AIMS media releases or get taken off AIMS media distribution list?
Send an email to aims.ca with your request and you will be added or deleted from our media distribution list.
Where is AIMS located?
AIMS is located at 2000 Barrington Street, on the 13th floor of Cogswell Tower, Suite 1302. Cogswell Tower is at the corner of Barrington and Cogswell Streets in the heart of downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. Interactive map of Halifax.
AIMS Communications Officer: aims.ca
AIMS General Contact Information
Phone: 902 429-1143
Fax: 902 425-1393
Email: aims [at] aims.ca