Canadians are being asked for their input on ways for this country to become a global leader in what the federal government refers to as the ‘blue economy.’
The blue economy, it says, taps into Canada having the world’s longest coastline and being connected to three oceans. It speaks to “creating reliable, middle-class jobs, while ensuring healthy oceans and sustainable ocean industries,” the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in a Feb. 8 media release.
But it can’t do this without hearing from Canadians, it says.
On Feb. 8 Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan launched the engagement phase in the development of Canada’s Blue Economy Strategy.
“Healthy, productive oceans are vital to the livelihoods of communities across Canada. We want to keep our oceans healthy, so we can grow these industries sustainably, and create more opportunities for our coastal communities,” Jordan said.
The input being gathered will help to guide future investments and policies of the department, she said.
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan – SaltWire File Photo
“I’m very excited about this. This is something that can actually drive our post-pandemic recovery. We know the oceans are going to play an extremely important part in that,” the minister said. “We want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to develop the right policies and the right investments.”
Ocean industries contribute approximately $31.7 billion to Canada’s GDP (gross domestic product) every year. But there are other countries ahead of Canada when it comes to their own GDP.
DFO says there is more potential to see Canada’s domestic GDP grow through a blue economy.
That $31.7 billion represents around 1.6 per cent of the country’s total GDP. It accounts for nearly 300,000 jobs across a broad range of sectors.
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The strategy being developed points to countless possibilities, says DFO, whether it be new products and technologies to enhance sustainability in the commercial fishing industry; exploring offshore renewable energy; encouraging sustainable tourism in coastal regions; the development of new green technologies and practices in ocean-related fields; or enhanced international trade.
A Blue Economy Strategy website was launched on Feb. 8 and engagement, which will continue until June 15, began that same day.
“We will have round tables with stakeholders, with industry, with First Nations, with provinces, territories, with environmental organizations, and others,” Jordan said. “There’s going to be an opportunity for people to go online and download an engagement kit and fill out things on their own on our website in order to be part of this process. It’s extremely important that we hear from as many people as possible because this is a huge undertaking.”
The LFA 34 commercial lobster fishery dumping day off southwestern Nova Scotia. TINA COMEAU PHOTO
Jordan said coming from a N.S. coastal community – her mother, she said, worked in the fishing industry in a plant – she knows the importance of the oceans to people’s lives.
“I know how critically important the fishery is in our coastal communities. I know how important it is to our food supply chain. I know how important it is to our economy. Quite frankly, the fishers I know are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever met . . . It’s critical to making sure that their voices are heard on this blue economy as well.”
While the government continues to take action in the area of ocean protection and conservation – this includes ongoing actions under the Oceans Protection Plan, and a public commitment to protect 25 per cent of Canada’s marine and coastal areas by 2025, and 30 per cent by 2030 – Jordan said it is still felt the oceans can contribute more to the economy than they already are, even with those protection measures in place.
“We’re hoping that a lot of people get engaged in this,” said Jordan. “It’s been close to 20 years since we’ve had an ocean strategy. It’s time to look at what we’re going to be able to do to move Canada forward.”
From the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Blue Economy Strategy website. – Photo via website
Quotables from the Feb. 8 launch of the ‘Blue Economy Strategy’ engagement launch from government departments:
“Canada’s blue economy should be second to none. That’s why we’re developing a strategy to make our ocean industries more sustainable, more productive and more prosperous. This is about creating more long-term opportunities for our coastal communities, by working with the ocean on its terms. Canadians understand that action on climate change is vital to sustainability and economic growth, and building a thriving, sustainable ocean economy is no different. The Blue Economy Strategy will help steer federal investments and actions, on all three coasts, across all ocean sectors, toward a single goal: to get more Canadians working on and in the water.”
• Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
“A Blue Economy Strategy means long-term prosperity for coastal and Indigenous communities. A comprehensive strategy will reflect the input of all Canadians, further protect our ocean-based resources while increasing our competitiveness.”
• Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources
“Our government understands that Canadians have always had a strong connection with our coasts and waterways. The Blue Economy Strategy aligns and complements what is being accomplished through Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan. Together, with Indigenous communities and stakeholders, we’re investing in protecting the environment while growing the economy by working to create a world-leading marine safety system that improves responsible shipping, protects Canada’s waters and strengthens response measures.”
• Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport
“The oceans are a vital lifeline for Indigenous peoples in Canada’s North and Arctic, for everything from hunting, to fishing, to the delivery of goods through Sealift. It is essential that the unique needs of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities in the North are reflected in Canada’s Blue Economy Strategy. This will help drive future activities that protect these waters while enhancing economic opportunities. That is why we need partners from across Canada to engage in the development of this important strategy.”
• Daniel Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs
“If Canada is going to remain a leader in the blue economy, we need to continue to develop new technologies and solutions that allow us to increase productivity in our ocean sectors while enhancing their protection to ensure sustainability. Our world leading ocean-innovators will play a vital role in the future of our ocean sectors.”
• François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
“Our ocean economy will only continue to grow, and by having a comprehensive Blue Economy Strategy, we can ensure that our actions and investments are coordinated to ensure proper stewardship of Canada’s blue resources. This will in turn lead to long-term economic prosperity for those who depend on our ocean sectors, including tourism businesses in coastal communities.”
• Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages
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.
