Deficits, debts, tariffs, trade, taxes, Trump .... Sorting through the fiscal picture for the country, while never easy, has become much more complicated in 2025.  Joining us for this episode are Cory Renner, Associate Director, Economic Forecasting and Richard Forbes, Principal Economist to talk to us about Canada’s fiscal outlook. Where government spending is and where it’s going. 

We discuss the pressure to meet our promises in areas like defence and infrastructure while recognizing the pressures that come with aging populations and growing debt loads.

About our guests:

Cory Renner

Cory Renner is the Associate Director of Economic Forecasting at The Conference Board of Canada. He oversees the forecast and modelling across the Conference Board’s economic products and assists in identifying and creating new economic products for CBoC’s clients. Cory, an experienced modeller, has worked on large-scale sub-national models and simulated a broad array of economic scenarios, ranging from global demand shocks to forecasting the economic impact of climate plans, and regularly contributes to podcasts, webinars and media engagements.

Cory has assumed progressively more senior roles at The Conference Board of Canada during his seven years with the organization. He has made significant contributions to custom projects, particularly in modelling, addressing a wide range of issues from healthcare to global trade and climate change. Prior to his tenure at the Conference Board, Cory worked at Oxford Economics, where he supervised their provincial model and managed many custom contracts in Canada. 

Richard Forbes

Richard Forbes is a Principal Economist, Economic Forecasting at The Conference Board of Canada. Richard Forbes has been an economist on the Conference Board's economic forecasting team since 2016. Richard currently oversees the Conference Board's National Outlook and is responsible for the Board’s government and fiscal forecasts across the national and provincial economies.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in economics from The University of Western Ontario, as well as a master's degree in economics from McMaster University.

Some argue that market concentration in their sectors is inevitable. They say Canada’s small population, vast geography, and global competition create natural monopolies—and that protecting their dominance is necessary to build globally competitive companies.

But is that true?

In this episode, the co-authors of the book The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians, Denise Hearn and Vass Bednar join me to talk about the realities of competition in Canada and the steps we need to take to inject more competition into the economy. They dug into Canada’s competitive landscape and what they found may surprise you.  There are the commonly known challenges: we have three major telecommunications companies, five grocers, a few big banks, two major airlines and a train company.  But beyond these common stats, they found a competitive and corporate landscape that is reducing competition well beyond these big sectors. Concentration in half of Canadian Industries has increased by 40 per cent since 1998.

In this episode, we learn about how competition has eroded and ways in which we can begin to inject more competition into the Canadian economy.

About our guests:

Vass Bednar

Vass Bednar is the executive director of McMaster University’s Master of Public Policy program. Her work focuses on the intersections between policy and the innovation ecosystem. She is a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and writes the popular newsletter “regs to riches.” Vass is a contributing columnist at The Globe and Mail and the host of their podcast, Lately. She is the co-author of The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians with Denise Hearn. 

Denise Hearn

Denise Hearn is an author, applied researcher, and advisor who collaborates with governments, financial institutions, companies, and nonprofits on economic and climate policy and organizational strategy. She is currently a Resident Senior Fellow at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, at Columbia University.

Denise is co-author of The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians and The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition (named one of the Financial Times’ Best Books of 2024). 

Denise’s writing has been translated into 10 languages, and featured in publications such as: The Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Globe and Mail, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and The Washington Post.

Growth is a central concept in economics.  Economies must continue to grow to generate more capital, improve labour productivity and create higher standards of living for populations. But, in 2024, the experiment in growing through a dramatic increase in our immigration levels has called into question whether too much, too fast is actually decreasing our standard of living.  At what point does rapid population growth shift from fueling prosperity to eroding the quality of life for those already living here?

In this episode, we examine how a lack of planning for growth is holding Canada back.  We also hear how neither the post-pandemic experiment in drastically increasing immigration numbers or the more recent equally drastic reductions in immigration will serve our country and its economy.  Along the way, we discuss whether Canada can effectively grow to a population of 100 million without sacrificing the life and lifestyles of all Canadians.

Our guests

• Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist from the Conference Board of Canada 
• Lisa Lalande, Chief Executive Officer of the Century Initiative.

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Lisa Lalande is the CEO of Century Initiative, leading efforts to secure Canada’s long-term prosperity through responsible population growth. She has shaped national conversations on immigration, housing, and childcare, and spearheaded the National Scorecard on Growth and Prosperity. Lisa previously led transformative projects at the Munk School’s Mowat Centre’s Not-for-Profit Research Hub and held leadership roles at Habitat for Humanity Canada, advancing affordable housing across the country and around the world. Her work has driven policy change, empowered decision-makers, and earned numerous accolades, including the King’s Coronation Medal for her contributions to community service and social impact.
 
