Tag: Canada
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How Enhancing Productivity Can Shield Canada from Trump’s Tariff Threats
As the threat of Donald Trump’s tariffs looms (again), Canada’s governments have vowed to protect the country’s most affected industries. Doug Ford promised to protect auto jobs in Ontario. The Bank of Canada predicts that tariffs would reduce Canada’s GDP by 2-3% in the first year alone, with another 1.1% to 1.5% drop in the…
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The Argument for Better Access to AEDs
I recently took my very first First Aid course with CPR and AED certification for St. John’s ambulance and I was astounded to learn how effective Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) are at saving lives. In cases of cardiac arrest, an AED can double the rate of survival from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (Weisfeldt et. al.).…
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The Cost of Regulatory Opacity
The Canadian government’s recent blocking of the sale of Progress Energy Resources to Malaysian state-owned Petronas has raised calls to act on the vagueness of the “net benefit” test applied to mergers in Canada over $331 million. The lack of clear criteria for this net benefit test has serious economic implications for investment in Canada.…
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The Canadian Mint Has Unveiled the Blueprint of a Bitcoin Successor
The Bitcoin currency – an online, anonymous currency, ‘mined’ by computing power – was fraught with problems from the start. Bitcoin’s supporters champion that it’s ‘safe from the instability of fractional reserve banking‘. Hardly. Bitcoin has proven to be a volatile currency, with only a tiny market for goods and services, no available deposit insurance,…
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Full Recourse: The Key Difference Between the Canadian and U.S. Housing Markets
The largest difference between Canada’s housing market and the U.S. is that Canadian mortgages are full recourse. In Canada, if you take out a mortgage and then default when it is ‘underwater’ – your home value is less than our mortgage – your other assets and future income are at risk. In the U.S., only…
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Canadians Christmas Spending Defies Debt Levels
This Christmas was a good one for Canadian retailers. Moneris Solutions, a payment processor, reported 4.6 percent more spending. Early data from IBM shows that consumers were even spending on Boxing Day sales just after they opened their presents on Christmas morning (Link). Clearly, Canadian consumers are spending contrary to record consumer debt levels and…
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The Economic Impact of the Canada-U.S. Border
Make no mistake, lowering the barriers to trade between the Canadian and American borders could bring huge economic gains for Canada. As it stands, trade between Canada and the U.S. is far below its potential level. Although NAFTA eliminated a huge swath of tariffs and duties, other barriers to trade remain. The border between Canada…
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For Now, Global Turmoil will not Phase Canada’s Economy
Canada’s economy has avoided the effects of global financial turmoil thanks to a hot housing market and the end of some temporary economic shocks. GDP is set to have its strongest quarter since the fourth quarter of 2010, offsetting the temporary weakness from the second quarter. Growth in July and August was quite solid, and…
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Canada’s Brain Gain
To a roomful of academics in August, Stephen Harper announced the end of Canada’s “brain drain” – the end of highly skilled professionals leaving Canada for the U.S. and other countries. Although Canada’s “brain drain” was likely overblown even during the height of its hype (Here is a Stats Can report on the issue from…
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