Canadians think Canada is ‘broken’ amid gloomy economic numbers

Approximately three years have passed since the end of the initial phase of the COVID pandemic that saw large swathes of the economy shuttered for most of the 2020-2021 period. And it’s almost nine years since the 2015 federal election, which resulted in a majority government for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. So, it’s a good time to do a pulse check on Canadians to see how they’re faring and feeling about the country.

Overall, the news isn’t particularly cheerful, on either front.

Dealing first with economic prosperity, the big story is that Canada’s population has been growing faster than the volume of output produced by the economy (defined as gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation). This means the economy has been shrinking on a per-person basis, prompting some analysts to coin the term “per-person recession” to describe the performance of Canada’s economy since 2022.

The trend has been stark in the last two years, but it started earlier. The absolute level of per-person output is smaller today than in 2018 in seven of 10 provinces including Ontario. More importantly, income and earnings growth has been essentially stagnant for most Canadians over roughly the last decade. Canada has also fallen further behind the best-performing advanced economies on productivity, per-person income and real wages.

What about public attitudes? A recent Ipsos survey finds 70 per cent of Canadians think the country is “broken,” an opinion especially common among young adults. Older Canadians have a more positive view of things. A Statistics Canada survey shows a significant drop in the percentage of Canadians reporting high levels of “life satisfaction.” The same survey shows that 40 per cent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 54 say it’s difficult to meet their financial needs.

The shock delivered by the recent bout of high inflation no doubt has contributed to this gloomy assessment. And it doesn’t help the public mood that housing has never been less affordable, that crime is on the rise, and that basic health-care services are harder to access than they were five or 10 years ago.

Other data paint a more nuanced picture of how Canada is doing. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)—a collection of mostly rich countries—publishes a “Better Life Index,” which aims to gauge overall citizen wellbeing. In the most recent iteration of the Index, Canada beats the OECD average on income, employment levels, education attainment, life expectancy at birth, and environmental quality, among other indicators. Our relative ranking has slipped in some areas—a worrisome sign—but overall, Canada puts up a decent score.

Still, stagnant real incomes and an economy that’s expanding more slowly than the population is not an ideal place to land. To do better, Canada will need at least a few years of stronger per-person economic growth. This will require a turnaround in our notably lacklustre productivity record and a sustained pick-up in business investment. Revisiting the federal government’s ambitious immigration targets may also be necessary, as Trudeau government ministers have publicly (albeit somewhat sheepishly) acknowledged.

Getting the economic fundamentals right is essential to making progress on most economic and social indicators. As the OECD notes, “while money may not buy happiness, it is an important means to achieving higher living standards and thus greater well-being.”

Author:

Jock Finlayson

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

Related Topics:#CanadaEconomy #FraserInstitute #JockFinlayson CanadaIsBroken

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World Economic Forum Aims to Repair Relations with Schwab

Published on July 1, 2025

Todayville

By Martin Armstrong

The whistleblower has always been anonymous, and it remains very suspicious that the very organization he created would turn on him after receiving an anonymous letter that they admitted may not have been credible.

World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab stepped down from his chairman position at the organization on April 20, 2025, amid accusations of fraud. Our computer had forecast that the WEF would enter a declining trend with the 2024 ECM turning point. This staged coup happened about 37 years after the first Davos meeting (8.6 x 4.3). From our model’s perspective, this was right on time. Now, Schwab and the WEF are working to repair ties.

An anonymous whistleblower claimed that Klaus Schwab and his wife collaborated with USAID to steal tens of millions in funding. The whistleblower has always been anonymous, and it remains very suspicious that the very organization he created would turn on him after receiving an anonymous letter that they admitted may not have been credible. Something like this would never be acceptable in any court of law, especially if it’s anonymous. It would be the worst or the worst hearsay, where you cannot even point to who made the allegation.

Back in April, the WEF said its board unanimously supported the decision to initiate an independent investigation “following a whistleblower letter containing allegations against former Chairman Klaus Schwab. This decision was made after consultation with external legal counsel.”

Now, the WEF is attempting to repair its relationship with its founder ahead of the next Davos meeting. Bloomberg reported that the WEF would like to “normalize their relationship [with Klaus Schwab] in order to safeguard the forum and the legacy of the founder.”

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has replaced Schwab for the time being, but is less of a commanding force. Schwab’s sudden departure has caused instability in the organization and its ongoing mission. Board members are concerned that support for the organization will begin to decline as this situation remains unresolved.

