Inflation in Canada: What was discussed at ministers' meeting
Inflation in Canada: What was discussed at ministers' meeting
TORONTO -
The two big spending pressures on the federal government right now are health care and the global transition to a clean economy, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday.
After hosting an in-person meeting with the provincial and territorial finance ministers, Freeland said U.S. President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which includes electric-vehicle incentives that favour manufacturers in Canada and Mexico as well as the U.S., has changed the playing field when it comes to the global competition for capital.
"I cannot emphasize too strongly how much I believe that we need to seize the moment and build the clean economy of the 21st century," Freeland said during a news conference held at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
Canada needs to invest in the transition in order to potentially have an outsized share in the economy of the future, she said, or it risks being left behind.
This year in particular will be an important year for attracting capital to Canada, she said, calling for the provinces and territories to chip in.
"This is a truly historic, once-in-a-generation economic moment and it will take a team Canada effort to seize it."
At the same time, Freeland spoke of the need for fiscal restraint amid economic uncertainty.
"We know that one of the most important things the federal government can do to help Canadians today is to be mindful of our responsibility not to pour fuel on the fire of inflation," she said.
Freeland said these two major spending pressures, which were among the topics prioritized at Friday's meeting, come at a time of a global economic slowdown which poses restraint on government spending.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to meet with the premiers Feb. 7 to discuss a long-awaited deal on health-care spending. The provinces have been asking for increases to the health transfer to the tune of billions of dollars.
Freeland said it's clear that the federal government needs to invest in health care and reiterated the government's commitment to doing so but would not say whether she thinks the amount the provinces are asking for in increased health transfers is feasible.
"It's time to see the numbers," Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard said Friday afternoon, in anticipation of the Feb. 7 meeting.
The meeting of the finance ministers comes at a tense time for many Canadian consumers, with inflation still running hot and interest rates much higher than they were a year ago.
The ministers also spoke with Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem Friday and discussed the economic outlook for Canada and the world, said Freeland.
"We're very aware of the uncertainty in the global economy right now," said Freeland. "Inflation is high and interest rates are high."
"Things are tough for a lot of Canadians and a lot of Canadian families today and at the federal level, this is a time of real fiscal constraint."
The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate again last week, bringing it to 4.5 per cent, but signalled it's taking a pause to let the impact of its aggressive hiking cycle sink in.
The economy is showing signs of slowing, but inflation was still high at 6.3 per cent in December, with food prices in particular remaining elevated year over year.
Interest rates have put a damper on the housing market, sending prices and sales downward for months on end even as the cost of renting went up in 2022.
Meanwhile, the labour market has remained strong, with the unemployment rate nearing record lows in December at five per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2023.
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
More than 130,000 people have signed an e-petition calling on Canada to give transgender and non-binary people fleeing harmful laws in their home countries the right to claim asylum, but that's already possible in this country. Advocates say the popularity of the proposal shows politicians that Canadians want the government to affirm its welcoming position.
The Public Order Emergency Commission has concluded that the federal government met the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act to bring an end to the 'Freedom Convoy' protests and blockades.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
Governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem says he thinks Canada is 'turning the corner' on inflation, but he isn't ruling out that the country could enter a 'mild recession.' In an English-language broadcast exclusive interview with CTV National News Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier, Macklem encouraged Canadians to prepare a 'buffer' to withstand 'tougher times.'
The only thing most Canadians will remember about the budget this time next week is how the booze tax increase was reduced to two per cent from six, writes Don Martin in a column for CTVNews.ca.
Joe Biden comes for a sleepover next week to make Canada the 18th country he has visited since being sworn in as U.S. president, quite the protocol slippage from that fading, if not forgotten, tradition of Canada being the first foreign presidential pitstop, writes Don Martin in a column for CTVNews.ca.
After weeks of refusing to look further into foreign election interference, Justin Trudeau surrendered to intense pressure and appointed a 'special rapporteur' to review China's actions. In his exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin writes this 'startling change of heart' suggests the PMO is in panic mode and reflects badly on the prime minister's decision making.
The Trudeau tipping point is within sight. The moment when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knows he has to quit for the good of the party or the Liberals realize they can't survive re-election with him at the helm is almost upon us, Don Martin writes in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Bombshell revelations that suggest Chinese agents actively, fraudulently and successfully manipulated Canada's electoral integrity in the last two federal elections cannot be dismissed with the standard Justin Trudeau nothing-to-see-here shrug, Don Martin writes in his exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
The Canada Revenue Agency will pilot a new automatic system next year to help vulnerable Canadians who don't file their taxes get their benefits. This week's federal budget says the Canada Revenue Agency will also present a plan in 2024 to expand the service, following consultations with stakeholders and community organizations.
When the doors close at night at the administration office at Yukon's Carcross Tagish First Nation, a van hits the road and drives through the communities to offer naloxone to reverse overdoses, drug testing kits, food and even a friendly face to help those struggling because of the opioid crisis.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a leaked cellphone call, commiserated with a COVID-19 protester about his trial while divulging to him there was an internal dispute over how Crown prosecutors were handling COVID-19 cases.
Months after Canada's ban on foreign homebuyers took effect on Jan. 1, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has made several amendments to the legislation allowing non-Canadians to purchase residential properties in certain circumstances.
To help offset rising living expenses, the Government of Canada has introduced a one-time grocery rebate for low- and modest-income Canadians. Here is what we know about the rebate.