Additional links:

• The Century Initiative: [https://www.centuryinitiative.ca/scorecard/home]; 
•  The Century Initiative: Growing Smarter—The case for a national smart growth strategy
• The Conference Board of Canada: Shift in Immigration Policy Goes Too Far

As we experience the hottest summer on record, reaching our Net Zero goals has become one of the most urgent challenges of our time. Canada's target is to achieve a net-zero economy—either emitting no greenhouse gases or offsetting any emissions—by 2050, with critical milestones set for 2030.

In this episode, we examine Canada’s progress toward these goals and explore how the economics of this transition will impact Canadians in various ways.

Our guests:

• Tony Bonen, Executive Director, Economic Research, The Conference Board of Canada
• John McNally, Senior Advisor, Climate and Socio-Economic Policy Research, Scotiabank Economics 

Additional links:

• Economic Impacts From Cap and Trade on Oil and Gas (CBoC)
• Economics: In-depth commentary and analysis (Scotiabank Canada)

The last four years have brought many changes to the ways in which we live, work and shop. These new habits are reshaping cities and the road to the new normal is proving very bumpy for cities across the country.  In this episode, our guests explore how cities are reinventing themselves and talk about the critical role cities and the people and businesses that comprise them form the backbone of our economy.

About our guests:

Mary W. Rowe, President and CEO, Canadian Urban Institute

Mary W. Rowe is one of Canada's leading advocates for place-based policy leadership, with a particular interest in how cities and communities across Canada and the United States foster their own economic, social, and environmental resilience. During her leadership at the Canadian Urban Institute, she has built new partnerships and platforms for city builders from the public, private and community sectors to learn and adapt to challenges in collaborative ways that catalyze sustainable, creative change.

Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist, The Conference Board of Canada

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Other links:

Conference Board of Canada: Cracking the Productivity Code: Charting a New Path to Prosperity

The Canadian Urban Institute is a leading organization dedicated to advancing urban solutions. CUI collaborates with city builders, researchers, and community leaders to create thriving, equitable, and sustainable urban spaces across Canada. Learn more at canurb.org today.

Looking for more like this? Check out CityTalk Live, Canada’s premier live webinar exploring what’s working, what’s not and what’s next for our cities. Produced by the Canadian Urban Institute. [citytalkcanada.ca]

The April 2024 federal budget is like game seven of a Stanley Cup playoff run for economists.  It’s a critical time when decisions on spending and taxation are made that can help or hinder our economic direction.  

In this special episode we call on various members of The Conference Board of Canada’s economic forecasting unit to help make sense of the key announcements in the budget.  Join us to hear their take on the impacts of federal budget 2024.

Everyone from the Bank of Canada to leading economists from across the country are discussing what’s at the root of Canada’s productivity challenges.  

 To help us sort through the discussion, I’m joined this episode by the Conference Board of Canada’s Director of Economic Research Tony Bonen and the Founder and Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) Andrew Sharpe.

We discuss how we should understand productivity and why it’s important for it to improve.  Near the end of the episode we hear about new research from the Conference Board of Canada linking skills to our productivity challenges.  We’ll hear that Tony thinks this is a promising new avenue—in part because there are many levers that the government can use to support skills development.

About our guests:

Tony Bonen is the Director of Economic Research at The Conference Board of Canada. In this role Tony provides strategic leadership to a dynamic team producing insightful custom analyses for the Board’s partners.

Tony brings significant experience managing research and providing guidance on a wide range of economic issues. Prior to joining the Board, he served as the Executive Director at the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC), building on his previous work as LMIC’s founding Director of Research, Data and Analytics. While in the risk department at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Tony led the development of housing price and macroeconomic forecasts used in stress testing. He analyzed the economic impacts of climate change and the US pension and retirement system at the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, and the economic policy and geopolitical analysis affecting member countries while at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Andrew Sharpe is founder and Executive Director of the Ottawa-based Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS). Established in 1995, CSLS is a national, independent, non-profit research organization. Its main objectives are to study trends and determinants of productivity, living standards and economic well-being and to develop policy recommendations to improve the lives of Canadians. He has held a variety of earlier positions, including Head of Research at the Canadian Labour Market and Productivity Centre and Chief, Business Sector Analysis at the Department of Finance. He holds a M.A. and Ph.D in economics from McGill University, a maitrise in urban geography from the Université de Paris-Sorbonne, and a B.A. from the University of Toronto. He is also founder and Editor of the International Productivity Monitor and Executive Director of the International Association for Research on Income and Wealth, an international research association dedicated to the advancement of knowledge relating to income and wealth.

