The federal parties took the first full day of campaigning to lay planks in their plans to revive the country’s economy after months of pain from the COVID-19 pandemic, and options for covering the costs.
Unprecedented aid has flowed from federal coffers since the onset of the pandemic last year, which parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux estimates will hit $352 billion in direct support by 2026 when all measures come to a close under existing plans.
Business groups said Monday their members were looking for a detailed road map for recovery, including targeted aid for businesses still smarting from public health restrictions through to next year and debt relief for small companies that piled on debt to survive the downturn.
The Liberals promised to extend a hiring credit first unveiled in their recent budget through to the end of March 2022. They also pledged to provide extra help to the hardest hit sectors like tourism and live theatre that are facing a steeper climb back to pre-pandemic levels.
“For hard-hit businesses who get the workers they need, to workers who get the jobs they need to support their families, this is a win-win,” Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said in Longueuil, Que.
Trudeau said the final bill would be dictated by how quickly the economy recovers and aid would no longer be needed.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole took the first full day of campaigning to lay out his party’s full platform, which similarly aims to create jobs by spending in the immediately future, spur growth at levels above the budget officer’s outlook, and balance the budget by 2031.
“We’re making sure we put a recovery plan forward and that we’re never again unprepared for a crisis or running massive deficits in good times like Mr. Trudeau,” O’Toole said.
His plan also unwinds the Trudeau government’s child-care system and replace it with a tax credit that O’Toole said would help low-income families cover up to 75 per cent of daycare costs. The pledge brought a sharp retort from Trudeau, argued the Conservative plan would hurt women.
Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh promised to pry money out of the pockets of CEOs who saw their compensation rise even as their companies received federal business aid, adding to other New Democrat promises to tax the ultrarich to pad government revenues coming out of the pandemic.
“There are lots of ways for us to make sure that burden doesn’t fall on you or your families, doesn’t fall on workers, doesn’t fall on small businesses,” Singh said in the downtown Toronto riding once held by former NDP leader Jack Layton.
“We can ask the wealthiest corporations, the super-rich to start contributing fairly to pay their fair share and we can invest that back into people.”
But the day was also taken over by other issues, including the government’s efforts to help Afghans who aided Canadian troops flee Afghanistan as the Taliban retook power, and mandatory vaccination rules for workers and travellers — signalling what may face the leaders between now and voting day on Sept. 20.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet spent the morning criticizing the inability of the Trudeau government to produce vaccines in Canada, saying that it was necessary for Quebec to have provincial production capacity rather than relying on foreign companies.
He also talked about the environment, telling reporters in English that it was necessary for Alberta to ween itself off of oil and gas with federal help.
“Solutions exist and we are willing to help and to accept the fact that more money would go there,” Blanchet said, “because we are all going to pay, the whole planet, if nothing is done.”
Similarly, Green Leader Annamie Paul called for an end to the construction of new pipelines, fracking, and oil and gas exploration so Canada could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reshape the economy.
“We are going to be talking a lot about our green future and the climate in this election,” Paul said at an event in Toronto. “We are going to be talking concretely about how we get from here to there and how we can ensure a safe, sustainable future that ensures that Canada … becomes a competitive, green, global economy.”
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.
