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This page deals with current articles and information about financial, social and all things Canadian. We hope you enjoy the reading.
The
Toronto Star Citizenship and Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan is considering radical changes so that Canada can boost immigration to more than 300,000 a year. Specifically, she is considering: Abolishing the point system used to select most of Canada's immigrants and replacing it with a more flexible system.
Last year about 175,000 immigrants settled in Canada. The Liberal promise to eventually increase annual immigration to 1 per cent of the population, or 300,000, can only be achieved if Canada changes the way it selects and attracts immigrants, Caplan said yesterday in an interview. And dramatically increasing immigration is an important part of dealing with an aging population and sustaining Canada's pension and health-care systems, she said. "We've got to be willing to try new things to see if they meet our objectives,'' Caplan said. "We're looking at selection systems that will be flexible enough to respond to our needs in the future . . . whether it will be founded on points or not remains to be determined. "We need something that is responsive to the changing world that we're living in . . . and the labour shortages that are beginning to emerge.'' The point system now used to select independent immigrants measures applicants based on points assigned for their skills, background, age, work experience and other criteria. Critics say the system isn't flexible enough to keep up with the fast-changing labour market. The current immigration target is for between 200,000 and 225,000 newcomers to arrive in 2000, the same as targets set in 1999 and 1998. But in 1998, only 180,000 immigrants settled in Canada and in 1999, only 175,000 arrived. Caplan said she wants to work closely with provinces and municipalities to help them attract the immigrants they need. That could mean expanding a program that currently gives the provinces a greater role in selecting immigrants. Right now, the vast majority of newcomers to Canada settle in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. A key to increasing immigration is attracting more newcomers to the smaller cities that still offer world-class educational facilities, job opportunities and services, she said. Caplan said she also wants to help businesses frustrated that they can't find the kind of workers they want, or that they can't get people into Canada quickly enough through the immigration system. The minister said she wants to expand on a pilot project that has been running in the computer software field, which speeds up entry to Canada for highly skilled specialists who are needed to address labour shortages. Caplan said she is looking at expanding programs for temporary skilled workers that allow business sectors to identify labour shortages. And she agreed that chances are that temporary workers allowed into Canada will end up staying here for good. For that reason, she wants to look at cutting the red tape for people who are in Canada legitimately and want to apply for landed immigrant status from inside the country - foreign students, temporary workers and people married to Canadians. Right now, those people have to go through a cumbersome process if they want to apply to stay in Canada permanently, because the immigration system is designed to deal with applications that come from outside the country. Caplan is also looking at streamlining processing by setting up a processing center in Canada to handle all immigration applications from overseas. Right now, preliminary processing is done at Canada's posts abroad. Caplan said that at the beginning of the 21st century, it is time for Canada to plan dramatic increases in immigration akin to the immigration boom at the turn of the last century, which changed the face of Canada. She said that looking back, we can see that it was visionary for Canada to dramatically increase immigration in the early 1900s. "I want to make sure that when people look back 20 years from now, that they believe we made the right decisions for Canada in the future,'' Caplan said. "Immigration is just one public policy part of meeting the challenge.''
December 01, 1999 The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Elinor Caplan, today tabled in the House of Commons the 2000 Immigration Plan, which sets out the number of immigrants and refugees projected to come to Canada next year. The Immigration Plan for 2000, entitled Canada ...The Place to Be, sets out estimates of between 177,900 and 195,700 immigrants and between 22,100 and 29,300 refugees. Together, this means a plan for between 200,000 and 225,000 newcomers to arrive in Canada in 2000. "Service improvements across the system, and widespread recognition of our unparalleled quality of life here in Canada makes me confident that these targets will be met next year," the Minister said. "I also see 2000 as a transition year toward more encompassing and long-term planning for our immigration and refugee programs. Our long term goal should remain an annual program of 1% of our population." The Minister said that immigrants and refugees were vital in helping Canada continue its leadership role in the new economy. She said newcomers bringing diverse skills and openness to the world have provided Canada with a distinct comparative advantage in the global marketplace.
