Canada is not as prosperous as it should be, panellists' message at Canadian Chamber of Commerce summit
A CBC Ideas panel moderated by Nahlah Ayed brought together three voices on Canada’s economic future — Hon. Lisa Raitt, co-chair, Coalition for a Better Future; Zita Cobb, Founder, Shorefast; and Kaylie Tiessen, Chief Economist, Canadian SHIELD Institute. | PHOTO: Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Canada may rank as the 10th-largest economy in the world, but that status masks a troubling divergence between the prosperity the country is capable of and the prosperity its citizens are actually living. That was the central message of a panel discussion at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Future of Business Summit, moderated by Nahlah Ayed, host of CBC Radio’s Ideas.
The panel brought together Lisa Raitt, co-chair of the Coalition for a Better Future and Vice-Chair, Office of the CEO at CIBC; Zita Cobb, entrepreneur and founder of the Shorefast Foundation in Fogo Island, Newfoundland; and Kaylie Tiessen, Chief Economist, Canadian SHIELD Institute, a researcher and self-described “geriatric millennial” who tracks economic data on the ground. Together, they explored what prosperity means, why Canada is falling short of it, and what communities and individuals can do about it.
Raitt: A K-shaped recovery and the salary gap
For Raitt, the question of prosperity is personal before it is political. She opened the discussion by describing growing up in Cape Breton, raised primarily by her grandmother on an annual income of $12,000 — what was then called an old-age pension, or commonly referred to as a widow’s allowance. “She was living month to month, paycheck to paycheck, bonus check to bonus check,” Raitt recalled, “and how she was able to put it together, I still don’t know.”
That memory, she said, sharpens her focus on today’s widening inequality — what she described as a “K-shaped recovery” in which a segment of Canadians is doing very well while a larger group is struggling. “You’ve got some people who are doing great in this economy and others who are not doing as well,” she said, “You’re definitely having a larger chunk of people who are not experiencing recovery as opposed to those who are having a really good recovery.”
When asked by Ayed why Canada is falling behind, Raitt pointed to Canada’s persistently low wages as a structural problem that goes largely unacknowledged. Drawing a comparison with the United States, she said that a software developer starting in the U.S. could expect to earn around $300,000, while a comparable position in Canada pays closer to $150,000. “American companies know that,” she said. “They know that they can pay less for us up here.” She argued that Canadians have rationalized accepting lower wages by pointing to publicly funded health care. She also noted that governments have compounded the problem of low wages by not allowing sufficient competition in key sectors.
Trends heading in the wrong direction
As co-chair of the Coalition for a Better Future, Raitt described how the organization has spent four years tracking 21 key performance indicators of Canada’s long-term economic health and found the trend line moving in the wrong direction on most of them. “This year, what we said is, okay, I think we’ve had enough of seeing where the trend is going,” she told the audience. “It’s time to execute.”
The Coalition was founded on the premise that short-term thinking on economic growth was harming Canada in the long run. It now includes members spanning business, labour, and the charitable sector.
“We want long-term economic growth that is inclusive and sustainable,” Raitt said, adding that “inclusive” means actively growing the economy for the betterment of all Canadians, such as measuring how many Indigenous people, women, and underrepresented Canadians occupy management and C-suite positions. “Prosperity equals an economy that's inclusive, that is sustainable and that we're all working together at every level, both the community level and the national level.”
Youth and the risk of despondency
One statistic Raitt said she finds alarming is that approximately 12 per cent of Canadian youth are currently classified as NEET — not in employment, education, or training. “That is stunning to think about, that they’re not doing anything at the moment,” she said. “We can’t afford to have that happen.”
She described a “vibe check” the Coalition has been conducting with university students across the country, finding widespread anxiety about mental health, housing affordability, career prospects amid AI-driven displacement, and the United States as an increasingly attractive destination. “Prosperity for me is kids not being despondent about their mental health,” she said. “Both their ability to buy a house, or whether or not they’re going to have a career.”
The sense of dislocation was personal for Raitt, who drew a parallel between her own departure from Cape Breton — forced by a lack of economic opportunity — and the situation facing young Canadians today. “When I left Cape Breton, I often said that I want to go to a place where I know my kids are not going to move away,” she said. “And then here I am sitting in Toronto where possibly my kids are going to move away, because Canada isn't showing them a path to prosperity that they can envision for themselves.”
“Prosperity for me is kids not being despondent about their mental health. Both their ability to buy a house, or whether or not they’re going to have a career.”
Hon. Lisa Raitt, Coalition for a Better Future and Vice-Chair, Office of the CEO at CIBC
Cobb and Tiessen, empowering communities to create prosperity
Fellow panellist Zita Cobb argued that Canada’s economic struggles stem from the growing gap between the financial economy — now five times the size of the real economy — and the productive activity that supports most people’s lives. Cobb defined prosperity as “not feeling like you’re on thin ice all the time — that you’re standing on solid ground, there’s somebody standing next to you.”
When asked how to create prosperity, Cobb said that everyone has a role to play, urging Canadians to stop being “economy takers” and become “economy makers.” Cobb called for “economic stewardship councils” in communities across the country that work with their region's assets to generate local growth.
Tiessen framed prosperity at the individual level as having “autonomy, sovereignty, freedom, control and resources.” At the national level, she said it’s having governments create the conditions to generate prosperity for individuals, including by improving the “rules and controls over the digital economy.”
A call to action: get involved
All three panellists agreed on practical advice for individuals: stop waiting for governments or corporations to deliver prosperity, and start building it locally. Raitt was direct. “Find a community, move to join and start building your community,” she said. “Don’t sit at home streaming — get out there and join up with other neighbours.”
She also underscored the role of private industry and civic organizations in stewarding local economies, arguing that the path forward requires everyone at the table: “What is the individual role of a regular person? Massive. Everyone has to be involved, and we have to invite people in.”
