Immigration integration focus of new program

The City of Ottawa unveiled a new plan on Monday to attract immigrants and better integrate those who are already here.

The plan brings together a dozen immigration and settlement agencies, as well as employers, social service providers and others.

Those who work with immigrants say the new approach reflects a widespread consensus that the present system is no longer working as well as it once did, either for immigrants or their children.

Naythar Seer is a Karen refugee from Burma. Relentlessly upbeat and optimistic, he's soon due to start a degree in civil engineering that he hopes will launch him on the career he wants.

But he admits landing a job in his new country has not been easy.

"I have tried to apply for a job at Wal-Mart, and I never got a job there," he told CBC News. "I have a friend who works for a cleaner and through him, I got a job."

Seer says he might have remained unemployed if it weren't for that friend's help.

Mohammed Dalmar helps immigrants find jobs and he said the ability to network is crucial for all job-seekers, including immigrants.

"That lack of networking affects also the children of immigrants," he said. "Someone who went to school here, who did their university, and they're not getting jobs — we have many examples of this — because they're not well-connected."

'A need to connect'

Hindia Mohamoud of Catholic Immigration Services said the new plan will recognize that networking is essential to getting ahead in Canada, which poses a challenge for new arrivals.

"To bridge that gap of not knowing there is a need to connect, not only in economic areas but also in the social areas, so that people are not isolated from the opportunities that our city offers."

Mohamoud said the new plan will try various new approaches, including trying to create more opportunities for immigrants to form social connections that can help them. It also aims to recruit the support of small- and medium-sized business owners to employ more new arrivals.

Mohamoud said that means organizing events that bring together people of different backgrounds.

Dropout rates for the children of immigrants are reaching alarming levels in some parts of the city, she said, and there's a strong consensus among people who work in the field that something has to change.

With files from CBC's Evan Dyer

Federal deficit narrows in June

OTTAWA — Canada's budget deficit continued to decline in June from year-earlier levels, with revenues rising 8.7 per cent, despite signs of a slowing economy.

The shortfall for the month was $2.2 billion, down from a deficit of $2.8 billion in June 2010, the Finance Department said Friday.

The government brought in $19.4 billion, up $1.6 billion, in June, "reflecting increases in most revenues streams," the department said. Among them, personal income tax revenues rose by $600 million, or 7.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, program expenses — including transfer payments — rose by $900 million, or 5.1 per cent, to $19 billion. Public debt charges rose by $32 million, or 1.2 per cent.

For the first three months of the fiscal year, the department said the deficit narrowed to $5.5 billion from $7.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Between April and June, revenues rose by $2.6 billion, or 4.8 per cent, to $57.7 billion — mainly due to higher income tax revenues, which partially offset lower goods and service tax revenues, the department said.

During the three-month period, program spending was up $200 million, or 0.4 per cent, and public debt charges rose by $700 million, or 9.3 per cent.

Although data "suggest that economic growth has slowed recently," the department said "financial results through the first three months of the 2011-12 fiscal year are broadly consistent with those projected . . . budget 2011."

In its June 6 budget, the government trimmed its deficit forecast for the current year and said it would eliminate its shortfall a year ahead of schedule.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the government would aimed for $4 billion in annual savings and balance the budget by 2014-15. In the pre-election March budget, Flaherty had forecast the deficit would be erased by 2015-16.

For 2010-11, preliminary estimates put the shortfall at $36.2 billion, down from the previous forecast of $40.5 billion. The government expects a 2011-12 deficit of $32.3 billion.

CNS 8/26/11 11:48:55

© The Financial Post

Are we ready for that double dip?

By Philippe Bergevin and Finn Poschmann

In Ottawa Friday, Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney gave their updates on the Canadian economy. The big question: How does the darkened global picture affect Canada’s economic prospects and the federal government’s ability to return to a balanced budget on schedule?

By most accounts, the Canadian economy is doing well. The United States entered recession, defined as a significant decline in economic activity, in December 2007 (see graph above). Canada entered recession later, in fall 2008.