Ottawa, Feb 8, 2000 (Reuters) Canada, one of the few countries in the world still accepting large number of immigrants, said on Thursday it would increase the number of people it wanted to attract over the next two years. Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan said Canada would lift the upper target range of immigrants to 235,000 a year in 2002, from the present 225,000 a year. ``A successful immigration program like ours is not just about numbers on a page, but rather about hard-working people and their families who come here from the world over to help build our economy, our society and our culture,'' she said in a statement. Caplan said Ottawa remained committed to increasing immigration levels to approximately one percent of the population over the long term, but that Canada's capability to absorb and integrate increased numbers would dictate the pace. Canada has a population of around 30 million people. Caplan also said that for the first time since 1997, Canada had exceeded its target in 2000. Last year the nation landed 226,837 immigrants and refugees, just over the target range of 200,000 to 225,000. The top 10 countries sending immigrants to Canada in 2000 were:
The
Toronto Star Canada has raised its immigration targets for the first time in several years, forecasting this country will take in as many as 235,000 newcomers in 2002. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan said the new immigration targets are a step toward achieving the government's long-term goal of setting annual immigration at 1 per cent of the population - or about 300,000. But she said continuing to raise immigration levels will depend on Canada's capacity to absorb newcomers. And that will mean working more closely with provincial and territorial governments on immigration policy. Caplan wants to recruit more people to settle outside of the current immigration magnet - Toronto. ``The challenge is to let the world know about the wonderful medium- sized cities,'' Caplan said. Nearly half of immigrants (44 per cent) settled in Toronto last year, while 15 per cent chose Vancouver and 12 per cent made their homes in Montreal. ``How many (would-be immigrants) know about Halifax, or Winnipeg, or Calgary, or Victoria or Edmonton. Wonderful cities that are in need of population growth?'' she said. The immigration plan forecasts between 210,000 and 235,000 immigrant arrivals in 2002. The document also recorded actual immigration numbers for 2000, showing that Canada took in more immigrants last year than it has since 1993. There were 226,837 newcomers last year, an increase of nearly 20 per cent over 1999 arrivals and a marked turnaround after two years that saw immigration levels fall far short of targets. ``That gives me confidence we can sustain that progress and look to move toward 1 per cent as the country is able to absorb and see the prosperity that new immigration will bring,'' Caplan said. ``Immigration has been a cornerstone of Canadian history but also a tool for economic prosperity,'' the minister said.
A Statistics Canada report released in April 2000 indicates immigration is helping solve the country’s labour shortage. Using data from as recent as 1998, the report titled Perspectives on Labour and Income states that while there are not enough Canadians to meet current employment demands, skilled foreign workers easily fill the vacancies. Recently
proposed revisions to Canada’s Immigration Act seek even higher
annual quotas of new immigrants, in an effort to encourage highly
skilled, knowledge-based workers, such as nurses and IT professionals,
to make Canada their home. There has never been a better time to
come to Canada. Canadian immigration selection criteria favour well-educated, highly skilled professionals. The report shows immigrants were twice as likely to have a university education, two to three times more likely to have a master’s degree, and four times more likely to have a doctorate than native born Canadians. Post-secondary graduates are being admitted to Canada at a steadily growing rate, rising from 29% of all immigrants in 1996 to 36% in 1998. Taking college-level graduates and other skill-certified workers into account brings the total closer to 54% for 1998. Proposed changes to legislation would place even greater significance on education, assigning it more weight in the selection process, and thus allowing increased numbers of post-secondary educated workers to immigrate to Canada. The report emphasizes the continuing importance of immigration to Canada’s competitive future. Immigration levels are significantly lower than ever at this point in time. At the beginning of the 1900’s, they peaked at 2% of Canada’s population per year, while during the 1990’s they sank to 0.15%. The Canadian government, in an effort to reverse this decline, has increased its immigration quotas to 225,000 people per year for the past two years, and plans for future quotas of at least 300,000 people per year (or about 1% of the population annually) over this decade. This is hoped to help offset Canada’s low birth rate and rising mortality rate, reinforce the tax base and replenish our labour force. With available jobs in Canada outnumbering the Canadians able to fill them, the country is anxiously looking internationally to solve its labour shortages. With proposed changes to legislation that would allow for a steadier influx of immigrants, it is becoming increasingly easy to immigrate to Canada. And increasingly advantageous for new immigrants as well. For the seventh year in a row, Canada has topped the UN’s list of the best places to live. And the country’s prosperity and progress is expected to continue. Many
economic reports say Canada is going to do even better than the
US in terms of economic and technological development. Anyone who
comes to Canada will have opportunity to contribute to and benefit
from this progress.
