News & events

The Department is delighted to welcome our newest faculty member, Dr. Justin Wiltshire.

The 2023 Honours Theses presentations are coming up on April 21st - save the date and come support our 2022-23 Honours students! The presentations will be taking place from 9:30am to 1:30pm, in David Strong C126.

The REACH Awards honour the extraordinary teachers and researchers who lead the way in dynamic learning and make a vital impact at UVic, in the classroom and beyond.

A 1°C temperature increase can cause a tenfold increase in displaced people, according to new research led by a collaborative team from the University of Victoria and the University of Oxford, which studied the effects of conflict, weather, and drought, on forced displacement in Somalia.

Thanks to A kind donation made by the family of former UVic Professor Reid Elliott. The Economics Department is proud to host our inaugural Reid Elliott Seminar this Friday, Oct. 28th, 2022. Dr. Meredith Fowlie (UC Berkeley) will present her paper "Power Plants, Air Pollution, and Regulatory Rebound" from 2:30-4:00PM in DSB C126.

The global community has been baffled by how to mitigate climate change since there is little agreement on how to act on something that requires stringent emission reductions. "The answer lies in a mix of climate policies, that if followed, will lead us toward the EU’s zero-emission targets, says University of Victoria climate economist," Dr. Felix Pretis, co-author of a new paper published in Nature Energy.

The Department is very excited to welcome new faculty members this fall: Dr Paola Beneras Peñaherrera, Dr Colette Salemi, Dr Tao Wang, Dr Jason Hicks and post doctoral student Abubakr Ayesh. We look forward to them sharing their energy, expertise and enthusiasm with students, staff and colleagues alike.

Dr. Daniel Rondeau and his co-authors (Maurice Doyon Laval University and Christian Vossler, University of Tennessee) win the 2022 Publication of Enduring Quality Award of the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society (CAES) for their paper "Truth in consequentiality: theory and field evidence on discrete choice experiments".

Congratulations to the 2022 UVic Economics Department Award Winners! Sean Wilson – awarded the Economics Alumni Undergraduate Scholarship ($1200) for top academic performance in fourth year Economics courses Maryjane Brown – awarded the Ken Avio Honours Prize ($100) for best honours thesis Sina Seyed Ali – awarded the Colin Jones Prize ($100) for academic excellence in the study of Canadian public policy Delphis Lamarche – awarded the Leonard Laudadio Prize ($100) for academic excellence in the study of environmental economics

Congratulations to our Graduate Students Kara Li, Atefeh Zeinolebadi, Sazia Afrin and Milad Oraei on successfully completing their TA Fundamentals Certificate.

Dr.'s Donn Feir and Christopher Auld of UVic win prestigious Harry G. Johnson prize for their paper "Indian Residential Schools, Height, and Body Mass Post-1930” published in the Canadian Journal of Economics, February 2021 (Volume 54, Number 1).

Congratulations to Luca Gaffney, Sam Shipley and Colton Clarke on being chosen to participate in the summer 2022 REAL Internship program. These internships provide students with “hands-on” experiences with research leading to development of future careers in government, industry, community and higher education (graduate studies). Students will gain experience working within a research environment that is collaborative and collegial with direct support from a faculty mentor.

Join us on April 21 & 22 for the 2022 Economics Honours Symposium. On April 21st, the presentations will be from 10:00am to 11:30am, then again from 1:00pm to 2:30pm. On April 22nd, the presentations will be from 10.00am to Noon. Each Honours student will have 20 minutes for their presentation, which will be followed by a period of questions from the audience. LOCATION: David Strong Building, Room C116

Generation Squeeze is hosting a free virtual discussion on March 29, 2022 to talk about how our housing system helps to sustain a dangerous addiction to high and rising home values.

Are you interested in finding out more about the Economics Honours Program? There will be an information session held on Tuesday March 15th from 3:00-4:30pm in DSB C118 with the option to attend via Zoom.

The UC Santa Cruz Economics Department cordially invites you and your students to an informational session series regarding their master's program. The M.S. Applied Economics & Finance program is a one-year program that provides analytical graduate training designed to prepare students for careers in business, international and domestic banking, consulting firms, government, and nonprofit organizations. The program focuses on advanced econometrics techniques, statistical software packages and large-scale financial and microeconomic datasets. For those interested in learning more, please RSVP to attend the info session on Monday, January 24th, 2022 from 12:00-1:00pm PT

Katie Martens, a fifth year economics major, recently received (for the second time) the prestigious Provost Award. Martens is a student-athlete with UVic Vikes holding a spot on the golf team. She says being part of the team has been a huge highlight over the last five years.

The Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, invites applications for two tenure-track assistant professor positions and one tenure-track assistant teaching professor position to commence July 1, 2022.

The Department is pleased to welcome Professor Vasco Gabriel as our newly-appointed Chair.

Dear 2021 Econ Graduates, Congratulations on successfully completing your degree! We are very proud of all the hard work you have put into this achievement during your time at UVic! With the help of some of your instructors, we have created a slideshow to celebrate the graduating class of 2021. Best of luck with your future endeavours, we can't wait to see what you'll achieve!

Congratulations to 1st year MA student, Harini Kapali for successfully completing the TA Fundamentals Certificate! Harini is an incredibly dedicated learner and TA. She is always willing to go the extra mile for her students which is reflected in this achievement.

Undergraduate Economics student Samuel Seshadri has been chosen as a 2021 3M National Student Fellow winner. Congratulations to Sam on this amazing achievement! More than 50 impressive applications from across Canada were adjudicated this year before Sam was selected as a final ten fellows for 2021 by the President of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. The complete list of 2021 cohorts can be found on the STLHE website.

A poster session that showcases undergraduate student research will be take place via video-conference during the 55th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Economics Association (CEA). Current undergraduate students, or those who have graduated in the past year but have not yet begun their graduate studies, are encouraged to apply to participate. High-quality original research papers, in either French or English, focusing on any area of Economics will be considered.

Career Services has started to offer virtual drop ins. No appointment required. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1pm -3pm.

There will be an information session for the Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) MSAE program held on Monday April 12, 2021 at 5pm SGT. For full details please review the PDF.

Are you interested in applying for your Master of Science in Applied Economics? Young and research-intensive, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) is ranked 13th globally. It is also placed No.3 in Asia. The School of Social Sciences offers MSc in Applied Economics that aims to provide rigorous post graduate training in economics. The training is useful in both the private and public sectors, and in all facets of economic research activities. Our curriculum is unique for its focus on producing quantitative-oriented researchers and analysts with strong theoretical insights.

Specialisterne Canada specializes in working with businesses to hire people on the autism spectrum or who identify as neurodivergent1. Presently, Specialisterne Canada is working with KPMG to recruit for positions in Accounting and Software Development.

We are very pleased to announce that Economics undergrad Samuel Seshadri is the recipient of one of this year’s $2500 Identity Data and Systemic Racism Research Fellowships!

Are you a UVic student interested in helping your community while also gaining valuable tax knowledge? If so, sign up to be a volunteer for this year’s Free Virtual Tax Clinic, put on by the Gustavson School of Business in partnership with the CRA. Through this program, volunteers help the community by offering free tax filing services to those who are unable to do so themselves. This program is a great way to get involved and gain a variety of different skills along the way! Every volunteer will participate in training sessions to become familiar with their roles and the tax filing software. The tax clinic will run from mid March to the end of April and once completed, you’ll receive a certificate of achievement!

Dr. G.C. van Kooten of UVic Economics publishes new book with co-editor Linda Voss, also of UVic.

Congratulations, to UVic Vikes athletes Kate Martens (Golf) and Samuel Seshadri (Rowing). The two UVic Economics students received the Provost Award for Excellence during the 16th annual UVic Vikes Honour Roll (virtual) Luncheon.

Congratulations to Alyssa Russell and Tahir Shamji, our 2020 poster competition winners!

We would like to draw your attention to the Department’s job posting for a part-time senior lab instructor.

EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE IDENTITY DATA AND SYSTEMIC RACISM RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS: As one initiative focused on the Faculty’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, the Faculty of Social Sciences is creating two fellowships to support research that examines the use of identity data in academic and policy research to address systemic racism.

In partnership with the Senate of Canada, the University of Victoria is hosting the Victoria Forum this November. Students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend this free event.

Associate Chair and Undergraduate Adviser, Dr. Elisabeth Gugl will hold a virtual drop in Zoom session for prospective students on Monday November 9th from 11-12.

Search underway for a Professor and Department Chair.

A virtual welcoming event for new students interested in studying economics was held last Tuesday, September 15th by Dr. Elisabeth Gugl, Acting Associate Chair & Undergraduate Advisor of our department.

Orange Shirt Day at UVic goes virtual this year.

Congratulations to the class of 2020!

