Competing with its neighbor to the south, Canada has become a strong contender in the global market, making the country one of the most sought after places to live. It is one of the fastest growing developed countries in the world. With major emphasis on lenient immigration and foreign direct investment, Canada’s private-sector and public infrastructure has grown tremendously over the past few decades. One interesting aspect of Canada’s private sector is its special terrain that offers abundant oil and natural gas. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, 2017), Canada now ranks as third in the world in proved oil reserves and the majority of the crude oil production comes from oil sands in the western provinces. …show more content…
Currently, Canada is on course to add 400,000 jobs this year, which if attained, would be the first time at least 400,000 jobs were created in one year since 1979, according to Derek Holt, the Vice President of Capital Markets Economics at Scotiabank (Sevunts, 2017).
Despite this phenomenal growth in jobs creation and employment, wages have remained primarily stagnant. Holt weighs in with a sobering message, “Strip away low inflation, and the average Canadian’s pay cheque is still falling somewhat” (Sevunts, 2017).
Interestingly, household consumption has not significantly declined as a result of low wage growth. At the end of 2016, senior economist with TD Economics Brian DePratto noted, “Canadians opened their wallets both at stores and construction offices, delivering a solid fourth-quarter economic performance” (CBC News, 2017).
The unemployment data suggests Canada’s economy is thriving and indicates the possibility of further growth is on the horizon. Derek Holt, however, advises a more cautious outlook given recent uncertainties in the U.S.’s political sphere. As Canada and the U.S. are closely connected not just geographically but also in trade, changes in U.S. government policies may significantly affect Canada’s economic situation.
In a March 2017 interview, Holt says, “One reason for greater caution is that U.S. and global trade policy uncertainty persists, and the Trudeau-Trump meeting did not eradicate it in the face of potentially material ‘tweaks’
In “Tarmageddon: Dirty oil is turning Canada into a corrupt petro-state,” Andrew Nikiforuk argues that the Canadian oil industry has harmed Canada’s environmental, political and economical images. First, Canada starts to be regarded as having a defensive attitude towards environmental issues since the Bitumen has been explored. Regardless of the Bitumen’s high cost and emission, Canada still welcomes billions of foreign investment in the Bitumen. Consequently, newly operated industries begin to destroy the forest and generate toxic waste (even into water). While refining oil, lots of energy and freshwater are squandered, outpouring a considerable amount of carbon emission. Hence, Canadian oil industry has been pictured as a “carbon-making
The Athabasca Delta is a breeding ground for species of birds, which was destroyed to clear the land for oil development. These development practices are a leading factor towards increases in pollution. A scientific panel stated on Tuesday that pollution must be corrected, as there are major debates against the oil sands development. Proponents argue that business through the Oil Sands has made Canada a major player in foreign supplement. Unemployment rates have decreased across Canada and companies generate huge profits. The Alberta Oil Sands provide Canada with a secure source of energy. Throughout the world, Canadian oil reserves are the second largest in the world. Oil mining operations in Canada also help create more trading partnerships with different countries. This is a great way Canada can strengthen relationships and ties with various nation-states. The Oil Sands is a stabilizing force for Canada’s economy, yet it has a tremendous effect on the environment. Corporations are held responsible for their actions, and environmental protection should be their main concern. The procedures that the Oil Sands has taken are not effective, to an extent, where the pace of investment and development in the oil sands
The unemployment rate for March 2016 is at 7.3% compared to 6.6% in 2014. With the rising unemployment rate, people looking for jobs will have a much more difficult time. People will be looking longer for jobs and will not be receiving a salary to pay for costs of living. Right now, each month the unemployment rate climbs by 0.4%. This results in a loss of 35,700 jobs per month. Chapter six of Dinner Party explains the inflation costs. We can relate this to the inflating cost of living and the rising unemployment rate. Canada needs to change quick, as 35,700 jobs lost each month is not good for people trying to support
Canada’s high unemployment rate combined with the number of job vacancies advocates a problem, and it’s possible that the jobs offered aren’t enticing enough for Canadians, for reasons such as wage or health and safety.