Maclean's
The
Canadian economy is finally gushing with them as companies dangle
perks to attract scarce talent Finally, the turnaround is here. After almost a decade of painfully high unemployment, skilled Canadian workers are in big demand. In December, the unemployment rate hit a 24-year low of 6.8 per cent, which it maintained through January and again when February's numbers came out last Friday Each month, Statistics Canada said the rate would have been even lower if tens of thousands of formerly discouraged workers had not resumed looking for work. More than 44,000 new jobs were created in January with another 36,000 added last month. Ontario has been one of the biggest job creators, but British Columbia is also on the comeback trail. Cities like Montreal, once plagued by bad times, are also showing strong labour-market growth. Januarys surge in-duded 39,000 positions in health care and social services while almost all of February's gains were due to new full-time jobs in the private sector, where rising prices for commodities and robust consumer spending are fuelling continued economic expansion. "We're finally catching up after a very difficult decade," notes Peter Drake, vice-president and deputy chief economist at the Toronto Dominion Bank. "Nothing is ever guaranteed, but there are lots of reasons to think this is a solid recovery for the labour market." …Jobs are sprouting in almost every area where skilled labour is required, including the public sector, private business and the ranks of the self-employed: half of Januarys gains were among those starting up new businesses. Deborah Kudzman, 31, is one new entrepreneur who took advantage of improving economic conditions to risk setting up on her own. A Montreal advertising account executive who has worked in marketing for eight years, Kudzman went into business with a partner last November, 11 months after giving birth to her first child, and has already landed lucrative accounts in the financial and pharmaceutical industries. She has been so busy; she has not had time to order letterhead for the company Publicite Piranha. "I always wanted to have my own agency and it was clear things were improving in Montreal," Kudzman says. Good
times are also making it easier for employed workers to move
into better jobs. Rosi Petkova has been a graphic designer
for 14 years, the past three in Vancouver, where she worked as a
freelancer for the company that publishes The Yellow Pages. She
has always been able to find work, but she could hardly believe
it when her job search last fall yielded seven interviews in
one week. Competition for high-tech workers is especially fierce. Alexei Domratchev, 25, started working for Hummingbird Communications, a Toronto software development firm, only a few months after arriving from Russia. He had other offers but chose Hummingbird; he says, because of its size and strong reputation in his field of expertise, Web applications development. Money was not crucial to his decision, he says, although Hummingbird offered him more than he asked for. "I wanted to be at a company that is on the leading edge," he says. This seller's market has a lot of employers scrambling. Salaries are rising and signing bonuses are becoming more common, especially in high-tech industries competing for top performers. Some companies, too, are offering perks like on-site lounges and exercise facilities, flexible hours and even three- or four-day workweeks, with no downside when it comes to promotion or raises. "Employers are becoming very conscious of their reputation and whether they are seen as a good place to work," Crath says, noting that pay and opportunities for advancement remain top priorities for most executives. And quite often, hiring is not the end of the story. "Even when the person is happy" Crath adds, "employers have to be aware that they could lose them to someone else who taps them on the shoulder six months later." …For the moment, things are certainly looking good for Canadians with marketable skills. And as the TD Banks Drake notes, many forecasters believe Canada will lead the Group of Seven countries this year, with an economic growth rate of dose to four per cent… …And
if the dollar appreciates strongly, or if the economy of Canada's
largest trading partner the United States---slumps, or commodity
prices fall, watch out. The time for employees to take advantage
of a tight labour market is right now, he says, adding wryly, "then
hope for the best." If the economy stays on track, though,
the best may be yet to come…
The
Toronto Star The Greater Toronto area is the second most powerful and important high-tech region in North America behind California’s vaunted Silicon Valley, a new study has found. The GTA outpaced eight other cities for tech supremacy, including Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, New York, Austin, Raleigh, Seattle, and Washington, according to the study conducted by Deloitte & Touche and commissioned by Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance and Smart Toronto. The study found:
"The results of the study give the GTA the ability to be positioned as a major powerhouse in the IT&T area," said Don Tapscott, chairman of Alliance of Converging Technologies, who acted as master of ceremonies during a high-tech celebration yesterday in Toronto. The
study analyzed 10 key attributes within each region, including industry
depth, infrastructure, labour force, research and development programs,
business costs and access to higher education. These attributes
were assigned a 1-5 degree of quality of life, from ‘very low"
to ‘very high." The GTA scored four ‘very highs,"
second only to Silicon Valley which had seven.