The family of a 37-year-old man who was stabbed to death in Vancouver last weekend says he was attacked after asking someone not to vape near his young daughter.
A new grocery rebate designed to offset food inflation, amendments to legislation on Canada’s ban on foreign homebuyers, and Alberta’s premier was heard on a call with a COVID-19 protester. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
The closely watched trial over a 2016 ski collision between Gwyneth Paltrow and the retired optometrist suing her for the injuries he sustained is expected to draw to a close Thursday, when attorneys give closing arguments and send the case to the eight-member jury.
Canadian supporters of Dong Guangping, a missing Chinese human-rights defender, are disappointed with what they call a disingenuous response from Vietnamese officials to the United Nations.
The trauma of past cost-cutting exercises is looming large as national veterans' organizations anxiously await word on how the federal budget will affect ill and injured ex-soldiers.
When the doors close at night at the administration office at Yukon's Carcross Tagish First Nation, a van hits the road and drives through the communities to offer naloxone to reverse overdoses, drug testing kits, food and even a friendly face to help those struggling because of the opioid crisis.
The family of a 37-year-old man who was stabbed to death in Vancouver last weekend says he was attacked after asking someone not to vape near his young daughter.
RCMP officers executed a search warrant at a protest camp on Wet'suwet'en traditional territory near the under-construction Coastal GasLink pipeline Wednesday.
Taiwan's president addressed members of New York's Taiwanese community in a U.S. stopover on her way to Central America as she seeks to rally allies of the self-ruled island amid tensions with China.
A fire broke out on a ferry in the southern Philippines and raged overnight for eight hours, killing at least 31 of the approximately 250 passengers and crew, officials said Thursday.
Social media personality Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan will remain in police custody pending a criminal investigation into alleged sex trafficking as a Romanian court denied their request to be released on bail on Wednesday.
Humanitarian groups are giving Tuesday's federal budget a thumbs down, saying it will create a backslide in progress on fighting disease and hunger abroad.
U.S. Congress is moving toward doing something it hasn't done since the Vietnam War -- repealing authorizations for the president's use of military force. For lawmakers, that's an important gesture toward reclaiming a say over the wars America wages abroad.
Defending her latest federal budget, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said spending that increases economic capacity is fiscally responsible.
The 2023 federal budget released this week includes a series of affordability measures, tax changes, and major spends on health care and the clean economy. But, tucked into the 255-page document are a series of smaller items you may have missed.
CTV News has learned that RCMP officers are currently in northeast Syria, interviewing Canadians held in detention camps in order to bring them back to Canada. The three Mounties have so far interviewed only Canadian women in Al-Roj camp.
When the doors close at night at the administration office at Yukon's Carcross Tagish First Nation, a van hits the road and drives through the communities to offer naloxone to reverse overdoses, drug testing kits, food and even a friendly face to help those struggling because of the opioid crisis.
Drugs that combat obesity are under consideration for the first time for the World Health Organization's 'essential medicines list,' used to guide government purchasing decisions in low- and middle-income countries, the UN agency told Reuters.
Tucked into the 2023 federal budget unveiled on Tuesday in Ottawa, the Liberals have announced plans to explore implementing a standard charging port across Canada, in an effort to save Canadians some money and reduce waste.
Apple is getting into the buy now, pay later space with a few tweaks to the existing model -- including no option to pay with a credit card. The company will roll out the product to some consumers this spring, and will begin reporting the loans to credit bureaus in the fall.
A group of prominent computer scientists and other tech industry notables such as Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak are calling for a 6-month pause to consider AI's risks on society.
Actress Melissa Joan Hart says she was near Nashville's Covenant School soon after Monday's deadly shooting of six people, including three children, and helped some students get away from the scene.
The closely watched trial over a 2016 ski collision between Gwyneth Paltrow and the retired optometrist suing her for the injuries he sustained is expected to draw to a close Thursday, when attorneys give closing arguments and send the case to the eight-member jury.
Students at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, were set to perform a 2017 duet by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton, until school administration asked fors its removal from the concert because its lyrics 'could be deemed controversial.'
Global shares were mostly higher Thursday as worries over turmoil in the banking industry eased and a top Chinese leader said the No. 2 economy was gaining momentum.
Small business owners are praising a measure in the federal budget to lower credit card interchange fees, but some industry representatives argued the move will do little to save costs for consumers.
A senior Bank of Canada official says the central bank is keeping a close eye on the stresses to the global banking system ahead of its next interest rate decision and monetary policy report in April.
Have you ever had to lie about the quality of a home-cooked meal to protect someone's feelings? According to a new survey by Research Co. you’re not the only one.
Former Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius has applied for parole and is expected to attend a hearing on Friday that will decide if he can be released from prison 10 years after killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by shooting her multiple times through a toilet door in his home.
The NFL took another step at the owners meetings to increase diversity throughout the league while continuing to face criticism and a lawsuit for lack of representation among head coaches.
Closing out a half century of purely gasoline-powered V12 cars going back to the brand's earliest models, Luxury Italian sports car designer Lamborghini has unveiled its first supercar with a charging port.
U.S. highway safety regulators have opened yet another investigation into problems with Teslas, this time tied to complaints that the seat belts may not hold people in a crash.
California lawmakers on Monday approved the nation's first penalty for price gouging at the pump, voting to give regulators the power to punish oil companies for profiting from the type of gas price spikes that plagued the nation's most populous state last summer.
