As we experience the hottest summer on record, reaching our Net Zero goals has become one of the most urgent challenges of our time. Canada's target is to achieve a net-zero economy—either emitting no greenhouse gases or offsetting any emissions—by 2050, with critical milestones set for 2030.

In this episode, we examine Canada’s progress toward these goals and explore how the economics of this transition will impact Canadians in various ways.

Our guests:

• Tony Bonen, Executive Director, Economic Research, The Conference Board of Canada
• John McNally, Senior Advisor, Climate and Socio-Economic Policy Research, Scotiabank Economics 

Additional links:

• Economic Impacts From Cap and Trade on Oil and Gas (CBoC)
• Economics: In-depth commentary and analysis (Scotiabank Canada)

The last four years have brought many changes to the ways in which we live, work and shop. These new habits are reshaping cities and the road to the new normal is proving very bumpy for cities across the country.  In this episode, our guests explore how cities are reinventing themselves and talk about the critical role cities and the people and businesses that comprise them form the backbone of our economy.

About our guests:

Mary W. Rowe, President and CEO, Canadian Urban Institute

Mary W. Rowe is one of Canada's leading advocates for place-based policy leadership, with a particular interest in how cities and communities across Canada and the United States foster their own economic, social, and environmental resilience. During her leadership at the Canadian Urban Institute, she has built new partnerships and platforms for city builders from the public, private and community sectors to learn and adapt to challenges in collaborative ways that catalyze sustainable, creative change.

Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist, The Conference Board of Canada

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Other links:

Conference Board of Canada: Cracking the Productivity Code: Charting a New Path to Prosperity

The Canadian Urban Institute is a leading organization dedicated to advancing urban solutions. CUI collaborates with city builders, researchers, and community leaders to create thriving, equitable, and sustainable urban spaces across Canada. Learn more at canurb.org today.

Looking for more like this? Check out CityTalk Live, Canada’s premier live webinar exploring what’s working, what’s not and what’s next for our cities. Produced by the Canadian Urban Institute. [citytalkcanada.ca]

The April 2024 federal budget is like game seven of a Stanley Cup playoff run for economists.  It’s a critical time when decisions on spending and taxation are made that can help or hinder our economic direction.  

In this special episode we call on various members of The Conference Board of Canada’s economic forecasting unit to help make sense of the key announcements in the budget.  Join us to hear their take on the impacts of federal budget 2024.

Everyone from the Bank of Canada to leading economists from across the country are discussing what’s at the root of Canada’s productivity challenges.  

 To help us sort through the discussion, I’m joined this episode by the Conference Board of Canada’s Director of Economic Research Tony Bonen and the Founder and Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) Andrew Sharpe.

We discuss how we should understand productivity and why it’s important for it to improve.  Near the end of the episode we hear about new research from the Conference Board of Canada linking skills to our productivity challenges.  We’ll hear that Tony thinks this is a promising new avenue—in part because there are many levers that the government can use to support skills development.

About our guests:

Tony Bonen is the Director of Economic Research at The Conference Board of Canada. In this role Tony provides strategic leadership to a dynamic team producing insightful custom analyses for the Board’s partners.

Tony brings significant experience managing research and providing guidance on a wide range of economic issues. Prior to joining the Board, he served as the Executive Director at the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC), building on his previous work as LMIC’s founding Director of Research, Data and Analytics. While in the risk department at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Tony led the development of housing price and macroeconomic forecasts used in stress testing. He analyzed the economic impacts of climate change and the US pension and retirement system at the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, and the economic policy and geopolitical analysis affecting member countries while at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Andrew Sharpe is founder and Executive Director of the Ottawa-based Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS). Established in 1995, CSLS is a national, independent, non-profit research organization. Its main objectives are to study trends and determinants of productivity, living standards and economic well-being and to develop policy recommendations to improve the lives of Canadians. He has held a variety of earlier positions, including Head of Research at the Canadian Labour Market and Productivity Centre and Chief, Business Sector Analysis at the Department of Finance. He holds a M.A. and Ph.D in economics from McGill University, a maitrise in urban geography from the Université de Paris-Sorbonne, and a B.A. from the University of Toronto. He is also founder and Editor of the International Productivity Monitor and Executive Director of the International Association for Research on Income and Wealth, an international research association dedicated to the advancement of knowledge relating to income and wealth.

