This story is part of The COVID Economy, a CBC News series looking at how the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic is affecting jobs, manufacturing and business in regions across Canada.
It was in late March that a prominent national trade association released a bleak report forecasting the worst year for Canadian manufacturers since the Great Recession of 2008.
A little more than two weeks later, the group’s president and CEO says the dire warning may be in need of an update.
“I think that might have been optimistic,” said Dennis Darby, president and CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), which is forecasting a 5.7 per cent decline in output for 2020, after more than a decade where growth ranged from around –1 to four per cent.
“It all depends on the speed at which Canada and the U.S. come back.”
With the novel coronavirus still wreaking havoc on health care systems and interventions to slow its spread choking the economy, Canada’s manufacturers are simultaneously riding out an unprecedented shock while also planning for an uncertain future.
In Ontario, which accounts for nearly half of Canada’s manufacturing output, the drop in production has already contributed to the loss of 31,600 jobs, according to Statistics Canada’s labour survey for March.
By contrast, Quebec, Canada’s second largest manufacturer, lost only 1,200 manufacturing jobs in March, though employment figures are expected to fluctuate as new data becomes available.
General Motors closed its Oshawa assembly plant in December 2019, in the midst of a national decline in manufacturing output. (Sylvia Thomson/CBC)
While most of Ontario’s auto assembly plants have been temporarily closed due to the virus, a host of other facilities remain open, including those in food production and medical manufacturing. Darby says many of them are struggling due to dwindling cash flow and disruptions to their supply chains.
“It’s regrettable and it’s caused a lot of damage,” he told CBC News.
Darby recognizes that productivity won’t return to typical levels until international trade returns to normal, trading partners begin to reopen their economies and consumers start buying things again. For some, it may never return.
The list of variables doesn’t seem poised to stabilize for the foreseeable future.
“That’s the great unknown right now,” he said.
Industry was slumping before pandemic
The blow to Ontario’s manufacturing industry comes on the heels of a steady decline that had already weakened the sector, which accounts for more than 12 per cent of Ontario’s GDP.
“Heading into the virus, [Ontario manufacturing] was in a little bit of a tough spot,” said Rishi Sondhi, an economist at TD Bank.
Nationally, manufacturing sales had declined for five straight months leading to January, a stretch that included the closure of GM’s Oshawa assembly plant in December 2019 and, later, rail blockades in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs that hobbled freight train traffic.
Read other stories in the series:
Rishi says manufacturing activity has “severely” contracted during the pandemic. TD Bank expects the sector to begin a recovery in the second half of 2020, though there are many questions still unanswered about what the process will look like.
“I think it’s safe to say demand will remain muted for some time yet,” Rishi said. “It will be a bumpy road.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford picks up medical masks from a company in Woodbridge, Ont. Ford says he will restart Ontario’s economy when public health officials give ‘the green light.’ (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)
The province has pledged to help struggling businesses of all types recover, in part through its new Jobs and Recovery Committee, which has started work on a post-pandemic plan.
Premier Doug Ford has also promised to “ignite a fire” and jump-start the provincial economy when it is safe to do so, but there are no details yet on how this will be achieved.
Mulling long-term change
There is also a belief that Ontario’s manufacturing sector could be irrevocably changed after the COVID-19 pandemic, and perhaps in some ways that will make the industry stronger.
Darby said the crisis has revealed the extent to which Ontario relies on supplies and goods from other regions, and the possibility that we could start producing some of them in the province.
For instance, in the face of shortages of medical equipment, some Ontario manufacturers altered their facilities to produce goods such as hand sanitizer and medical scrubs, while others have pledged to start building ventilators.
Darby said the quick mobilization of Ontario companies shows untapped potential that could be accessed through faster approvals and fewer regulations.
“If we can do it under crisis, maybe we should do it all the time,” he said.
Sondhi warns that large structural changes may not extend to industries more reliant on international supply chains, such as the auto sector.
He also notes that manufacturers may have to enforce physical distancing rules in their plants for many more months, a restriction that will weaken efforts at restoring productivity.
TORONTO – Will Taylor Swift bring chaos or do we all need to calm down?
It’s a question many Torontonians are asking this week as the city braces for the massive fan base of one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
Hundreds of thousands of Swifties are expected to descend on downtown core for the singer’s six concerts which kick off Thursday at the Rogers Centre and run until Nov. 23.
And while their arrival will be a boon to tourism dollars, it could further clog the city’s already gridlocked streets.
Swift’s shows collide with other scheduled events at the nearby Scotiabank Arena, including a Toronto Raptors game on Friday and a Toronto Maple Leafs game on Saturday.
Some locals have already adjusted their plans to avoid the area.
Aahil Dayani says he and some friends intended to throw a birthday bash for one of their pals, until they realized it would overlap with the concerts.
