Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is happy world leaders agreed to the points he put on Canada's wish list at the G20 summit, including financial banking reforms to prevent future bank failures.
"We are beginning to see the beginning of an economic upturn," Harper said in French during a speech in Pittsburgh.
"It's really fragile, it's not guaranteed, but the co-ordination of policies, of stimulus measures (and) safety plans for banks and financial institutions makes a huge difference in this economy."
As the summit wrapped up in Pittsburgh Friday night, the G20 agreed to a requirement that will force banks to carry higher cash reserves as a buffer against future failures.
Additionally, leaders announced new agreements around bonuses for top bankers, making their payouts dependant on the long-term performance of their decisions.
Meanwhile, Harper also announced Friday morning that Canada will host two major economic summits next year, and will help usher in an important new role for the G20.
Leaders have agreed that the Group of Eight industrialized nations will be replaced by the G20 -- a larger group that includes important developing nations such as China and India.
In addition to next year's G8 meeting in Huntsville, Ont., Canada will also host a G20 meeting, which will be co-chaired with South Korea.
The G8 will now only focus on security and non-economic issues.
Harper called it "an unprecedented opportunity for Canada to show leadership" on the global economic stage.
CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said the announcement is timed well for Canada, given that the G20's genesis can be traced to former prime minister Paul Martin.
"It's a little feather in Canada's cap -- not only because it was a Canadian idea from Paul Martin but because Canada is going to host the first formal gathering of this G20 in its new incarnation in Huntsville next June," Fife said.
Martin, the former Liberal prime minister, was a champion of the idea of expanding the G8, arguing that it made little sense to exclude emerging economies.
Leaders agreed late Thursday night to make the transition to include developing nations whose voice is becoming increasingly important in the global economy.
"The reason for this is that all of these rapidly developing nations, particularly China and India, are such big players that you have to have this enlarged club," Fife said.
The G8 leaders are likely to meet first, in a smaller group, one day before the larger G20 meeting.
Harper will have to decide whether Huntsville, a town located in Ontario's cottage country more than two hours north of Toronto, can play host to both the scheduled G8 meeting, and the G20 event.
The G8 is scheduled to meet June 25 to 27.
However, some have suggested the change could put Canada in an awkward place. Canada is no longer considered one of the world's leading economies, and the country's role in the G8 is already tenuous.
In an expanded group, some have said, Canada's voice could be even quieter.
"It would be crazy for me to deny that to some degree. Obviously we are one of 20 instead of one of eight. It's a different dynamic," Harper said.
But he added that since Canada has not been "destroyed" by the financial crisis, Canada will maintain its influence at the G20.
With files from the Canadian Press
