2026 Is the Year All the Stars Have to Align

January 23, 2026

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As published in iPolitics, an English-only outlet.

By Candace Laing, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce

2026 has brought with it a rare alignment of the stars. Government, business and labour leaders across Canada agree on what our country needs economically — and more unbelievably, so does public opinion. 

An Ipsos poll in December found that three-quarters of Canadians support building new pipelines to ports in British Columbia and Eastern Canada to diversify export markets. A similar 71% said Canada’s approval processes for large projects take too long and need reform. In Quebec, 67% of Canadians backed the Marinvest LNG project to export natural gas to Europe. 

This alignment matters because, for years, Canada’s economic framework — the rules, incentives, and signals embedded in public policy — has been pulling investment and talent in a different direction. That framework is no longer fit for purpose. It has created friction rather than momentum, uncertainty rather than confidence, and hesitation rather than openness. The challenge now is whether we can pivot quickly enough to meet the moment. So, will we follow the stars or let this opportunity slip away?  

The fall federal budget laid some promising groundwork, detailing practical steps to support Canada’s competitiveness and long-term growth, including improving infrastructure, strengthening trade capacity, and investing in strategic sectors that drive jobs, like defence, steel, forestry and trade diversification infrastructure. These budgetary policy decisions matter to the mood of investors and businesses who have been sidelined or spooked since disruption musings began in late 2024.  

But favourable conditions alone don’t guarantee results — unless paired with smart public policy. 

On paper, the economy is growing. Real-time analysis from our Business Data Lab’s GDP nowcasting tool shows Canada growing between 2–3% in Q1. In practice, that growth is uneven. Large firms with scale and capital buffers are better positioned to adapt, while small and medium-sized businesses remain cautious, delaying hiring and investment as costs stay high and demand uncertain. Those businesses are not changing their trade patterns quickly, hoping this will all blow over. In communities where economic opportunity depends on a limited number of employers, that hesitation shows up as layoffs, pay freezes, and stalled community growth. 

Capital moves fast globally, and other jurisdictions are working aggressively to attract it. Canadian businesses can’t afford to hesitate. Without the economic momentum to restore consumer and business confidence, the gap between us and peer countries will only grow.  

For decades, our economy has sent clear signals about where to apply smart policy. Reducing red tape and reviewing our tax competitiveness to encourage investment and innovation. Better trade and transportation infrastructure to assist Canadian producers in efficiently reaching global markets. Aligning immigration, skills training, and regional workforce strategies to help employers fill critical gaps that domestic talent won’t. 

When companies grow, they hire more workers, pay better, and invest in their communities, which supports families and local services and builds stronger neighbourhoods. Business success is meaningful only if it improves lives.  

Addressing these signals determine whether Canada will deliver steady growth, good jobs, and economic optimism at a time when many feel stretched. Economic prosperity and community well-being go hand in hand, and public policy that strengthens one and not the other misses the mark. 

The unifying cause we see today across governments, sectors, and communities is a chance for Canada to shore up an economy that has all the ingredients for success but Parliament still has yet to follow key aspects of the recipe. We cannot again let political gamesmanship on any side of the aisle get in the way of the urgent task at hand. Voters are smart and they will not reward obstinacy in a crisis. 

The business community isn’t going to sit idle during this process and will push governments by proposing tangible strategies that are economically-driven, rather than public sector-directed like the current policy trajectory. We recognize there’s reasonable interventions to be made, but we cannot let public policy become a matter of picking winners and losers again.  

Moments like the one 2026 is presenting us are easy to miss and hard to recreate. Looking ahead at the fiscal cycle, there are clear opportunities for implementing that smart public policy I mentioned. The next and most obvious is the newly timed federal Spring Economic Statement. Government should remember that business leaders and Canadians have only so much patience and are expecting tangible plans with clear and measurable deliverables.  

We cannot afford to lose the sense of urgency that helped galvanize public sentiment in 2025. As Parliament prepares to return, our politicians should remind themselves of that. 

View our Advocacy page to learn more about the Canadian Chamber’s work.