In this episode, we delve into the minds of CEOs, exploring their concerns and insights as revealed in the 25th edition of the C-Suite survey conducted by The Conference Board. Our guests, Dana Peterson, Chief Economist, The Conference Board and Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist, The Conference Board of Canada provide a comprehensive analysis of the survey results, shedding light on the external and internal risks preoccupying global, US, and Canadian business leaders.

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Dana M Peterson is the Chief Economist and Leader of the Economy, Strategy & Finance Center at The Conference Board. Prior to this, she served as a North America Economist and later as a Global Economist at Citi, the world’s largest investment bank. Her wealth of experience extends to the public sector, having also worked at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.

Additional resources:
C-Suite Outlook 2024: Leading for Tomorrow
https://www.conference-board.org/publications/C-Suite-Outlook-2024-leading-for-tomorrow

https://www.conferenceboard.ca/focus-areas/canadian-economics/ 

In this final episode of 2023, we invite two leading economists to explore key issues facing the Canadian economy. We delve into how the world of work is evolving and consider whether Canada might be lagging behind other nations that are more readily adapting to the future of work. Additionally, we examine the increasing role of industrial policies as a strategy for governments to influence various aspects of the economy, ranging from supply chains to environmental performance.

We also discuss the challenges Canada and Canadians are confronting as we enter 2024.

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Linda Nazareth is an economist, futurist and expert on the future of work. The author of five books including her most recent Working it Out: Getting Ready for the Redefined World of Work (2023), she is also a regular columnist for the Globe and Mail and the Host of the  podcast ‘Work and the Future’.

Additional resources:

https://www.conferenceboard.ca/focus-areas/canadian-economics/

http://www.relentlesseconomics.com

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/a-podcast-about-work-the-future-and-how-they-will-go-together/id1515835849

Over the past months, various players have come out to point a finger at the role immigration is playing in a long list of what ails our country.  

From inflation, to housing affordability, to struggling post-secondary institutions, new Canadians have become an easy target.  Our guests Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist at the Conference Board and Kathryn Dennler, Senior Researcher in the Conference Board’s  Immigration Knowledge Area to shed some light on the realities of Canada’s immigration system. 

They talk about how Canada's record numbers of new Canadians is impacting our economy.  They discuss Conference Board of Canada research that highlights how immigration can be an effective tool in helping to reduce the housing affordability crisis.

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Kathryn Dennler joined the Immigration Knowledge Area at The Conference Board of Canada in March 2021. Her research examines Canada’s immigration and settlement policies and their impacts on newcomers. Kathryn has worked on immigration as a researcher, educator, and service provider for over fifteen years and across five countries. Kathryn holds a PhD in Geography from York University, Canada.

Read more:

Work in Progress: How Immigration Can Address Labour Shortages in Residential Construction

https://www.conferenceboard.ca/product/work-in-progress/

The Leaky Bucket: A Study of Immigrant Retention Trends in Canada

https://www.conferenceboard.ca/product/the-leaky-bucket/

Doomsday scenarios are the currency of the day when it comes to artificial intelligence’s impact on the jobs market.  But technologists aren’t always that great at economic forecasting. To help us sort through the hype, we’re joined this episode by Mike Burt, Vice-President at the Conference Board of Canada and Benjamin F. Jones, Professor of Strategy at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois. 

Mike and Ben share their assessments of how artificial intelligence is impacting jobs—drawing a key distinction between whole jobs and the various tasks that make up a job.  You’ll hear why the promise of this new technology represents a sea change in the way that economists have thought about the risks from job automation.  You’ll hear what fears they think are real and whether they are optimistic that new technologies will help to address persistent challenges like Canada’s underperforming innovation sector or broader economic inequality.

About our guests:

Michael Burt is a Vice President at The Conference Board of Canada and leads our Education & Skills and Economic Forecasting knowledge areas. He is also the executive lead for the work CBoC does with the Future Skills Centre. In his role, Michael oversees the convening and research activities of these different areas. Michael has more than 20 years of experience conducting and leading research activities.

