The Canadian economy: trade, trends, and forecasting the future

Watch the full recorded broadcast above.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global financial crisis and has severely disrupted the Canadian economy, the livelihoods and small businesses of Canadians, and consumer confidence. The Canadian economy has never been faced with such a unique challenge before. As parts of the economy begin to open across the country, economic policy-makers are working in unparalleled uncertainty.

On Wednesday, June 10, 2020 The Ivey Academy was joined by Craig Alexander, Chief Economist, Deloitte Canada, and The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew, Executive Advisor – International, Deloitte Canada. Together we discussed the current state of the Canadian economy and, views on what the shape of the recovery will look like, a general economic outlook, and how the pandemic has impacted Canada’s trade and relations with other nations.

Key webinar content

Core topics

• A current macro view of both the world and Canadian economies
• Caution when interpreting economic data
• The shape of the economic recovery in Canada
• Trends that were in place before the pandemic that are still relevant today
• Trends that have been accelerated by the pandemic
• Trends that have emerged as a direct result of the pandemic
• Political risks and the role of government in making decisions for businesses
• The role of governments in crisis and the likelihood of government expansion
• The decline of multilateralism
• Canada’s outlook should global trade move in a protectionist direction
• The impact of the Canadian government’s stimulus plan vis-à-vis the shape of the recovery
• How border closings effect trade and geopolitics
• Making sense of the current stock market

Session materials

Click the above image to view slides, or download the slide deck presentation.

Memorable quotes

“We are in a world where multilateralism is not coming back … you will see the government playing a much bigger role in trade negotiations. As a Canadian, I’m quite pleased with that starting point. We are the only G7 country that has a trade agreement with every other G7 economy.” – Pierre Pettigrew

“I would say the (stock) market is pretty much priced for the perfect recovery right now. I don’t think the market fully appreciates how difficult this reopening could be.” – Craig Alexander

Additional reading

Economic recovery dashboard, Deloitte

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About The Ivey Academy at Ivey Business School
The Ivey Academy at Ivey Business School is the home for executive Learning and Development (L&D) in Canada. It is Canada’s only full-service L&D house, blending Financial Times top-ranked university-based executive education with talent assessment, instructional design and strategy, and behaviour change sustainment. 

Rooted in Ivey Business School’s real-world leadership approach, The Ivey Academy is a place where professionals come to get better, to break old habits and establish new ones, to practice, to change, to obtain coaching and support, and to join a powerful peer network. Follow The Ivey Academy on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.