Chamber Blog ~ October 2014

This week, the B20 Coalition is releasing a series of recommendations to address with G20 policymakers four key issues of importance to the international business community.

To boost the fragile economic recovery, the B20 Coalition has identified four key areas where coordinated policy action is urgently required to nurture growth and job creation: trade and investment, fiscal responsibility, energy, and infrastructure and investment. The members of the B20 Coalition call on the G20 leaders for strong action in each area to create an environment in which the private sector can contribute to the fullest extent to the rebound from recession.

Today, we issued a report entitled Doing More Business with China: Why Canada Needs a Renminbi Hub.

Over the past decade, China has become Canada’s second largest and fastest growing trading partner, with exports quadrupling from $5 billion to $20 billion and imports nearly tripling from $18.6 billion to $52 billion. In fact, in 2013, China surpassed the United States to become the world’s biggest trading nation, with imports and exports totaling $4 trillion. China’s currency, the renminbi, is also the world’s fastest growing currency, and the Chinese government is keen to liberalize the renminbi and ensure an increasing share of trade flows is denominated in the currency. With these factors in play, now is a prime opportunity for Canada to cement its commercial and diplomatic relations with the country that will one day become the world’s largest economy. It is time to establish a renminbi trading hub in Canada.

Today, we issued a report entitled A Battle We Can’t Afford to Lose: Getting Young Canadians from Education to Employment.

Across the country, there is a growing understanding that closing the skills gap means better aligning our education and training systems to our labour market needs. For Canadian youth, it is essential the education or training they get is relevant to the job market they will enter. First, they need to know where the jobs will be. Second, they need to know what those jobs will be so they can plan their education and training accordingly. Third, they need education that is not just job training but equips them to be adaptable. Employers do not always provide clear and strong signals to youth. That needs to change, and this report explores how to improve it.