Longshoremen with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada hold a rally during their strike at Canada’s busiest port of Vancouver on July 9.CHRIS HELGREN/Reuters
The strike by B.C. port workers is sending ripples across the Canadian economy as everyone from Saskatchewan potash exporters to Ontario importers of industrial parts feels the impact of the walkout that enters its 10th day on Monday.
Employers estimate that up to $775-million a day in trade has been disrupted during the strike by 7,400 dock and warehouse workers across British Columbia, totalling $7-billion in cargo affected as of Sunday night.
The disruption to the supply chain, including trains and trucks, has halted the flow of a wide range of products such as imports of consumer goods and exports of raw materials. Potash and sulphur are among the commodities suspended from being loaded into the cargo holds of ships that would be destined for markets overseas.
Wellmaster Pipe and Supply Inc., a family-owned business in Tillsonburg, Ont., has a variety of imported industrial parts stuck in limbo inside 10 reusable steel containers at the Port of Vancouver and aboard ships that normally would have docked on the West Coast by now.
With nearly 50 employees, Wellmaster plans to reduce capital spending and tighten its belt to avoid layoffs at the manufacturer, whose customers include greenhouses, as well as the heating and refrigeration industry.
“There aren’t any issues that are worth doing the extent of damage that is being done to the Canadian economy. It will reverberate through the economy for months,” Wellmaster chief executive officer James White said in an interview from Tillsonburg. “The longer-term impact goes into Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner.”
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) has listed contracting out as one of its three key issues. The other two main concerns are cost-of-living wage increases and the impact of automation on job security.
The two sides returned to the bargaining table on Saturday, backed by federal mediators, after negotiations stalled early last week.
“I’m really encouraging the government to use its powers. It sounds like the two sides are a long distance apart,” said Dennis Darby, CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME).
A coalition of business groups that includes CME has been urging the federal Liberal government to recall Parliament to introduce back-to-work legislation.
But Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said the focus must be on reaching a settlement at the bargaining table. “Government, industry and labour are all concerned about the consequences of this disruption,” Mr. O’Regan’s office said in a statement on Sunday. “Canadians rely on our B.C. port workers.”
Employers are proposing training programs to address shortages of skilled trades in a bid to help resolve the strike that began on Canada Day. To that end, the BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) is recommending that an independent arbitrator be appointed to chair a sub-committee that would have employers sit down with officials from the waterfront union to discuss the key issue of contracting out.
What constitutes regular maintenance, as performed by unionized workers, would be the focus of discussions by the sub-committee.
The BCMEA has characterized the union as seeking to expand the ILWU’s jurisdictional scope beyond what has been customary for decades in guidelines for regular maintenance at terminals. Workers who operate equipment for moving cargo are ILWU members, and so are employees who conduct regular maintenance on that equipment, such as engineers and mechanics.
But when a roof needs to be replaced, for example, employers call in a third party that specializes in roofing, or if rails need replacing, then railway yard companies are called.
Collectively as an industry, B.C. ports have faced challenges in general in attracting and retaining skilled trades, including electricians and heavy-duty mechanics.
The BCMEA argues that the union has not been able to fulfill a significant percentage of skilled trades through the dispatch hall, prompting employers to call in third parties.
The Port of Vancouver said nine of its 29 terminals have been directly affected by the labour action. Other ports affected include operations in Prince Rupert in northern B.C. and terminals on Vancouver Island.
Bulk-grain shipments are expected to continue being exported overseas, in accordance with the Canada Labour Code. Two B.C. coal-export terminals have kept operating because those employers have their own collective agreements.
The BCMEA, which represents 49 private-sector companies such as shipowners and terminal operators, has said unionized workers are paid well. But ILWU emphasizes that its members have to scramble just to get shifts when they first start out, and wage premiums are hard-earned, with the general base rate being $48.23 an hour for the day shift.
Union leaders say the shipping industry made huge profits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All we are asking for is a small share of these profits so workers can continue to do this work with respect and dignity,” ILWU president Rob Ashton said in a statement on Friday.
An array of labour allies attended a Sunday rally in downtown Vancouver to show support for ILWU members.
“We need the profits that we have earned with our labour – our labour that is filling their pockets,” ILWU third vice-president Jessica Isbister said during the rally. “We gather with stories of struggle and solidarity.”
Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd.’s world container index peaked at US$10,377 in September, 2021, with ships backed up along trade routes as North American demand for consumer goods from Asia skyrocketed.
Freight rates have plunged 86 per cent since then as global demand faltered, dropping to US$1,474 for transporting a 40-foot container last week.
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.
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