The World Economic Forum’s annual revenue in 2024 was 440 million francs ($543 million), with the majority of proceeds coming from member companies and fees. Yet, the number of people registered to attend the 2025 Davos event is on par if not slightly exceeding the number of participants from the year prior.

Schwab’s departure has damaged the Davos brand. There is a possibility that the organization is attempted to rebrand after Agenda 2030 failed. The WEF attempted to move away from its zero tolerance stance on ESG initiatives after they became widely unpopular among the big industry players and shifting governments. The brand has attempted to integrate the importance of digital transformation and AI to remain relevant as the tech gurus grow in power and popularity. Those who are familiar with Klaus Schwab know the phrase, “You will own nothing and be happy.” These words have been widely unpopular and caused a type of sinister chaos to surround the brand that was once respected as the high-brow institution of globalist elites.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde was slated to replace Schwab in 2027 when her term ends, and all reports claimed that he was prepared to remain in the chairman role for an additional two years to ensure Lagarde could take his place. What changed seemingly overnight that would cause the organization to discard Schwab before he was due to retire?

Schwab denies any misconduct and filed lawsuits against the whistleblowers, calling the accusations “calumnious” and “unfounded.” He believes “character assassination” was the premise of the claims.

I am no fan of Klaus Schwab, as everyone knows. I disagree with his theories from start to finish. Nevertheless, something doesn’t smell right here. This appears to be an internal coup, perhaps to distract attention from the question of alleged funds for the WEF from USAID, or to try to salvage the failed Agenda 2030. Perhaps they will claim that no misconduct had occurred since DOGE did not raise concerns or there is a possibility that those behind the internal coup are concerned that Schwab’s counter lawsuit could uncover new corruption. The investigation into Schwab has not concluded, but after only three months, the WEF would like to wrap it up. It appears that the WEF does not want to welcome Schwab back; rather, they would like to ensure an amicable resolution to maintain both the brand’s reputation as well as the founder’s.

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Canada Caves: Carney ditches digital services tax after criticism from Trump

Published on June 30, 2025

Todayville

From The Center Square

By Brett Rowland

Canada caved to President Donald Trump demands by pulling its digital services tax hours before it was to go into effect on Monday.

Trump said Friday that he was ending all trade talks with Canada over the digital services tax, which he called a direct attack on the U.S. and American tech firms. The DST required foreign and domestic businesses to pay taxes on some revenue earned from engaging with online users in Canada.

“Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately,” the president said. “We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period.”

By Sunday, Canada relented in an effort to resume trade talks with the U.S., it’s largest trading partner.

“To support those negotiations, the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, announced today that Canada would rescind the Digital Services Tax (DST) in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States,” according to a statement from Canada’s Department of Finance.

Canada’s Department of Finance said that Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump agreed to resume negotiations, aiming to reach a deal by July 21.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Monday that the digital services tax would hurt the U.S.

“Thank you Canada for removing your Digital Services Tax which was intended to stifle American innovation and would have been a deal breaker for any trade deal with America,” he wrote on X.

Earlier this month, the two nations seemed close to striking a deal.

Trump said he and Carney had different concepts for trade between the two neighboring countries during a meeting at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, in the Canadian Rockies.

Asked what was holding up a trade deal between the two nations at that time, Trump said they had different concepts for what that would look like.

“It’s not so much holding up, I think we have different concepts, I have a tariff concept, Mark has a different concept, which is something that some people like, but we’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it today.”

Shortly after taking office in January, Trump hit Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs for allowing fentanyl and migrants to cross their borders into the U.S. Trump later applied those 25% tariffs only to goods that fall outside the free-trade agreement between the three nations, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Trump put a 10% tariff on non-USMCA compliant potash and energy products. A 50% tariff on aluminum and steel imports from all countries into the U.S. has been in effect since June 4. Trump also put a 25% tariff on all cars and trucks not built in the U.S.

Economists, businesses and some publicly traded companies have warned that tariffs could raise prices on a wide range of consumer products.

Trump has said he wants to use tariffs to restore manufacturing jobs lost to lower-wage countries in decades past, shift the tax burden away from U.S. families, and pay down the national debt.

A tariff is a tax on imported goods paid by the person or company that imports them. The importer can absorb the cost of the tariffs or try to pass the cost on to consumers through higher prices.

Trump’s tariffs give U.S.-produced goods a price advantage over imported goods, generating revenue for the federal government.