An economist by training, Professor Benjamin F. Jones studies the sources of economic growth in advanced economies, with an emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship, and scientific progress.  He also studies global economic development, including the roles of education, climate, and national leadership in explaining the wealth and poverty of nations.  His research has appeared in journals such as Science, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the American Economic Review, and has been profiled in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and The New Yorker.

A former Rhodes Scholar, Professor Jones has served as the senior economist for macroeconomics for the White House Council of Economic Advisers and in the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  Professor Jones is a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, where he co-directs the Innovation Policy Working Group, a senior fellow of the Institute for Progress, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Additional information:
www.conferenceboard.ca 

The year 2023 has already marked itself as Canada's worst forest fire season in history, and it's only July. A glance at today's fire map reveals almost every province battling blazes that have spiraled out of control.

In this episode, our guests Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist of The Conference Board of Canada and Derek Nighbor, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Forest Products Association of Canada, discuss the impacts on people, the economy and communities of the forest fires we've seen so far this year.  We discuss how climate change is making forestry management a more critical task and how the increased risks we're seeing from fires and other climate related issues are further complicating the task of economists who are mapping out the direction of our economy.

We discuss what else can be done to prevent forest fires from getting out of control in the future. We also explore whether record breaking forest fires, and the smoke that they bring to communities across Canada, is something that we should be preparing for in the future.

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Derek Nighbor has been leading Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) as President and Chief Executive Officer since March of 2016. Representing the industry and its stakeholders at a national and international level, Derek champions the interests of workers, families, and communities associated with Canada's forest products sector. Prior to FPAC, he served as Senior Vice President of Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) for over 7 years. His career also includes senior roles with Retail Council of Canada (RCC) and the Government of Ontario. With global appointments such as the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and the International Council of Forest & Paper Associations (ICFPA), Derek actively contributes to shaping sustainable practices in the forest sector. He further demonstrates his commitment to community well-being through his involvement in healthcare initiatives and sports organizations.

The Conference Board of Canada's Economic Forecasting Unit: https://www.conferenceboard.ca/focus-areas/canadian-economics/ 

Forest Products Association of Canada: www.fpac.ca

The pandemic created upward pressure on housing and recent increases in interest rates are pushing affordability even further away for some. The OECD now ranks Canada as having the most expensive housing market among all other G7 countries. 

Our guests this episode explore how we got to this point and what if anything can be done to create a more affordable housing market. They share that not only are housing prices forecasted to continue to rise, but that the affordability crisis is extending deep into the rental markets. This is further deepening the crisis and creates greater pressure for near and long-term solutions.

About our guests:

Tony Bonen is the Director of Economic Research at The Conference Board of Canada. In this role Tony provides strategic leadership to a dynamic team producing insightful custom analyses for the Board’s partners. He collaborates across disciplines and Focus Areas to ensure the Boards economic research is meaningful for leaders across Canada.

Tony brings significant experience managing research and providing guidance on a wide range of economic issues. Prior to joining the Board, he served as the Executive Director at the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC), building on his previous work as LMIC’s founding Director of Research, Data and Analytics. While in the risk department at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Tony led the development of housing price and macroeconomic forecasts used in stress testing. He analyzed the economic impacts of climate change and the US pension and retirement system at the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, and the economic policy and geopolitical analysis affecting member countries while at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

John Pasalis is the President of Realosophy Realty, a Toronto real estate brokerage. A frequent commentator on the Toronto housing market, John has contributed to the Globe and Mail, BNN Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and other media, government and industry organizations. His research has been shared with the IMF and Statistics Canada and cited by the Bank of Canada and CMHC.

John holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Toronto, an MSc in Business and Management Research from the University of Reading and is currently completing a Doctor of Business Administration at the University of Reading and the University of Toronto.

In this episode, our guests Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist of The Conference Board of Canada, and Kevin Page, founding President and CEO of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa, discuss the evolving definition of fiscal responsibility in 2023. They address key issues such as the lack of consensus around debts and deficits, the influence of macroeconomic drivers on federal spending, the potential need for revenue increases, and the consequences of borrowing from future generations. They also provide advice to government policymakers as they navigate complex challenges like fiscal sustainability, growth, inflation, rising interest rates, war in Ukraine, climate change, and energy transition. 

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes
Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Kevin Page
Kevin Page is the founding President and CEO of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa. Mr. Page was born in Fort William (Thunder Bay), Ontario. His undergraduate education took place at Lakehead University (Ontario) & Simon Fraser University (British- Columbia) and he has an M.A. in Economics from Queen's University, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Lakehead University, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of York (United Kingdom).

