Perspectives

When it comes to estate planning, most people’s first thoughts are about creating a will. But there’s another important document that only about one third of Canadian adults currently have in place. And that’s a power of attorney or POA. Laura Tamblyn Watts, Author and CEO of Canada’s National Seniors Advocacy Organization, CanAge, and Rob McGavin, the Managing Director at Scotiatrust give us the ins and outs of this sometimes intimidating, but essential document. 

Key moments this episode: 

1:44 – So what is a power of attorney? 

2:50 – The various names for these documents in different provinces  

3:28 – How POA for property can be used to help a family member who would rather have someone else handle those decisions and tasks before its necessary 

4:15 – Why POA is a critical part of the estate planning conversation 

4:50 – How many Canadians actually have a POA? 

7:20 – Why POAs are important for people of all ages 

8:21 – What are the responsibilities for someone acting as an attorney?  

11:12 – When POA for personal care kicks in and how is that determination made?  

14:34 – The limitations of managing a loved one's finances without a POA 

17:37 – When should someone get a POA? 

20:00 – How to start a conversation with a parent about POA 

22:32 – Addressing the common misconceptions around POAs 

22:38 – Who should or shouldn’t you appoint as your POA? 

28:20 – What role Scotiatrust can play when it comes to estate planning 

For legal disclosures, please visit http://bit.ly/socialdisclaim and www.gbm.scotiabank.com/disclosures   

This episode, we’re breaking down five missteps that our guest Yuko Girard, Portfolio Manager on the Multi Asset Management Team at Scotia Global Asset Management has seen investors make time and time again. From following fads to trying to time the markets and much more. 

Key moments this episode:  

1:19 - Common investing mistake #1: Not diversifying beyond tech 

3:39 - Common investing mistake #2: Trying to time the market 

8:16 - Common investing mistake #3: Chasing returns 

10:08 - Common investing mistake #4: Not understanding that the market is different from the economy 

13:05 - Common investing mistake #5: Investing based on potential election results 

For legal disclosures, please visit http://bit.ly/socialdisclaim and www.gbm.scotiabank.com/disclosures 

The last time you borrowed money, there’s a good chance you were also offered insurance on that loan. Something that will pay off the debt or keep up with payments if anything happens to you. And you might have thought, “But, I already have insurance from my job or my partner’s job.” Well, it’s likely not sufficient, according to our guest this episode. Wayne Hewitt is the Senior Vice President of Insurance Canada at Scotiabank. And he’s here to shed some light on creditor insurance, an often-overlooked type of coverage that can provide a crucial safety net.    

Key moments this episode: 

1:27 – What exactly is creditor insurance?  

4:00 – Why creditor insurance is important even if you’re not the main income earner in your family 

5:40 – What are the options when it comes to coverage? 

6:35 – What is the difference between term insurance and creditor insurance? 

10:03 – What Wayne has to say to someone who thinks it’s just an unnecessary extra expense 

11:17 – How does where you are in life affect considering creditor insurance? 

12:34 – Why insurance coverage through your job (or a spouse’s job) may not be sufficient 

14:00 – What does it mean to be ‘underinsured’ and how do you know? 

15:35 – Key tips when getting creditor insurance 

17:22 – What revolving and non-revolving line of credit and how does that play into creditor insurance? 

18:35 – Addressing two big misconceptions about insurance 

19:44 – The main takeaway from this interview 

For legal disclosures, please visit http://bit.ly/socialdisclaim and www.gbm.scotiabank.com/disclosures 

The Bank of Canada made yet another 25-basis-point cut to its benchmark interest rate, marking its third in a row and bringing the rate to 4.25%. 

This move was largely expected, but still welcome news for Canadians and a reflection of easing inflation.  

Scotiabank’s Chief Economist Jean-François Perrault is back to break down this latest announcement and the impact of the central bank’s cutting cycle so far, and provide his take on the current state of the Canadian economy. 

For an up-to-date breakdown of the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate and its change over time alongside inflation numbers, visit our interest rate page. 