And Canada’s recession was shorter: the U.S. economy contracted for 18 months, while the Canadian economy was starting to grow again in June 2009, less than 10 months after its recession’s start. And while the United States is still short of the employment numbers seen before the start of the recession, Canada has not only recouped lost jobs, but added close to 600,000 since summer 2009.

Other indicators give cause for concern over the current recovery’s sustainability. The volatility that recently gripped financial markets — with the Dow Jones average showing lows and highs 1,000 points apart in the past 10 days, and gold hitting record highs Friday — is only a symptom. The global economic recovery lacks momentum.

The most worrisome prospect for Canada and the world: a double-dip recession in the United States. This outcome, while not yet the most likely one, is becoming more probable: The U.S. manufacturing index just posted its worst reading since July 2009.

What does this mean for Minister Flaherty and governor Carney, or for the federal budget and Canadian monetary policy? Budget 2011 assumed real GDP growth of between 2½% and 3% from 2012 to 2015, which still appears doable, although risks are on the downside. The United States’ dipping back into recession would require revising these numbers downward, delaying Canada’s planned return to a balanced federal budget, otherwise expected by 2015.

And events put governor Carney, too, in a difficult position. The U.S. Federal Reserve has all but promised to keep the federal funds rate, its policy rate, at close to zero through at least mid-2013. In Canada, the overnight rate already stands higher, at 1%. In theory and mostly in practice, Canadian monetary policy is independent of the United States, but the bank is always wary of big interest rate differentials, because a rising exchange rate feels like tight monetary policy from the point of view of Canadian exporters, which puts a damper on growth.

Further, inflation has sailed uncomfortably above the bank’s 2% target for three consecutive quarters. Interest rates will eventually need to go up, regardless of what the U.S. Fed does, but as governor Carney said Friday, recent “considerable external headwinds” justify caution over how soon and how fast rates here should be raised.

Abroad, a slowdown brings a mixed message for the Canadian economy, yet there are reasons for optimism. Domestic financial-market conditions are sunny for borrowers and lenders. Worries over high debt are well founded, but the housing market continues to shine. Labour markets likewise radiate a fair-weather story. Global weakness that depresses energy and commodity prices will pinch domestic earnings in those sectors, but won’t push resource profits into negative territory. Lower commodity prices will put downward pressure on the loonie, improving price competitiveness for our exporters.

Meanwhile, sales of Canadian goods and services in the United States still account for more than a fifth of our output: a drop of 5% in U.S. demand could translate to a 1% hit to real growth here. Canada is not an island, and positive market factors cannot undo the arithmetic of globally interlinked economies.

The financial crisis was painful and economic recovery will be slow, punctuated by ups and downs. Pauses or reversals routinely emerge during recoveries, as people and businesses try to make sense of new and volatile economic realities. Yet those are the vagaries of economic life — policymakers’ job is to provide the prudent fiscal foundation and supple monetary environment within which the rest of us can do our own best planning.

Financial Post

Philippe Bergevin is a policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute; Finn Poschmann is vice-president, research

Are we ready for that double dip?

By Philippe Bergevin and Finn Poschmann

In Ottawa Friday, Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney gave their updates on the Canadian economy. The big question: How does the darkened global picture affect Canada’s economic prospects and the federal government’s ability to return to a balanced budget on schedule?

By most accounts, the Canadian economy is doing well. The United States entered recession, defined as a significant decline in economic activity, in December 2007 (see graph above). Canada entered recession later, in fall 2008.

And Canada’s recession was shorter: the U.S. economy contracted for 18 months, while the Canadian economy was starting to grow again in June 2009, less than 10 months after its recession’s start. And while the United States is still short of the employment numbers seen before the start of the recession, Canada has not only recouped lost jobs, but added close to 600,000 since summer 2009.

Other indicators give cause for concern over the current recovery’s sustainability. The volatility that recently gripped financial markets — with the Dow Jones average showing lows and highs 1,000 points apart in the past 10 days, and gold hitting record highs Friday — is only a symptom. The global economic recovery lacks momentum.

The most worrisome prospect for Canada and the world: a double-dip recession in the United States. This outcome, while not yet the most likely one, is becoming more probable: The U.S. manufacturing index just posted its worst reading since July 2009.

