Economy

CBU business dean bullish on quick recovery of local economy after COVID-19 – CBC.ca

Published

4 years ago

May 20, 2020

The dean of Cape Breton University’s Shannon School of Business says the local economy should quickly rev up once public health restrictions really start to ease up.

George Karaphillis says if the past is any indication, the gross national product has shown it can recover, but he admits there hasn’t been a pandemic this severe for 100 years and no one really knows what will happen.

“History shows that the economy snaps back fast after an epidemic of this magnitude,” the dean said. “There is some pent-up demand from different sectors of the economy.”

Nova Scotia is nearing the end of the second month of public health restrictions that closed some businesses and forced others to close due to lack of customers.

On Tuesday, Premier Stephen McNeil said the province could be ready for reopening businesses by early June “if we get this right.”

If the economy does bounce back quickly, as most economists predict, then the province will have avoided a recession, which is defined as two successive quarters with a shrinking economy, Karaphillis said.

“The consensus is that it’s going to be a rapid rise in economic activity in about one month’s time, when the economy is actually fully operational and we’re back firing on all cylinders,” he said.

Many businesses in Nova Scotia were forced to temporarily shut down because of COVID-19. (David Laughlin/CBC)

There are positive signs for retail stores, but the growth of e-commerce and home delivery may have changed the game, Karaphillis said.

“The buying habits of consumers has changed, especially the new generation, the millennials, do not like to shop in the malls like the boomers.”

Cape Breton is heavily dependent on tourism, which will be hit hard for a year or more, but there is reason for optimism in commercial and retail operations, he said.

Two weeks ago, Brookfield Asset Management announced $5 billion in retail investments. The Toronto-based company is one of the largest owners of malls in the United States. That sends a strong signal that retail will not be left to struggle back to life, Karaphillis said.

Cape Breton developments

Also, the Membertou First Nation is building a 55,000-square-foot commercial and retail building on the reserve next to Sydney, and a local business owner is promoting a 33,000-square-foot redevelopment in a former call centre to be called Sydney River Square.

The owner declined to comment, but a sign outside the building adjacent to the McDonald’s restaurant and Atlantic Superstore indicates it is being redeveloped for commercial and retail uses in two phases.

Karaphillis said with no vaccine for COVID-19, businesses will have to maintain physical distancing for the foreseeable future and that will hamper commerce to some degree.

A local developer is proposing to lease up to 33,000-square feet of retail space in a former call centre building on Kings Road in Sydney River. (Tom Ayers/CBC)

“COVID-19 has been a major disruption for the world economy and nobody really knows exactly how the world is going to behave after the COVID-19 and when we’re going to actually go back to normal,” he said.

However, the Membertou development in particular is good news because it’s already 75 per cent leased and the band’s other properties are fully leased, Karaphillis said.

“That’s a good indicator that another building, a commercial-size building, is going on now and it’s going to happen although we’re in the middle of this major disruption,” he said.

“This is a very positive sign for the local economy all by itself.”

A contractor started construction on a 55,000-square-foot, three-storey commercial building in Membertou just as public health restrictions due to COVID-19 shut down much of Nova Scotia. (Submitted by Membertou First Nation)

Hudson’s Bay recently announced plans to reopen its store in Sydney and the Mayflower Mall’s general manager, Greg Morrison, said some retailers will open inside the mall starting on Friday.

The mall is moving cautiously and will operate on reduced hours, though, he said.

“We’re really not sure at this time how many stores will open,” Morrison said on Tuesday.

“We’re not pressuring any stores to open. We’re going to just try to open and gauge and see how things work.”

Customers will be greeted at the door, given information on how to proceed and hand sanitizing stations will be available, said Morrison.

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Economy

Minimum wage to hire higher-paid temporary foreign workers set to increase

Published

2 days ago

October 21, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The federal government is expected to boost the minimum hourly wage that must be paid to temporary foreign workers in the high-wage stream as a way to encourage employers to hire more Canadian staff.

Under the current program’s high-wage labour market impact assessment (LMIA) stream, an employer must pay at least the median income in their province to qualify for a permit. A government official, who The Canadian Press is not naming because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the change, said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault will announce Tuesday that the threshold will increase to 20 per cent above the provincial median hourly wage.

The change is scheduled to come into force on Nov. 8.

As with previous changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the government’s goal is to encourage employers to hire more Canadian workers. The Liberal government has faced criticism for increasing the number of temporary residents allowed into Canada, which many have linked to housing shortages and a higher cost of living.

The program has also come under fire for allegations of mistreatment of workers.

A LMIA is required for an employer to hire a temporary foreign worker, and is used to demonstrate there aren’t enough Canadian workers to fill the positions they are filling.

In Ontario, the median hourly wage is $28.39 for the high-wage bracket, so once the change takes effect an employer will need to pay at least $34.07 per hour.

The government official estimates this change will affect up to 34,000 workers under the LMIA high-wage stream. Existing work permits will not be affected, but the official said the planned change will affect their renewals.

According to public data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 183,820 temporary foreign worker permits became effective in 2023. That was up from 98,025 in 2019 — an 88 per cent increase.

The upcoming change is the latest in a series of moves to tighten eligibility rules in order to limit temporary residents, including international students and foreign workers. Those changes include imposing caps on the percentage of low-wage foreign workers in some sectors and ending permits in metropolitan areas with high unemployment rates.

Temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector are not affected by past rule changes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees

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Economy

PBO projects deficit exceeded Liberals’ $40B pledge, economy to rebound in 2025

Published

6 days ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.

However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.

The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.

The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.

The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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Economy

Statistics Canada says levels of food insecurity rose in 2022

Published

7 days ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.

In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.

The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.

Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.

In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.

It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.

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