In this episode, we delve into the minds of CEOs, exploring their concerns and insights as revealed in the 25th edition of the C-Suite survey conducted by The Conference Board. Our guests, Dana Peterson, Chief Economist, The Conference Board and Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist, The Conference Board of Canada provide a comprehensive analysis of the survey results, shedding light on the external and internal risks preoccupying global, US, and Canadian business leaders.

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Dana M Peterson is the Chief Economist and Leader of the Economy, Strategy & Finance Center at The Conference Board. Prior to this, she served as a North America Economist and later as a Global Economist at Citi, the world’s largest investment bank. Her wealth of experience extends to the public sector, having also worked at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.

Additional resources:
C-Suite Outlook 2024: Leading for Tomorrow
https://www.conference-board.org/publications/C-Suite-Outlook-2024-leading-for-tomorrow

https://www.conferenceboard.ca/focus-areas/canadian-economics/ 

In this final episode of 2023, we invite two leading economists to explore key issues facing the Canadian economy. We delve into how the world of work is evolving and consider whether Canada might be lagging behind other nations that are more readily adapting to the future of work. Additionally, we examine the increasing role of industrial policies as a strategy for governments to influence various aspects of the economy, ranging from supply chains to environmental performance.

We also discuss the challenges Canada and Canadians are confronting as we enter 2024.

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Linda Nazareth is an economist, futurist and expert on the future of work. The author of five books including her most recent Working it Out: Getting Ready for the Redefined World of Work (2023), she is also a regular columnist for the Globe and Mail and the Host of the  podcast ‘Work and the Future’.

Additional resources:

https://www.conferenceboard.ca/focus-areas/canadian-economics/

http://www.relentlesseconomics.com

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/a-podcast-about-work-the-future-and-how-they-will-go-together/id1515835849

Over the past months, various players have come out to point a finger at the role immigration is playing in a long list of what ails our country.  

From inflation, to housing affordability, to struggling post-secondary institutions, new Canadians have become an easy target.  Our guests Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist at the Conference Board and Kathryn Dennler, Senior Researcher in the Conference Board’s  Immigration Knowledge Area to shed some light on the realities of Canada’s immigration system. 

They talk about how Canada's record numbers of new Canadians is impacting our economy.  They discuss Conference Board of Canada research that highlights how immigration can be an effective tool in helping to reduce the housing affordability crisis.

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Kathryn Dennler joined the Immigration Knowledge Area at The Conference Board of Canada in March 2021. Her research examines Canada’s immigration and settlement policies and their impacts on newcomers. Kathryn has worked on immigration as a researcher, educator, and service provider for over fifteen years and across five countries. Kathryn holds a PhD in Geography from York University, Canada.

Read more:

Work in Progress: How Immigration Can Address Labour Shortages in Residential Construction

https://www.conferenceboard.ca/product/work-in-progress/

The Leaky Bucket: A Study of Immigrant Retention Trends in Canada

https://www.conferenceboard.ca/product/the-leaky-bucket/

Doomsday scenarios are the currency of the day when it comes to artificial intelligence’s impact on the jobs market.  But technologists aren’t always that great at economic forecasting. To help us sort through the hype, we’re joined this episode by Mike Burt, Vice-President at the Conference Board of Canada and Benjamin F. Jones, Professor of Strategy at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois. 

Mike and Ben share their assessments of how artificial intelligence is impacting jobs—drawing a key distinction between whole jobs and the various tasks that make up a job.  You’ll hear why the promise of this new technology represents a sea change in the way that economists have thought about the risks from job automation.  You’ll hear what fears they think are real and whether they are optimistic that new technologies will help to address persistent challenges like Canada’s underperforming innovation sector or broader economic inequality.

About our guests:

Michael Burt is a Vice President at The Conference Board of Canada and leads our Education & Skills and Economic Forecasting knowledge areas. He is also the executive lead for the work CBoC does with the Future Skills Centre. In his role, Michael oversees the convening and research activities of these different areas. Michael has more than 20 years of experience conducting and leading research activities.