Key moments this episode: 

1:01 - JF's reaction to the latest central bank decision to cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points 

1:27 - What can we glean from the Bank of Canada's comments? 

2:24 - What JF expects for the Bank of Canada's two decisions in 2024 and 2025 

3:13 - What imnpact has the two previous interest rate cuts had on Canada's housing market? 

5:20 - The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to start cutting rates this month. How does that factor into the Bank of Canada's decisions and how does it impact the broader economy? 

6:17 - Risks to inflation, and the current state of the Canadian economy 

9:48 - A closer look at GDP data - should we be concerned about weak household and per capita spending? 

11:17 - Will already high unemployment in Canada rise further? 

12:48 - How could trade tensions with China and tariffs on electric vehicles, steel and aluminum impact inflation? 

14:42 - Three key takeaways for Canadians 

For legal disclosures, please visit http://bit.ly/socialdisclaim and www.gbm.scotiabank.com/disclosures 

The Bank of Canada has cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, marking the second cut in as many months, to 4.5%. Scotiabank’s Chief Economist Jean-François Perrault returns once again to break down the decision and its implications. 

For an up-to-date breakdown of the Bank of Canada's key interest rate and its change over time alongside inflation numbers, visit our interest rate page. 

Key moments this episode: 

1:00 – Why Canadians should “take a lot of comfort” from the latest announcement  

1:42 – What might have given the Bank of Canada assurance to make a cut 

3:13 – Will we see back-to-back cuts in the next two meetings as well? 

4:21 – What are the biggest risks that could keep inflation from coming down? 

6:20 – The state of the housing market – a large factor when it comes to inflation in Canada 

8:06 – What about risk around a potential recession? Are we out of the woods? 

9:37 – What is the impact of the U.S. and Canadian central banks diverging? 

11:30 – The 3 key takeaways for Canadians from this announcement 

This episode we have a very special guest: award-winning author Michelle Good. Michelle is a writer of Cree ancestry and a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Her books include Five Little Indians and Truth Telling. Her writing takes an unflinching look at our nation’s past and how it still affects the present. So, she’s here today to give us a bit of a history lesson ahead of Canada Day. You’ll hear a conversation between Michelle and Myan Marcen-Gaudaur, Scotiabank’s Director of Social Impact and Reconciliation. They talk about the motivation behind Michelle’s writing, the state of reconciliation in Canada, the concept of “radical hope” and more.  

This episode contains accounts of violence and mention of suicide. 

Key moments this episode: 

3:00 – Why Canada’s colonial history is still very much part of the present 

4:00 – Michelle gives some insight into a very personal chapter of her latest book, Truth Telling 

6:21 – What the relationship between Michelle’s mother and her grandmother can tell us about how challenging it can be being Indigenous in a non-Indigenous world 

8:10 – How colonial perceptions can be passed down to subsequent generations 

9:10 – The meaning behind the chapter titled $13.69 and what it says about restoration for the past 

12:00 – Michelle defines her concept of “radical hope”  

13:20 – How the crisis around missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit peoples is rooted in history 

17:31 – The decimation of the buffalo and the impact that had on Indigenous communities 

21:35 – Why is the truth part of “truth and reconciliation” so important?  

25:03 – How can Canadians move from knowledge to action when it comes to reconciliation?  

27:54 – Michelle reflects on the changes she has seen in thoughts and attitudes among non-Indigenous people in her lifetime 

The Bank of Canada has cut its key interest rate for the first time in more than four years, marking a pivot in its long fight to tamp down inflation. After a quarter-percentage-point cut, the central bank’s benchmark rate now sits at 4.75% — welcome relief for variable-mortgage holders, businesses and others feeling the pinch of higher interest rates.

Scotiabank’s Chief Economist Jean-François Perrault is back to discuss the central bank’s decision to cut, what this means for Canada’s housing market and the broader economy, and what Canadians can expect in the months ahead. 

For an up-to-date breakdown of the Bank of Canada's key interest rate and its change over time alongside inflation numbers, visit our interest rate page. 