The
Toronto Star "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . ." These words, inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbour, have welcomed immigrants arriving in the United States for more than 100 years. They found political freedom and democracy, on a continent offering opportunity and prosperity . Hopeful immigrants landed in Canada too, at Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, before moving on into the country's vast interior. According to the federal government, the peak year of immigration was in 1913 when 400,830 immigrants came to Canada. And thank god they did. We have all heard remarkable stories of people coming with little and receiving no assistance when they arrived. In spite of this, many prospered and helped build the country. Numerous demographic studies suggest Canada cannot fill all its future jobs from within. Because of our falling birth rate and because Canadians continue to leave Canada and work elsewhere, we must replenish our worker supply. Even with the current immigration threshold at about 200,000 people per year we continue to need new workers. Keep in mind there are only two ways to build a work force: one through our education system, the other through immigration. In
order for us to make this work, we need to adjust some of our thinking
and attitudes. Most people coming to Canada today are not "your
tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free .
. ." In fact, at least one-third of the adult immigrants arriving
today have university degrees, according to Citizenship and Immigration
Canada. "Canada is the net loser if we delay..." A small percentage (about 10 per cent) do come as refugees to a safe haven, but the overwhelming majority come as professionals, skilled workers, entrepreneurs and their immediate family members. And due to the prosperity in Canada now, we can offer many services to newcomers that were not available in the past century. This is not a handout. It is necessary and right to provide this support. Bob Downie, an immigration specialist in Oakville, says "Canada is the net loser if we delay in integrating immigrants into our workforce as soon as possible. They bring skills identified by our federal government as important to the Canadian economy. Having foreign-trained professionals drive cabs in Toronto is such a waste." Downie knows about the immigrant experience; he emigrated in 1963 from Scotland. He says hardship is still the norm for newcomers to Canada today. Many have a real struggle finding work related to their qualifications. Tim Owen, Canadian director of World Education Services (WES), an international, not-for-profit organization specializing in the evaluation of credentials, agrees with Downie. He says there are four major barriers facing many newcomers today: Language skills; recognition of their credentials by Canadian employers; lack of Canadian work experience; and, in some cultures, a reluctance to promote themselves. Community agencies provide the much-needed language and job search training when newcomers arrive. But there are also things newcomers can do before leaving their homeland. Information gathering ahead of time would help immigrants overcome the barriers they find sooner. In addition he says ``employers should be encouraged to develop partnerships with community agencies (that) provide services to newcomers. This way they can recruit top talent through agency counsellors who can recommend newly-arrived immigrants who have the desired skills.'' He also suggests employers try to learn more about various ethnic groups and their cultures, to develop a clearer understanding of an increasingly diverse workforce. Remember,
with greater understanding and knowledge, we facilitate a smoother
transition for the thousands of people who come here every year
to live and work. Immigrants need to do their homework, too, because
they will face a struggle when they arrive. Utilizing the talent
immigrants bring as soon as possible benefits all of us. Keep in
mind that other than our native people we were all newcomers to
Canada at one time
Ottawa
Small businesses in Canada need 250,000to 300,000 qualified workers to fill job vacancies, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Wednesday. The federation found in its latest national surveys that 46 percent of small businesses suffered a shortage of skilled workers. In Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario, more than 50 percent of small businesses reported trouble filling jobs. Federation President Catherine Swift said one out of 20 jobs is vacant because employers could not find suitable people. "Given that small and medium-sized businesses account for more than half of GDP in this country, this is a serious economic issue, " she said. The problem looms large considering "we have an aging workforce, " she added. The federation suggests the country change immigration policies in order to import more skilled workers. Early
this month, Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan said Canada will
raise its immigration target by over 4 percent to 235, 000 next
year to ease the country's labor shortage.
