Over the past year, union negotiations have ramped up and wage settlements have reached new heights, mainly due to the fact that negotiations were set back by the coronavirus pandemic and the inflation that followed, says Douglas Porter, chief economist and managing director at BMO Financial Group. “Like night follows day, labour unrest and strike […]
The average Canadian pension plan’s funded ratio reached 120 per cent as of March 31, 2023, up one per cent over the quarter, while the average going-concern solvency ratio was 111 per cent, up four per cent, according to a new report by Normandin Beaudry. The report attributed these increases to the strong performance of financial […]
BMO Financial Group expects North American economies will go through a shallow recession in 2023, according to Douglas Porter, the bank’s chief economist and managing director, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2022 Defined Benefit Investment Forum. “I would give it a 25 per cent chance that central banks can still negotiate this without one. […]
Nearly two million Canadian workers could remain unemployed this year, according to forecasts in the federal government’s long-awaited “fiscal snapshot.” The document released Wednesday details how the Trudeau Liberals see the coronavirus pandemic dragging down the domestic economy and sending the deficit to a historic $343.2 billion. The economic and fiscal report lays out the […]
Statistics Canada is reporting a record high unemployment rate as the economy added 289,600 jobs in May, with businesses reopening amid easing public health restrictions. The unemployment rate rose to 13.7 per cent, topping the previous high of 13.1 per cent set in December 1982 in more than four decades of comparable data. The increase […]
Gridlocked government in poor shape to deal with economic risks.