Key moments this episode:  

1:21 – JF's initial take on the central bank’s decision to cut its key rate 

1:50 – Why did the Bank of Canada decide to cut today? 

2:31 – Will inflation get back down to the Bank of Canada’s target? 

3:45 – What does this cut mean for Canadians? How will they feel the difference? 

5:00 – How many more cuts can we expect this year? How fast or slow will this process be? 

5:45 – What can we expect to see next year based on this latest cut? 

6:15 – Is this the ‘soft landing’ we’ve been hoping for? 

7:45 – What are the indicators that Canadians should be looking for to tell us the path ahead for future cuts? 

8:43 – The three key takeaways for Canadians from this latest decision 

People are living longer, but the cost of caregiving is something many Canadians don’t plan for. Our guest this episode is Dr. Zahinoor Ismail. He’s a dementia expert and Clinician Scientist at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary. He’ll tell us all about the often overlooked emotional and financial impacts of caring for those with dementia as well as the research he’s doing with the help of charity Gordie Howe CARES. 

For more information on the University of Calgary CAN-PROTECT caregiver study and for caregiver resources visit Gordie Howe CARES. 

Key moments this episode: 

1:27 – What exactly is dementia and how it is different from Alzheimer's? 

3:23 – What is meant by the term “caregiver”? How has the definition evolved? 

5:46 – Three major factors that can contribute to the burden on a family/friend caregiver 

10:19 – The financial and emotional cost of caring for a loved one 

11:20 – How Gordie Howe CARES is helping caregivers 

14:20 – An example of the financial burdens of caregiving 

15:14 – What about the taboo around having a loved one with cognitive decline? How does that affect caregivers? 

15:56 – The two things Dr. Ismail finds rewarding about this work 

17:33 – How can caregiving be made a positive experience?  

Generative AI, the kind of artificial intelligence that creates content for you or answers questions based on a prompt, is already changing many aspects of our lives. But according to our guest this episode, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, especially when it comes to businesses taking advantage of this new technology. Divya Goyal is an Analyst in Global Equity Research at Scotiabank and will give us a birds-eye view of how Canadian businesses are approaching and adopting this revolutionary technology. She’ll tell us what sectors are ripe for disruption, what role Canada could play when it comes to homegrown innovation, some unintended consequences of this new technology and much more. 

Key moments this episode: 

1:27 – A quick snapshot of the state of AI 

3:25 – How have technologies like generative AI changed things for business? 

5:38 – Why we are just at the ‘tip of the iceberg” with generative AI adoption in business 

8:04 – How businesses have started to use these AI technologies already 

10:11 – Which industries are most “ripe for disruption” when it comes to AI 

12:29 – Is AI going to take away jobs? 

12:49 – What about the increased demand for electricity and electrical grids driven by AI’s increased usage? 

15: 33 – Where does Canada stand in terms of its adoption of these technologies in business? 

17:05 – What is the state of AI technology development in Canada? 

19:27 – How will AI reshape our world ten years from now? 

21:38 – What's the next big thing when it comes to AI tech? 

Scotiabank Senior Economist Farah Omran is back this episode to give us her take on the state of the Canadian housing market. She'll break down the latest numbers, explain the high stakes and “suspense” she’s seeing, tell us what might play out in the next six months and much more. 

Key moments this episode: 

1:10 – Farah catches us up on the market since her last podcast appearance in the fall 

2:41 – What Farah means when she says “stakes are high”  

3:42 – The mystery behind why we’re seeing a relatively slow spring real estate season 

5:38 – Are there any markets that are especially hot in Canada? 

6:45 – Are people waiting for rate cuts before entering the market? 

8:12 – How the housing market impacts the interest rate outlook and vice-versa  

10:02 – An update on housing shortages and what governments (including the recent federal budget) are doing 

15:18 – Digging into the psychology around the housing market 

17:03 – Farah breaks out her non-existent crystal ball: what might the next six months look like?