The
Toronto Star The outlook for the coming two years couldn't be better: Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.'s economics team expects growth to accelerate worldwide with only a modest rise in inflationary pressures. For Canada, with its endowment of natural resources and arable land, and its role as a U.S. investment destination of choice, the potential exists for a significant increase in living standards through higher real incomes and employment opportunities. The U.S. economy will remain vigorous; growth in developing countries should rebound strongly from the economic turmoil of 1997 and 1998 and the world's appetite for Canadian products will increase in 2000. Canada is also about to experience a positive swing in its terms of trade. Put simply, the prices of the goods Canada exports are likely to rise by more than the prices of the items it imports. Domestically, the Canadian economy is operating at levels consistent with full employment and potential output. In November, Canada's jobless rate fell to an 18-year low; firms are just beginning to report shortages of both unskilled and skilled labor. Looking farther out, the ingredients are right for the creation of a `virtuous circle' in fiscal policy - full employment bolsters tax receipts, while expenditures on income maintenance programs fall. This allows governments to pay down debt, reducing the burden of interest payments over time. In
addition, there's a second effect - falling government debt levels
and low inflation allow interest rates to remain low, and this benefits
both consumers and businesses.
Ottawa In Canada, governments tax upper middle-income earners and the rich much more stiffly, and go easier on those with lower incomes. The poor, and those in the lower middle-income ranges, end up with more in their pockets in this country than they do in the States. For simplicity's sake, the cutoff point comes at about the $60,000 level, slightly above the average Canadian family income. This isn't what the tax cutting advocates emphasize - people like Reform leader Preston Manning, conservatively minded media commentators, and the executives of Canada's largest corporations. Taxes, they chorus, are a big factor in the so-called "brain drain'' of talented Canadians and help account for the shift of corporate head offices to south of the border. In very rough figures, the federal finance department calculates that Canadians pay an average 35 per cent of their income in taxes and Americans pay 30 per cent - 5 per cent less. But before you rush off to the States, consider some of the lesser-known facts behind the broad 5-per-cent generalization. Statistics Canada took a look at what Canadians and Americans have left in their pockets in a 1998 study by Michael Wolfson and Brian Murphy. The researchers compared the disposable income of Canadian and American families - what's theirs to spend after taxes and deductions. "Families . . . living in the United States are not necessarily better off in terms of disposable income, than their Canadian counterparts,'' they concluded. "Indeed, roughly half of Canadian families had disposable incomes in 1995 that gave them higher purchasing power than otherwise comparable U.S. families.'' This was true even though the U.S. economy is better off in terms of output per capita, and even though the average American income is about $5,000 (U.S.) more a year than the average Canadian. "The reason is that the very rich in the United States pull up the income average much more than in Canada, while those at the bottom of the U.S. income spectrum have less purchasing power than those in Canada.'' Wolfson and Murphy found the first 35 per cent of Canadians are "absolutely better off'' than their American counterparts, largely because of more generous government benefits to low-income Canadians. And beyond that, up to the halfway mark of the population, differences in their disposable incomes were negligible. In a yet-unpublished update of these findings, the two StatsCan researchers confirmed the general trend through 1997. Their study is a reminder that our tax and transfer system redistributes wealth in Canada - softening the extremes between the very rich and the very poor. It's the flip-side of the picture: the Canadian advantage of a more egalitarian society that is often forgotten in the current debate over tax cuts. "The grass is not greener on the other side,'' says Muriel Hurst, a registered nurse from Toronto who is paid about $27,500 (U.S.) at the hospital in Bob Dole's hometown of Russell, Kansas. She's making less than she did in Toronto, and while taxes and rents are lower in her rural community, she finds herself having to pay half of her medical insurance plan costs, and must pay malpractice Ottawa And Ontario's economy will provide much of the fuel to power Canada past the U.S. in economic growth in the new millennium. Major banks issued forecasts yesterday that stretch as far as 2001, giving Canadians a stunning glimpse of what to expect from their economy in the new century - including 600,000 new jobs this year and next. "It's a Canadian economy that is now matching the pace of the U.S. and . . . as we get into the next decade will outperform the U.S. economy,'' Tim O'Neill, chief economist at the Bank of Montreal, said yesterday after the bank released its major forecast for 2000-01. "The U.S. was the pace car in terms of economic growth through most of the 1990s and now it appears we've slipstreamed