Dr. Courty's paper ‘Ticket resale, bots, and the fair price ticketing curse’ published in Journal for Cultural Economics has been highlighted by the Center for Cultural Affairs at Indiana University in a new video.

Dr. Rondeau's advanced resource economics textbook with Jon M. Conrad has just been released by Cambridge University Press in the U.K., and will be available worldwide on February 29.

Gustavson's Tax Clinic Program is getting underway, and for the first time they are offering volunteer opportunities for students and alumni within Economics!

The Board of Governors and Senate need student representatives. Build your skills, represent your fellow students and contribute to crucial decision making at UVic.

Dr Marco Cozzi will be giving a special lecture in the Dean's Lunchtime Lecture Series, entitled "Economic Inequality: Causes, Consequences and Remedies."

The Lime Network is a resource for university students with any kind of disability that impacts daily life (physical, sensory or mental health including ADD, dyslexia, depression, and medical conditions). Lime is hosting a networking reception in Vancouver on Thursday, October 24, 2019 to discuss co-ops/internships and full-time roles in a variety of fields.

Taking place on 29 August, this panel discussion will examine the critical role the financial sector can – and must – play to support the transition to a low-carbon economy and discusses the challenges and opportunities for investors, businesses, financial institutions and markets in the face of global issues such as climate change.

Dr Donna Feir will be giving this year’s Mary Mackinnon Memorial Lecture at the 2019 Canadian Network for Economic History conference on September 28-29.

Congratulations to Rai Goyal, BSc Economics and Honours Mathematics, who was recently awarded the Governor General's Silver Medal. This is a remarkable achievement!

Congratulations to this year's Economics award recipients: Maryjane Brown, Nicole Bruce, William Thomas, and Brooklynn Trimble!

Well done to Maxwell Nicholson, recent graduate from the Economics Honours program, who was awarded this year's Social Sciences Jubilee Medal.

Congratulations to Economics grad Maxwell Nicholson, who has been hired by top global consulting firm McKinsey & Company. McKinsey is regularly ranked as the best consulting firm in the world by Vault, and Nicholson is the first student hired from UVic directly out of an undergrad program.

UVic Economics and the Gustavson School of Business co-organized the Sino-Canada Workshop on Economics and Management Research (April 15, 2019) with East China Normal University. Dr. Ke Xu’s presentation Stock Market Openness and Market Quality: Evidence from the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect Program followed the opening ceremony with Dr. Pascal Courty providing commentary on the industrial organization session and presenting The Impact of Variable Pricing, Dynamic Pricing, and Sponsored Secondary Markets in Major League Baseball.

Congratulations to Maggie Jones who is this year’s recipient of the Scarthingmoor PhD Thesis prize from Queen’s University Economics Department, awarded to the author of the best PhD thesis in selected areas during the preceding two years.

Congratulations to Ke Xu who has just received the 2018-19 C.A. Curtis Prize in Economics from Queen’s University, Kingston for the best doctoral thesis in their economics programme. A great achievement.

Congratulations to the ECU for holding yet another successful policy case competition earlier this month, and well done to all the teams that participated!

Dr. Elisabeth Gugl recently contributed to a panel on Universal Basic Income for NISSC.

The 2019 Honours Theses presentations are coming up on April 10th and 11th - save the date and come support our 2018-19 Honours students!

Donna Feir, Rob Gillezeau and Maggie Jones were recently featured in the Star Tribune, which cited their study on bison slaughter and how this historical act has had lasting economic consequences for the tribes who relied on this animal.

Congratulations to our third-and fourth-year Economics students who were recognized at this year's Rising Stars ceremony (picture included).

The digital recording for Nava Ashraf's Lansdowne lecture on 23 January, 2019 is now available online.

Professor Kees van Kooten recently contributed to the policy debate concerning the future direction of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.

Congratulations to UVic economics students Bryce Edwards & Mathieu Weary as well as Dr. Martin Farnham on winning the first `Predict the Goose’ competition!

Congratulations to Jamie Emery, currently doing her BSc Economics, on winning the 2018 Atlantic Canada Economics Association Award for best Undergraduate Student Presentation.

The latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report extensively cites Felix Pretis' recent paper on the economic impacts of climate change.

CBC recently interviewed our own Felix Pretis on the economic impacts of climate change.

An article on Family Economics was recently published in University Affairs, featuring our own Elisabeth Gugl.

Last night (Thursday, 21 June), our very own Dr. Elisabeth Gugl joined Elizabeth May and Laurel Collins speaking at Sunset Labs about proportional representation.