Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes a statement in Ottawa on Sept. 5.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is in Vancouver this week for a cabinet retreat, says his government will focus on the economy when Parliament resumes later this month.
The Official Opposition Conservatives are scheduled to unveil their new leader Saturday, just more than a week before members of Parliament return to Ottawa on Sept. 19.
It is widely expected that Pierre Poilievre, a former finance critic who has campaigned heavily on economic themes, will win the leadership and square off with Mr. Trudeau in the House of Commons.
“Our focus this week as we kick off what will be a busy and important fall of parliamentary work is on the economy. It’s hearing from Canadians, working with Canadians, to solve the very real pressures they’re facing,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters Tuesday at a news conference.
The federal cabinet retreat began Tuesday afternoon and is scheduled to wrap up on Thursday. The full Liberal caucus is then scheduled to gather next week in New Brunswick.
Mr. Trudeau said examples of an economic focus include federal funding for child care and support for housing programs.
Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said she’s focused on solutions for Canada’s labour shortage.
“We’re looking at impacted sectors to see what we can do with maximizing work-force participation of groups that traditionally haven’t been involved in the labour market – think of Indigenous youth, persons with disabilities. We need to tap into these talent pools,” she told reporters as she headed into meetings on Tuesday.
“It’s kind of incredible to think that a year and a half ago, my entire job was around finding jobs for workers, and now it’s finding workers for jobs.”
Ms. Qualtrough said Ottawa is just about to enter negotiations with the provinces on labour market agreements that would make labour mobility more accessible.
Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, said his government has “obviously heard” about affordability issues in every part of the country.
“Our focus is to continue the work we’ve been doing as a government for Canadians … principally on questions of importance in terms of economic issues, affordability, housing, inflation – things as important as childcare agreements that have lowered the cost of childcare for Canadians in every province, things as important as the Canada child benefit,” he said Tuesday.
“We understand the anxiety of Canadians, and that is the focus of our work here in Vancouver.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. Trudeau announced a $1.4-billion loan for a massive new rental development led by a Vancouver-area First Nation. Mr. Trudeau said the project exemplifies his government’s focus on Indigenous reconciliation, climate change and expanding the housing supply.
“We’re coming together in one of Canada’s major cities to be part of putting forward solutions to make a difference for Canadians,” he said.
Mr. Poilievre’s economic themes have primarily focused on the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and housing becoming unaffordable to many Canadians.
While the pandemic led to large government deficits in order to fund emergency supports for individuals and businesses, Ottawa and the provinces are suddenly reporting better-than-expected revenues thanks to a rebounding economy and high commodity prices.
That boost in revenue could be short-lived, however, as central banks ratchet up interest rates in an effort to cool inflation, which runs the risk of creating a recession.
In addition to addressing economic concerns, the Trudeau government – along with the provinces – are under public pressure to improve Canada’s health care system. A recent Nanos Research survey for The Globe and Mail found respondents gave the system a failing grade and seven in 10 Canadians said access to health care has worsened compared with before the pandemic.
Mr. Trudeau has promised to raise the rate of increase of health transfers, but premiers have expressed frustration at the lack of progress in talks with Ottawa.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
:format(jpeg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/N3XINNZXMZK7PFA4UCRZWMQCQQ.JPG)