“Ultimately, everybody agreed they just didn’t want to deal with that,” he said.
“Something as simple as getting together and having dinner is now thrown out the window.”
Dayani says the group rescheduled the birthday party for after Swift leaves town. In the meantime, he plans to hunker down at his Toronto residence.
“Her coming into town has kind of changed up my social life,” he added.
“We’re pretty much just not doing anything.”
Max Sinclair, chief executive and founder of A.I. technology firm Ecomtent, has suggested his employees stay away from the company’s downtown offices on concert days, since he doesn’t see the point in forcing people to endure potential traffic jams.
“It’s going to be less productive for us, and it’s going to be just a pain for everyone, so it’s easier to avoid it,” he said.
“We’re a hybrid company, so we can be flexible. It just makes sense.”
Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Stuart Green says the public agency has been preparing for over a year to ease the pressure of so many Swifties in one confined area.
Dozens of buses and streetcars have been added to the transit routes around the stadium, while the TTC has consulted with the city on how to handle potential emergency scenarios.
“There may be some who will say we’re over-preparing, and that’s fair,” Green said.
“But we know based on what’s happened in other places, better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Electronic Arts has incorporated the Professional Women’s Hockey League into its NHL 25 video game.
The six teams starting their second seasons Nov. 30 will be represented in “play now,” “online versus,” “shootout” and “season” modes, plus a championship Walter Cup, in the updated game scheduled for release Dec. 5, the PWHL and EA Sports announced Wednesday.
Gamers can create a virtual PWHL player.
The league and video game company have agreed to a multi-year partnership, the PWHL stated.
“Our partnership with EA SPORTS opens new doors to elevate women’s hockey across all levels,” said PWHL operations senior vice-president Amy Scheer in a statement.
“Through this alliance, we’ll develop in-game and out-of-game experiences that strengthen the bond between our teams, players, and fans, bringing the PWHL closer to the global hockey community.”
NHL 22 featured playable women’s teams for the first time through an agreement with the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Toronto Sceptres forward Sarah Nurse became the first woman to appear on the video game’s cover in 2023 alongside Anaheim Ducks centre Trevor Zegras.
The Ottawa Charge, Montreal Victoire, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens round out the PWHL. The league announced team names and logos in September, and unveiled jerseys earlier this month.
“It is so meaningful that young girls will be able to see themselves in the game,” said Frost forward Taylor Heise, who grew up playing EA’s NHL games.
“It is a big milestone for inclusivity within the hockey community and shows that women’s prominence in hockey only continues to grow.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. continued to navigate weaker consumer demand in the third quarter as it looked ahead to the spinoff of its pork business in 2025.
“This environment has a particularly significant impact on a premium portfolio like ours and I want you to know that we are not sitting still waiting for the macro environment to recover on its own,” said CEO Curtis Frank on a call with analysts.
Frank said the company is working to adapt its strategies to consumer demand. As inflation has stabilized and interest rates decline, he said pressure on consumers is expected to ease.
Maple Leaf reported a third-quarter profit of $17.7 million compared with a loss of $4.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company says the profit amounted to 14 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a loss of four cents per share a year earlier. Sales for the quarter totalled $1.26 billion, up from $1.24 billion a year ago.
“At a strategic level … we’re certainly seeing the transitory impacts of an inflation-stressed consumer environment play through our business,” Frank said.
“We are seeing more trade-down than we would like. And we are making more investments to grow our volume and protect our market share than we would like in the moment. But again, we believe that those impacts will prove to be transitory as they have been over the course of history.”
Financial results are improving in the segment as feed costs have stabilized, said Dennis Organ, president, pork complex.
Maple Leaf, which is working to spin off its pork business into a new, publicly traded company to be called Canada Packers Inc. and led by Organ, also said it has identified a way to implement the plan through a tax-free “butterfly reorganization.”
Frank said Wednesday that the new structure will see Maple Leaf retain slightly lower ownership than previously intended.
The company said it continues to expect to complete the transaction next year. However, the spinoff under the new structure is subject to an advance tax ruling from the Canada Revenue Agency and will take longer than first anticipated.
Maple Leaf announced the spinoff in July with a plan to become a more focused consumer packaged goods company, including its Maple Leaf and Schneiders brands.
“The prospect of executing the transaction as a tax-free spin-off is a positive development as we continue to advance our strategy to unlock value and unleash the potential of these two unique and distinct businesses,” Frank said in the news release.
He also said that Maple Leaf is set on delivering profitability for its plant protein business in mid-2025.
“This includes the recent completion of a procurement project aimed at leveraging our purchasing scale,” he said.
On an adjusted basis, Maple Leaf says it earned 18 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 13 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
The results were largely in line with expectations, said RBC analyst Irene Nattel in a note.
Maple Leaf shares were down 4.5 per cent in midday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange at $21.49.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