Read more:

The Conference Board of Canada's Economic Forecasting Unit
https://www.conferenceboard.ca/focus-areas/canadian-economics/

Clean and Green but Not Very Lean: Our Analysis of the Federal Budget 2023
https://www.conferenceboard.ca/insights/federal-budget-2023-analysis/

Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa
https://www.ifsd.ca 

Thumbs up: Budget 2023 has a credible fiscal plan – deficit, spending are modest
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-federal-budget-2023-fiscal-plan/

Budget 2023: Will the Government Stay the Course on Deficit Reduction?
https://www.policymagazine.ca/author/kevin-page-with-alex-eikre-and-zhihan-li/

Canada’s mobile broadband usage numbers are dismal.  We rank dead last in mobile broadband users and have some of lowest mobile data usage compared to other G7 countries. These metrics need to improve.  While there is much discussion on the number of providers and the competitiveness of our telecommunications industry, there’s another way to move the needle.

Research by The Conference Board of Canada shows that increased tower sharing can play a role in changing this critical metric for Canadians.  It could allow for more tower development in rural and remote regions, eliminate redundancies in infrastructure development, reduce the environmental impact of passive infrastructure, and lead to improved connectivity.  In this episode, our guests Dan Carpenter, Research Associate, The Conference Board of Canada and Wendy Zatylny, Country Manager, SBA Communications Canada join us to discuss how changes at the federal and municipal levels could help foster the growth of the tower sharing industry in Canada.

Read more:

• Improving Tower Sharing in Canada: The Potential Role of a Healthy Independent Tower Industry (CBoC)
• Sharing Towers: Canada’s Potential for an Independent Tower Industry (CBoC)

About our guests:

Dan Carpenter is a Research Associate on the Innovation and Technology team at the Conference Board of Canada. Previous to this, he worked in the finance and tech sectors. Dan has conducted research on a range of topics, such as analyzing global cleantech markets, exploring how Canadian businesses are adapting to automation, and producing several Future Skills Centre reports on occupational transitions. Dan completed his Master’s in Globalization from McMaster University where he focused on the global governance of artificial intelligence. 

Wendy Zatylny is Country Manager, Canada, SBA Communications Canada.  Wendy Zatylny, the first female country manager in SBA's international markets. 

 Prior to joining SBA Canada, Wendy was the President of the Association of Canadian Port Authorities for nine years. With over 25 years of experience in domestic and international communications, Wendy is a skilled strategist and executive with a distinctive set of talents. Her expertise encompasses a broad range of areas, including strategic and policy planning and implementation, stakeholder relations, government affairs, event and media planning, crisis management, media spokespersonship, and writing. Additionally, she possesses proficiency in producing top-notch print and collateral materials, as well as multimedia and social media products. Beyond work, she is a ballroom dancer and a proud mother to a son who plays rugby.

In this episode of Economics Matters, we look behind the curtain at the world of economic forecasting.  Our colleague Ted Mallett, The Conference Board of Canada’s Director of Economic Forecasting, gives us his take on how he and his team approach business of economic forecasting. 

We discuss the mechanics of economic forecasting, the models, the data sources as well as the ways in which Ted and his team incorporate observations on human behaviours to guide the outputs of the models and derive meaningful insights on the direction of the economy.

About our guest: 

Ted Mallett is the Director of the Economic Forecasting team at The Conference Board of Canada. Ted is responsible for the strategic direction of this Knowledge Area, as well as its day-to-day operations. He oversees the planning and production of regular forecast publications at the national, provincial, metro, and industry levels.

Ted is a nationally recognized economist with more than three decades of experience in economic policy analysis and forecasting. He is known for producing innovative and unique insights in areas not often covered by traditional sources of data. As a frequent contributor to media and a member of several senior advisory bodies to governments, Ted is adept at identifying, anticipating, and articulating emerging trends and challenges leaders will face in our economy.

Check out Conference Board of Canada forecasts at: https://www.conferenceboard.ca/focus-areas/canadian-economics/ 

For economists, inequality is a critical issue because the more unequal a society is, the more challenging it is for that economy to grow and thrive. 

This episode we explore the data on inequality in Canada to separate fact from fiction. We discuss whether inequality is growing in Canada. We also explore the question of whether the way economists normally approach this topic is up to the task of addressing the various concerns that get lumped into discussions of inequality.