What does this mean for Minister Flaherty and governor Carney, or for the federal budget and Canadian monetary policy? Budget 2011 assumed real GDP growth of between 2½% and 3% from 2012 to 2015, which still appears doable, although risks are on the downside. The United States’ dipping back into recession would require revising these numbers downward, delaying Canada’s planned return to a balanced federal budget, otherwise expected by 2015.

And events put governor Carney, too, in a difficult position. The U.S. Federal Reserve has all but promised to keep the federal funds rate, its policy rate, at close to zero through at least mid-2013. In Canada, the overnight rate already stands higher, at 1%. In theory and mostly in practice, Canadian monetary policy is independent of the United States, but the bank is always wary of big interest rate differentials, because a rising exchange rate feels like tight monetary policy from the point of view of Canadian exporters, which puts a damper on growth.

Further, inflation has sailed uncomfortably above the bank’s 2% target for three consecutive quarters. Interest rates will eventually need to go up, regardless of what the U.S. Fed does, but as governor Carney said Friday, recent “considerable external headwinds” justify caution over how soon and how fast rates here should be raised.

Abroad, a slowdown brings a mixed message for the Canadian economy, yet there are reasons for optimism. Domestic financial-market conditions are sunny for borrowers and lenders. Worries over high debt are well founded, but the housing market continues to shine. Labour markets likewise radiate a fair-weather story. Global weakness that depresses energy and commodity prices will pinch domestic earnings in those sectors, but won’t push resource profits into negative territory. Lower commodity prices will put downward pressure on the loonie, improving price competitiveness for our exporters.

Meanwhile, sales of Canadian goods and services in the United States still account for more than a fifth of our output: a drop of 5% in U.S. demand could translate to a 1% hit to real growth here. Canada is not an island, and positive market factors cannot undo the arithmetic of globally interlinked economies.

The financial crisis was painful and economic recovery will be slow, punctuated by ups and downs. Pauses or reversals routinely emerge during recoveries, as people and businesses try to make sense of new and volatile economic realities. Yet those are the vagaries of economic life — policymakers’ job is to provide the prudent fiscal foundation and supple monetary environment within which the rest of us can do our own best planning.

Financial Post

Philippe Bergevin is a policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute; Finn Poschmann is vice-president, research

Canadian wages up 3% from year before

Financial Post Staff  Aug 25, 2011 – 10:38 AM ET | Last Updated: Aug 25, 2011 1:09 PM ET

OTTAWA — The average weekly wage of Canadians edged up 0.3% in June from the previous month, and rose 3% from a year earlier, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

The federal agency said earnings on average totalled $876.27 per week in June, compared to $873.47 the previous month and $850.53 in June 2010. The average hours worked per week were 32.9, unchanged from a year earlier.

“The 3% (year-over-year) increase reflects a number of factors, such as wage growth and changes in the composition of employment by industry, by occupation and by level of job experience,” the agency said.

Weekly earnings were up in all provinces in the 12 months to June, with the biggest gains in Alberta, up 5% to $1,041.45, and British Columbia, up 4.5% to $849.69.

“Alberta has recorded year-over-year growth in earnings above the national average since March 2010,” Statistics Canada said.

Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island saw the slowest wage growth, up 1% to $854.60 and up 1.7% to $723.15, respectively.

Meanwhile, the number of employees on payrolls totalled 14.92 million in June, a gain of 1.8% from a year earlier.

TABLE
Average weekly wage in June / percentage change from year earlier:

Nationally $876.27 / 3.0

Newfoundland and Labrador $862.60 / 3.2

Prince Edward Island $723.15 / 1.7

Nova Scotia $773.89 / 2.0

New Brunswick $790.59 / 3.9

Quebec $815.91 / 3.0

Ontario $899.45 / 2.5

Manitoba $809.81 / 3.4

Saskatchewan $854.60 / 1.0

Alberta $1,041.45 / 5.0

British Columbia $849.69 / 4.5

Source: Statistics Canada

Posted in: Economy  Tags: Employee Compensation, Jobs And Labor, Statistics Canada