An economist by training, Professor Benjamin F. Jones studies the sources of economic growth in advanced economies, with an emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship, and scientific progress.  He also studies global economic development, including the roles of education, climate, and national leadership in explaining the wealth and poverty of nations.  His research has appeared in journals such as Science, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the American Economic Review, and has been profiled in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and The New Yorker.

A former Rhodes Scholar, Professor Jones has served as the senior economist for macroeconomics for the White House Council of Economic Advisers and in the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  Professor Jones is a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, where he co-directs the Innovation Policy Working Group, a senior fellow of the Institute for Progress, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Additional information:
www.conferenceboard.ca 

The year 2023 has already marked itself as Canada's worst forest fire season in history, and it's only July. A glance at today's fire map reveals almost every province battling blazes that have spiraled out of control.

In this episode, our guests Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist of The Conference Board of Canada and Derek Nighbor, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Forest Products Association of Canada, discuss the impacts on people, the economy and communities of the forest fires we've seen so far this year.  We discuss how climate change is making forestry management a more critical task and how the increased risks we're seeing from fires and other climate related issues are further complicating the task of economists who are mapping out the direction of our economy.

We discuss what else can be done to prevent forest fires from getting out of control in the future. We also explore whether record breaking forest fires, and the smoke that they bring to communities across Canada, is something that we should be preparing for in the future.

About our guests:

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist and primary spokesperson at The Conference Board of Canada. He provides insights and general direction for the Board’s economic products, including reports and economic indicators that relate to Canada and its regions and sectors. Pedro provides media interviews in English and French as well as expert testimony before parliamentary and senate committees. He is widely sought for speaking engagements and presentations to industry leaders and decision-makers on a broad range of issues and topics that impact Canadians.

Derek Nighbor has been leading Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) as President and Chief Executive Officer since March of 2016. Representing the industry and its stakeholders at a national and international level, Derek champions the interests of workers, families, and communities associated with Canada's forest products sector. Prior to FPAC, he served as Senior Vice President of Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) for over 7 years. His career also includes senior roles with Retail Council of Canada (RCC) and the Government of Ontario. With global appointments such as the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and the International Council of Forest & Paper Associations (ICFPA), Derek actively contributes to shaping sustainable practices in the forest sector. He further demonstrates his commitment to community well-being through his involvement in healthcare initiatives and sports organizations.

The Conference Board of Canada's Economic Forecasting Unit: https://www.conferenceboard.ca/focus-areas/canadian-economics/ 

Forest Products Association of Canada: www.fpac.ca

The pandemic created upward pressure on housing and recent increases in interest rates are pushing affordability even further away for some. The OECD now ranks Canada as having the most expensive housing market among all other G7 countries. 

Our guests this episode explore how we got to this point and what if anything can be done to create a more affordable housing market. They share that not only are housing prices forecasted to continue to rise, but that the affordability crisis is extending deep into the rental markets. This is further deepening the crisis and creates greater pressure for near and long-term solutions.

About our guests:

Tony Bonen is the Director of Economic Research at The Conference Board of Canada. In this role Tony provides strategic leadership to a dynamic team producing insightful custom analyses for the Board’s partners. He collaborates across disciplines and Focus Areas to ensure the Boards economic research is meaningful for leaders across Canada.

Tony brings significant experience managing research and providing guidance on a wide range of economic issues. Prior to joining the Board, he served as the Executive Director at the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC), building on his previous work as LMIC’s founding Director of Research, Data and Analytics. While in the risk department at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Tony led the development of housing price and macroeconomic forecasts used in stress testing. He analyzed the economic impacts of climate change and the US pension and retirement system at the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, and the economic policy and geopolitical analysis affecting member countries while at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

John Pasalis is the President of Realosophy Realty, a Toronto real estate brokerage. A frequent commentator on the Toronto housing market, John has contributed to the Globe and Mail, BNN Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and other media, government and industry organizations. His research has been shared with the IMF and Statistics Canada and cited by the Bank of Canada and CMHC.

John holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Toronto, an MSc in Business and Management Research from the University of Reading and is currently completing a Doctor of Business Administration at the University of Reading and the University of Toronto.