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Dr. Mike Moffatt

Dr. Mike Moffatt is the Senior Director of Policy and Innovation at the Smart Prosperity Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Business, Economics and Public Policy group at Ivey Business School, Western University. Mike’s research at SPI focuses on the intersection of regional economic development, building child-friendly, climate-friendly housing and communities, and clean innovation. In 2017, Mike was the Chief Innovation Fellow for the Government of Canada, advising Deputy Ministers on innovation policy and emerging trends.

Read more:

Inequality in Canada: Separating Fact From Fiction | The Conference Board of Canada
Smart Prosperity Institute | https://institute.smartprosperity.ca/ 

Canada used to pride itself as being one of the best places to live in the world, but our international ranking is on the decline. Many people have questions about the long-term economic growth path for the country. How will demographic issues—high retirements and low birth rates—impact the country? Will Canada ever solve the innovation and productivity challenge that we face? How can Canadian policy-makers take steps today to help to build a better future.

In this episode, we hear two leading economists assess Canada’s long-term economic growth prospects and what steps we can take as a country to improve our performance in the future.

Read More:

Demographics Rule the Day - Canada’s Economic Outlook to 2045 | The Conference Board of Canada
Canada’s 20-year Outlook | The Conference Board of Canada

Brett House is Professor of Professional Practice in economics at Columbia Business School and a Fellow with the Public Policy Forum, the Munk School and Massey College

Brett House teaches and conducts research in macroeconomics and international finance at Columbia Business School. Prior to returning to academia, Brett was Deputy Chief Economist at Scotiabank, Chief Economist at a Toronto-based asset manager, and Global Strategist at a New York-based global macro hedge fund. Earlier in his career, Brett was Principal Advisor on Economic Issues in the Executive Office of the United Nations' Secretary-General and an Economist at the International Monetary Fund. He began his career in financial markets at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs. He has also held teaching and research roles at Columbia University, McGill University, Oxford University, and the University of Cape Town. Brett's analysis appears regularly in the Globe & Mail and Financial Post, while his segment "Dollars & Sense" is featured every Tuesday afternoon on Toronto's NewsTalk 1010 radio station. He tweets at @BrettEHouse.

https://ppforum.ca/person/brett-house/

Sohaib Shahid, Director of Economic Innovation at the Conference Board of Canada

Sohaib Shahid is the Director, Economic Innovation at The Conference Board of Canada.  As part of CBoC’s Economic Forecasting Knowledge Area, Sohaib leads the Economic Innovation Team and their new economic product research and development initiatives.

Prior to joining the Board, he was a Senior Economist at TD Bank leading TD’s  global economic forecast. He also worked as an Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington, DC. Sohaib holds a MA and a PhD in Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

As we near the end of December, many economists are looking back at the year that was. But that’s the past. What can we expect for the future?

We’ve asked two leading economic thinkers to give us their forecasts on the key issues that the Canadian economy will face in 2023. Will the Bank of Canada’s initiatives be enough keep inflation down next year? What will the impact of monetary and fiscal policy be and where should government spending go? What will the impact of broader geopolitical challenges be on the Canadian economy? And, what questions should business leaders be asking about how and how often Canadian workers will return to the office in the year to come?

Our guests share their outlooks for the year to come for the Canadian economy.

Read more:

A Step Forward and a Step Back--Fall Economic Statement  | The Conference Board of Canada 
Index of Consumer Confidence | The Conference Board of Canada
Index of Business Confidence | The Conference Board of Canada
Index of Consumer Spending | The Conference Board of Canda
Canada’s New Workplace Mobility Report | The Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Canada’s New Workplace Mobility Interactive Dashboard | The Canadian Chamber of Commerce 

About our guests:

Sohaib Shahid, Director of Economic Innovation at the Conference Board of Canada

Sohaib Shahid is the Director, Economic Innovation at The Conference Board of Canada.  As part of CBoC’s Economic Forecasting Knowledge Area, Sohaib leads the Economic Innovation Team and their new economic product research and development initiatives.

Prior to joining the Board, he was a Senior Economist at TD Bank leading TD’s  global economic forecast. He also worked as an Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington, DC. Sohaib holds a MA and a PhD in Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Stephen Tapp, Chief Economist, Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Stephen Tapp is the Chief Economist at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. He is a key member of the Chamber’s executive leadership team and is responsible for the operations of its new Business Data Lab.

Stephen brings 20 years of experience at many of Canada’s top economic organizations including: Export Development Canada as Deputy Chief Economist, the Bank of Canada, Parliamentary Budget Office, Finance Canada, two think tanks and academia. 

