Getting back to work

Canadian Chamber of Commerce releases Roadmap to Recovery, recommends moving away from subsidy-based response in favour of economic stimulus

THE CANADIAN CHAMBER of Commerce (CCC) today laid out its plans to heal Canada’s economy. The Roadmap to Recovery examines nine key challenges and identifies 51 specific recommendations governments should adopt to overcome them.

“Canada, and the world, have deep economic wounds that require a dedicated plan to make sure we get out of this crisis,” explained Perrin Beatty, CCC president and CEO. “Governments must be as agile and determined in pursuing economic growth as it has been in responding to the virus. Our response must rise to the measure of the challenge before it.”

According to the CCC, the government’s response spared millions of Canadians from economic disaster. Measures like the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Business Account have provided urgently needed assistance to Canadian workers and businesses, helping to ensure they will be there to propel our economic recovery.

But as provinces and territories begin to reopen, the CCC says Canada must prepare to transition away from a subsidy-based crisis response toward economic stimulus and getting Canadians back to work, while ensuring their health and safety. Canada will need to encourage investment and business activities that will create jobs and generate the revenue needed to offset the extraordinarily high levels of public spending during the emergency.

The Canadian Chamber’s Roadmap to Recovery lays out the following economic challenges that we will need to overcome:

• Getting Canadians back to work
• Keeping supply chains and people moving
• Managing debt and deficits
• Navigating global fragmentation
• Adopting technology and innovation
• Ensuring a resilient resource sector
• Planning for SME business continuity
• Strengthening our public health infrastructure
• Rethinking government’s role and priorities

For Canada’s recovery plan to succeed, the Chamber says policymakers will need a singular focus on economic fundamentals and on promoting growth. A growth-focused plan will unlock economic capacity, fuel job creation and promote new business investment.

“In the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic, it is difficult to think beyond confronting the immediate effects of Covid-19. However, even as we continue supporting each other today, we must also begin looking over the horizon to the post-Covid-19 world,” added Beatty. “We must be bold and innovative and avoid the temptation to seek comfortable solutions in an increasingly uncomfortable world. We need to start planning how our country and economy can emerge stronger.”

The Roadmap to Recovery was developed in partnership with over 450 Canadian chambers of commerce and boards of trade and more than 100 of Canada’s most important business and industry associations. The full text and recommendations can be found here.