CAGS Celebrates Winner of
13th Annual
Canada School of Public Service (CSPS)
National Student Paper Competition
2025-2026
Stephanie Deò, PhD Student, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University
Paper: Separating Homes from Speculation: A Market-Design Approach to Canada’s Housing Crisis
Canada’s housing affordability crisis is driven not only by limited housing supply, but also by competition between homebuyers and leveraged real estate investors. This paper argues that treating housing as both shelter and an investment asset has contributed to rising prices and reduced access to homeownership. Drawing on recent Canadian evidence, it shows that investors accounted for an increasing share of property ownership even as borrowing costs rose. The paper proposes separating principal residences from rental properties through an administrative designation system, enabling targeted taxes and restrictions on speculative investment while preserving rental housing supply. Together, these measures aim to improve housing affordability while maintaining a stable and functional rental market.
Steph Deò is a second-year PhD student in economics at Simon Fraser University. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in economics, completing both in just over three years after beginning her undergraduate studies in 2021. Prior to academia, she worked as a Journeyman Hairstylist and operated her own business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Steph has held leadership roles including Vice President Academic for the Society of Undergraduates in Economics and served as a Graduate Student Representative on the Faculty of Arts Council at the University of British Columbia. She also gained policy experience from interning in the CEO’s office at the Alberta Energy Regulator.
Her research focuses on first-world development, particularly the distributional effects of policy on the middle class and the intersection of income, consumption, and wealth inequality in North America. Her current work aims to bridge academic research and practical policy.
Always tailor your message to your audience. We often forget how much field-specific jargon we use in our academic lives, but in policy you’re often trying to convey your ideas to people with completely different backgrounds. Ask yourself why an ordinary person should care about the problem, then present your solution in a way that is easily understood by an average person. You may have a world-changing policy idea, but it will go nowhere if your writing or presentation can’t be understood by the people who need to understand, support, or implement it.
Overview
The National Student Paper Competition (NSPC) was launched in 2013 with the aim of:
♦ Introducing innovative ideas and bright new thinkers to the Canadian public service
♦ Enhancing public service excellence and encouraging high performance
The NSPC offers a unique opportunity for talented graduate students to connect with senior public servants, expand their networks, nurture their leadership skills, and foster employment opportunities with the federal public service.
The NSPC is an annual competition organized by the Canada School of Public Service in partnership with the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. The competition is also supported by various Canadian higher-education institutions and associations, including CAGS.
Outcomes and benefits of the competition
♦ A strong partnership between the federal public service, universities and higher-education associations that encourages graduate students to apply academic knowledge and skills to inform Canadian public policy and the Public Service of Canada.
♦ An increased number of promising graduate students in different fields of expertise across Canadian universities working with the federal public service and contributing with innovative, research-based ideas to enhance the lives of all Canadians.
♦ A talented, diverse, inclusive and modern workforce equipped with the skills needed to embrace new workplace challenges, design services, mobilize knowledge, and respond to the country’s evolving needs.
Learn about previous winners below