Stephen’s research was awarded the Purvis prize for Canadian economic policy. He has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Queen’s University and an Honors B.A from Western.

Canadian Universities and Colleges are increasingly welcoming students from around the world to study in Canada.  We estimate that over the last ten years, over a million international students have come to study in Canada.  And that number is rising. 

International students represent some of the best and the brightest from around the world.  They come to Canadian post-secondary institutions hoping to get a world-class education and in many instances an opportunity to continue to build on the connections they make in school to jump into the Canadian labour force.

But the ideal isn’t always the reality. 

And Conference Board of Canada research has highlighted some major gaps in the pathway from international student to Canadian.  In this episode of Leadership Perspectives we examine the challenges facing international students on the path to Canadian citizenship and provide recommendations on how to improve this system. 

Read more:

From Student to Immigrant? Multi-step Pathways to Permanent Residence
After School: Keeping International Students In-Province

About our guests:

Iain Reeve:
Iain Reeve is the Associate Director for the Immigration Knowledge Area at The Conference Board of Canada. He runs the Board’s immigration research agenda and manages the National Immigration Centre. Through Iain and his team’s work, the Conference Board is shaping public and policy debates on immigration in Canada and beyond.

Iain strongly believes in the power of quality research, evidence-based policy making, and bringing people together to solve wicked problems. Iain spent his career developing a skillset in service of these goals, most recently as a Policy Analyst at Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada. 

Kathryn Dennler:
Kathryn Dennler joined the Immigration Knowledge Area at The Conference Board of Canada in March 2021. Her research examines Canada’s immigration and settlement policies and their impacts on newcomers. Kathryn has worked on immigration as a researcher, educator, and service provider for over fifteen years and across five countries. Kathryn holds a PhD in Geography from York University, Canada. 
 

Canada’s labour market is facing an unprecedented set of challenges. 

We keep hearing the dual realities of low unemployment levels but high job vacancies. There is a loud and growing chorus of business owners who complain that they can’t find the workers they need. And workers are increasingly expressing their frustration with the jobs they do have. 

From the great-resignation, to quiet quitting. From the turbulence that is affecting industries as diverse as travel, hospitality, restaurants, and healthcare to the ongoing pressure to address wages without creating a wage-price spiral.  Something is happening in the Canadian labour force.

In this episode of Economics Matters, we will be examining the causes of Canada’s labour market turmoil. 

Read more:
Cost of skills vacancies
Skills forecasting
Improving worker resilience
Minimum wage policy
https://www.thestar.com/authors.yalnizyan_armine.html

About our guests:

Michael Burt is a Vice President at The Conference Board of Canada and leads our Education & Skills and Economic Forecasting knowledge areas. He is also the executive lead for the work CBoC does with the Future Skills Centre. In his role, Michael oversees the convening and research activities of these different areas. Michael has more than 20 years of experience conducting and leading research activities.

Armine Yalnizyan is a leading voice on Canada’s economic scene. She is the Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers and writes a bi-weekly business column for the Toronto Star. She served as a senior economic policy advisor to the federal Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada in 2018 and 2019, and has been a member of a high-level task group on women in the economy convened by the federal Ministers of Finance and Middle Class Prosperity during the pandemic. Armine helped shape and advance the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Inequality Project from 2006 to 2016, provided weekly business commentary for CBC from 2011 to 2018, and served as Vice President and President of the Canadian Association for Business Economics from 2013-2019.

This is the first episode of Economics Matters, a Conference Board of Canada podcast. This series will bring you some of the leading economic thinkers from Canada and around the world to talk about key issues in the economy. 

In our first episode, we deal with one of the biggest questions facing our economy— what is Canada’s risk of falling into a recession and what, if anything, can be done about it.  To answer this question, our guests this episode share their views on whether Canada’s recession risk is increasing and provide their suggestions for how policy makers can work to minimize its effects.

• Read our outlook There’s a 70 Per Cent Probability of a Recession Next Year
• Access all our economic analysis and research at conferenceboard.ca

About our guests:

Sohaib Shahid is the Director, Economic Innovation at The Conference Board of Canada. 

As part of CBoC’s Economic Forecasting Knowledge Area, Sohaib leads the Economic Innovation Team and their new economic product research and development initiatives.

Prior to joining the Board, he was a Senior Economist at TD Bank leading TD’s global economic forecast. He also worked as an Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington, DC. Sohaib holds a MA and a PhD in Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jimmy Jean is Vice-President, Chief Economist and Strategist for the Desjardins Group. 