them.'' The reports kick off a fall season of economic forecasts that are more important this year since federal Finance Minister Paul Martin has been meeting with economists and incorporated their outlooks in his budget process and prediction of a $95.5 billion surplus over five years. There will be much to celebrate this New Year's eve in economic terms with higher real incomes for Canadians, low inflation, stable interest rates and strong job creation, the economists predict. The news is particularly good for the pocketbooks of Canadians, the economists agree. "For the first time in more than a decade, the Canadian economy is firing on all cylinders. We're going to see income gains that are going to give Canadians some real purchasing power,'' said Aron Gampel, deputy chief economist at Scotiabank. The Montreal-based National Bank also released its outlook; with chief economist Dominique Vachon saying “euphoria” is the order of the day for forecasters. She predicted spending on equipment and machinery will increase 10 per cent next year and new home construction will jump 5 per cent as part of "continued strong economic growth on the eve of the new millennium.'' Royal Bank chief economist John McCallum said the 1990s was the "falling decade'' in which government spending was cut to fight deficits, incomes fell and the Canadian economy recovered from a recession. "But right now we are really booming. The good news is that the falling is done and as the millennium begins we're speeding along and we don't have to worry about inflation or deficits,'' McCallum said. "There are always risks out there but I think the Canadian economy is in pretty fine shape heading into the new millennium.'' Job creation will provide Canadians with real income gains in 2000, but so too will tax cuts planned by Ottawa and some provinces, McCallum said. Ontario may be leading the pack, but Alberta, with a rejuvenated oil sector, and Newfoundland, with enormous offshore oil and natural gas projects, will likely make it three Canadian provinces with growth exceeding 4 per cent next year. Even though trade ties Canada deeply to the fortunes of the U.S. economy, Gampel said a slowdown in the U.S. can be offset here by high consumer confidence, huge investments in machinery and equipment and continued low inflation. "I think the Canadian consumer is poised to play a greater role in the economy,'' he said, noting that sectors such as motor vehicles and new homes will likely grow faster in Canada than in the U.S. in 2000. Canada is well positioned, Gampel argued, because provincial economies have become so diversified. For example, Manitoba farmers are hurting but Manitoba manufacturers are still offering cash bonuses to employees who can recommend new workers for jobs. Newfoundland, with a booming resource sector, no longer relies on its fishery. High-tech "nodes'' which are blossoming in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver have contributed to the strong economic growth, Gampel said. "I think domestic-led growth in Canada can offset some of the trade limitations caused by a slight slowdown in the U.S. economy in late 2000. I think this (Canadian) economy is in for another solid year into the millennium which shows that this business cycle, which is getting long in the tooth, still has legs to grow through 2000 and 2001.'' The
good news even extends to the Canadian stock market, he said, which
is poised for more growth in 2000
Jacqueline
Thorpe Economists called the rise in the same month that the United States lost 223,000 jobs nothing short of staggering. It had them cracking open the record books to look for the last time Canada had trounced its neighbour so soundly. They also said it threw into question the need for further hefty interest rate cuts from the Bank of Canada. "There's no doubt this is a very encouraging report and the contrast with the U.S. is staggering," Doug Porter, senior economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns in Toronto, said. Andrew Pyle, senior financial market economist at Bank of Nova Scotia, added: "Either this is the last little fizzle before we get to experience the kind of jobs losses the U.S. has had, or we really are magically skating around this U.S. slowdown like the Bank of Canada says we are." Stefane Marion, senior economist at National Bank in Montreal, said household surveys show the U.S. job market contracted 0.1% on a year-over-year basis in April while the Canadian market grew 1.6%, the first time the Canadian market has grown while the U.S. market has shrunk since the fall of 1980. David Rosenberg, chief economist at Merrill Lynch Canada in Toronto, said Canada's performance is particularly striking on a two-month basis. Canada gained 30,000 jobs in March while the United States lost 53,000 jobs. "You have to go back 10 years to find the last time Canada posted back-to-back job gains when the U.S. posted consecutive declines," he said in a research note. "In fact, not since August, 1983, has Canada managed to post a positive monthly job performance when the U.S. lost more than 200,000." While the report showed continued weakness in the manufacturing and natural resources sector, as the U.S. appetite for Canadian exports slowed, hiring was strong in public administration, insurance, real estate and construction. Most encouraging was that all the hiring was for full-time jobs and almost two-thirds was in the private sector, economists said. Across the country, Ontario saw the