Department of Finance Canada (2009) states Canada has been significantly affected by the global recession and Canadian economy growth began to slow in the fourth quarter of 2008. Real GDP declined by 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Although Canadian economy is being affected by the global recession, the Canadian economy is still better than other industrialized countries (CMA Business Case)
Since the country’s conception in 1867, Canada has lived in the shadow of it’s southerly neighbour, the United States of America. Through the years, what started out as a country with very distinct culture has morphed and become Americanized. Historically speaking, American influence has had a great economical impact on Canada. Speaking about the Americanization of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada, has said, “Americans should never underestimate the constant pressure on Canada which the mere presence of the United states has produced…” This pressure has changed the way Canadians live and conduct business. This pressure has Americanized the Canadian economy. American culture has a very far reaching effect on Canada with many trickle down effects. Americanization of the Canadian economy has lead to the American control of the Canada’s corporate structure, Canadian dependence on American capital, turned the Canadian economy into a mirror image of the American economy, and has led to loss of
Canada’s economy was once solely reliant on the exportation of raw materials, such as furs and timber, to Great Britain and Western Europe. Aside from this exportation of raw materials, Canada was largely agricultural in nature. By the time of Confederation, fifty-percent of labour remained agriculturally based (Krahn, Lowe, Hughes, 2008). Changes occurred around 1900; the industrial era replaced the once mainly agricultural and small-scale local production of times past by way of new technologies in the form of electricity, steam powered engines, railways, water wheels, etc. These tools allowed for the re-organization of work from piecework and compensation, based on individual output, to one of large manufacturing plants, high-production, specialized workers, and hourly pay. This industrial era has now morphed into one of new technologies and new careers; careers based in services. The dominance of a service-based economy is prevalent as around 75% of all employment in Canada was in services circa 2005(HRSDC,
There is a real separation between the outstanding material resource created by the Canadian economy and the increasing monetary weakness of Canadians. we must always create conclusive move to build a certifiable economy that benefits all Canadians over the long-term.
Diverse and multi-faceted, the Canadian business market is one of the strongest functioning mixed market economies in the world. Within the Canadian economy, the oil and gas sector stands as one of the largest and most influential sectors. The oil and gas industry is unique as it affects almost every person and sector of the economy worldwide, whether it is through commodity or material input costs. In Canada, this growing industry could allow for the country to be the one of the “biggest energy producers in the world” leading to a massive paradigm shift globally.
Employee skills and the ability of employers to attract and retain skilled workers will be a primary concern to Canada’s economy in the immediate future. A train overflowing with crisis is approaching, and we need to stop listening for it to come because it’s already bearing down on us. Labour and skill shortages in Canada can be attributed to: aging population, increased life expectancy, migration of highly skilled labour, and the disparity between the skills possessed by youth and the skills demanded by employers.
Canada ranks among the leading energy producers in the world, through oil production. These oil deposits rank oil sands of Canada as the largest oil deposits in the world after the Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The only challenge with the oil sand deposits is that oil deposits are seen as unconventional. In effect, tar sands are recognized as one of the dirtiest energy sources in the world (Bailey & Droitsch, 2015). This fact is founded on the production factor; in producing one barrel of tar sands oil, the hazardous emissions are three to five times that of producing the equivalent of conventional oil. The Alberta oil sands are viewed as the single largest economic project in human history. The Canadian government and oil
Besides a relatively non-competitive business environment, Canada?s labour force also lacks the competitive mindset. Structural employment remains high, which is partly due to the existence of social assistance and unemployment insurance systems. Work incentives are low under the protection of the employment insurance program, which indirectly contributes in a higher than the desirable unemployment rate. Furthermore, unions and other similar groups do not promote many incentives for workers to stay competitive in the workplace by continuously learning and improving productivity. Countries that have been most successful in cutting unemployment are those that have improved
Definition of Canadian A) Socially Canada is a multicultural country. In our society, there are many different cultures people in that. This is one of the characteristic that what makes Canada unique in the world since in 1971 Canada was the first country that used multiculturalism as an official policy. Everyone has different cultures or languages but we are in one society. Although everyone has different cultures the point is that is not the only element that makes Canadian unique socially.
One of the most pressing issues faced by Canada today is unemployment. In fact, reports confirm that the jobless rate continues to increase every year. As of February this year, the unemployment rate was at 7.0%. The presence of unemployment rate is evident in various provinces. In Quebec, the number of people working declined by 26,000 in February. Alternately, the number of employed in British Columbia fell by 10,000; while Saskatchewan nearly 6,000 individuals are unable to find jobs. The Conference Board of Canada projected that the country’s labour woes could reach to more than one million workers by 2020. In addition to this, experts predict that the unemployment rate in this country will surpass that of the United States. Along with the dismal figures and projections, the problem of unemployment consequently creates numerous negative consequences on the nation’s economy, its government, and of course its people. Some of the known effects of unemployment include reduced spending power, an increase in financial cost, recession, and even crimes and violence. Individually, long-term unemployment may result to depression, loss of self-respect, and strained relationships with family and friends – ultimately causing damage to the person’s overall well-being. The adverse effects of unemployment only show that this issue imposes a significant cost both on a national and individual level. As such, it is of primary importance to create an immediate plan of action to alleviate
The Canadian economy today is at an all-time high with higher economic growth and rising GDP Canada is seeing great changes in the economy. The GDP increase by 1.1 percent in just the first 3 months of 2017. Canada is quickly recovering from the decline in oil prices that significantly slowed down the growth of the Canadian GDP. Because oil plays such a major role in the Canadian economy this had a huge tole on the overall GDP of this country. But, as the country approaches an increased GDP the energy sector does not seem to be hindering the GDP any longer. With the price of oil and gas going back up this has significantly increased the GDP of Canada due to the large amount of petroleum that Canada produces.