He directs research, analysis and forecasting and makes positioning recommendations on a variety of issues, including monetary policy, macroeconomic developments and the outlook for interest rates. He acts as Desjardins spokesperson on economic news and major issues affecting the economy and financial markets. He holds a master's degree in applied economics from HEC Montréal and holds the CFA designation.

Before joining Desjardins, Jimmy Jean held the position of Senior Strategist at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. He also worked as an economist at Moody's, RBC and Statistics Canada.

Canada is a trading nation.  Throughout our history, trade has been one of the foundations of our economy.  Equally important has been to establish rules for international trade.  This episode we hear how trade agreement commitments are shaping Canada’s ability to regulate the digital economy.  Matt Malone, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law at Thompson Rivers University, talks about how recent trade agreements are shaping the digital economy, often before domestic governments have acted with their own laws and regulations in pertinent areas.

He cautions that as Canada seeks to revamp law and policy for the digital economy, a growing risk area is divergence between our international obligations and our domestic laws and policies.  In particular, he notes trade secrets are the go-to intellectual property for algorithms, data, and secret processes and formulas, but Canada’s law, policy, and enforcement in this area are uncertain and weak, even as trade agreements impose requirements for stricter regulation and enforcement.  Ultimately, Matt calls on Canada to adopt a proactive approach that contemplates the impact of such provisions in trade agreements on its domestic law and policy goals.

Read the research, Connecting the Dots: How Recent Trade Agreements Are Regulating the Digital Economy

And access all our research at conferenceboard.ca.

About our guest:

Matt Malone’s main research interest is in the law of trade secrets and confidential information. He also maintains a broad interest in legal issues pertinent to modern workplaces, in particular workplace investigations. 

Before joining Thompson Rivers University, Matt practiced law in California, where he worked in Silicon Valley in the employment and labor practice group of Morrison & Foerster (MoFo). At MoFo, he represented and conducted investigations for a roster of clients ranging from start-ups to the world’s largest companies in the high-technology sector. He also counseled on human resources matters for companies of diverse sizes and litigated employment disputes in various federal and state courts and agencies. Matt has also provided pro bono legal services to various LGBTQ+ individuals and organizations throughout his legal career.

Matt earned his law degrees at McGill University. Matt is called to the bar in California and New York and holds AWI-CH, PHR, and SPHR credentials.

Of course, analytics helps the internal operations and management of an organization but how is that, in turn, helping their customers? In this final episode of our five-part series on data analytics, Carolyn Loh talks with host Takara Small about how data analytics can help deepen relationships with customers, and how to better communicate to the public about how data analytics can actually benefit them. 

About our guest: 

Carolyn Loh is the VP Analytics & Insights Acuity Ads. She brings to her role a deep knowledge of customer lifecycle and strategic value management to deliver insights that drive operational innovation and revenue growth in the organization.  Her customer-first approach and passion for story-telling, enable her to translate complex data (leveraging AI/ML, Advanced Analytics) to propel the data-driven digital transformation for at Acuity Ads.

Carolyn has worked in North America and Europe, previously holding leadership roles at Rogers, Microsoft, Avaya, and Ericsson.  She holds an MBA from McGill University and BA in Finance & Economics from the University of Western Ontario.

This is the fifth episode of Making Sense of Data, a mini-series from Tableau and The Conference Board of Canada. Access all of our research at conferenceboard.ca

Organizations often struggle with fostering a data and analytics culture to the detriment of their analytics programs. In this fourth episode of our five-part series on data analytics, Tamara Augsten talks with host Takara Small about her work with data visualization and how organizations can build a culture that makes workers excited to engage in data analytics.

About our guest: 

Tamara Augsten uses her background in data analysis and urban planning to visualize, mobilize and translate data in a meaningful, accessible and engaging ways to inform planning and policy. She currently works with Toronto Public Health at the City of Toronto and develops data visualization tools for the COVID-19 pandemic response for both internal and public audiences. The public-facing dashboards she has contributed to have received over 30 million views. Previously to her work at Toronto Public Health, she led Raising the Village – an initiative to provide communities with data and research to measure the well-being of Toronto's children and families.

This is the fourth episode of Making Sense of Data, a mini-series from Tableau and The Conference Board of Canada. Access all of our research at conferenceboard.ca

Additional Links

Mapping Police Violence - https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/ (Mentioned in the interview)

New York Times Data Visualization - https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/graphics (Mentioned in the Interview)