biggest number of jobs created, followed by Alberta and New Brunswick. "The domestic economy is in much better shape than the United States and that's evident in the jobs report," Mr. Marion said. He added the Bank of Canada appears to have been more pre-emptive in easing interest rates to counteract the slowdown than in past cycles, allowing Canada to avoid the huge number of job cuts that have been flowing from U.S. businesses. Interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve should eventually feed through to the manufacturing sector here. However, Mark Chandler, senior economist at Goldman Sachs Canada, is still worried by the weakness in the goods-producing sector. "The trick is whether the strength in the service sector will be enough to carry us through. I really don't think so," he said, adding that jobs data are a co-incidental indicator to growth and consumption data and overall employment could very well turn negative in the months ahead. "The overriding factor is U.S. growth remains weak and the Canadian manufacturing sector remains in the doldrums." Mr. Porter at BMO said the report suggest the Bank of Canada's strategy to date -- the bank has chopped its bank rate by one percentage point to 5% and its target for its overnight lending rate to 4.75% in three moves early this year -- has been just about right but it raises a big question about what it will do at its next policy announcement on May 29. After the U.S. labour market report last Friday, economists expected the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut its 4.5% federal funds rate another 50 basis points at its next policy meeting on Tuesday and the Bank of Canada to follow suit with a half-percentage-point cut. Further complicating the picture was a release yesterday showing U.S. retail sales unexpectedly surged 0.8% in April and consumer confidence rebounded, showing the U.S. shopper remains a powerful force in keeping that economy afloat. Analysts say the Canadian central bank may cut by only 25 basis points, if at all, on May 29. "We
still think there is quite a bit of work to do going forward in
the year but it becomes very data-dependent before the next meeting,"
Mr. Chandler said, adding next week's April inflation report and
March manufacturing shipments data will be key.
Kathryn Leger Canada has been ranked the fourth-best place in the world to do business over the next five years in an international survey published by Britain's Economist Intelligence Unit. The Netherlands, the United States and Britain occupy the top three places in the annual report, conducted for Economist Group, which publishes the international business magazine The Economist. "Canada comes out extremely high on all counts, the difference between countries in the top 10 is wafer-thin," said Robin Bew, chief economist of the London-based organization that provides international business intelligence to corporations and governments. Canada was one of only 20 countries ranked as a "very good" place to do business for 2001-05. Following Canada in the top 10 were Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Singapore, Sweden and Hong Kong. Japan and Germany, the world's second- and third-largest economies after the United States, came 26th and 13th respectively. Iran was last. The survey, which is in its fourth year, determines the rankings by measuring 70 factors affecting opportunities for, and hindrances to, the conduct of business in the world's 60 largest countries. It placed Canada fifth last year. Areas where Canada ranked better than its peers this year were overall business infrastructure, market opportunities and trade openness for international business exports and imports. "Canada ranks at the very top in the survey for infrastructure, from its distribution systems, road and freight, and electricity generation capacity to the quality of the telecommunications network and the penetration of personal computers in the economy as a whole," said Mr. Bew. Canada has a 2.25% share of world trade -- the same as Britain, despite having a much smaller economy. Foreign investors are attracted to Canada, partly because they see it as a platform to do business with the United States, Mr. Bew said. But Canada's strong economic dependence on the United States is seen as less desirable than the much more diverse export base in the Netherlands and Britain. The United States garnered higher marks than Canada because of the enormous size of its market and greater financing opportunities provided by much larger capital markets, he said. Economic uncertainty in many countries should not damage business operating conditions, the EIU said, forecasting instead an improvement in all regions of the world over the next five years as trade liberalization progresses. The British forecaster said it expects weak global growth in 2001 and 2002 and a bigger hit than expected in Canada from the continuing U.S. downturn. "The U.S. is going to get worse before it gets better," Mr. Bew said. "The business sector will contract till the end of the year because of excess inventory and overcapacity even though there will be slow growth on the personal side because of lower taxes and mortgage refinancing plans. "We're quite skeptical the fallout [for Canada] will be anything as moderate as some Canadian economists are claiming," he said. "It is ridiculous to assume Canada can avoid real problems." CANADA IMPROVES BUSINESS RANKING:
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