Are you nervous about the economic future? Do you feel the fear that the news imparts each day? The Oakville Chamber of Commerce was very pleased to be hosting Craig Wright, RBC’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, in Oakville on January 27th, 2016.
Craig presented his annual economic outlook for 2016. Craig Wright, always upbeat and extremely knowledgeable, told his audience to relax with the knowledge that today the economy is healthy and that tomorrow it will likely rebound to an even higher level. He did say that he does not have a crystal ball, but that all the indicators point to a healthy economy in Canada, and, for the most part, throughout the world.
According to Craig and RBC Economics researchers, “growth is forecasted to accelerate in 2016, supported by a sustained strengthening in the US., a rebound in Canada and steady gains in the UK and euro area.” He was happy that the residential mortgage interest rates were not increased as the lower rates will continue to add strength to the housing market. Craig’s words were, “It was a good move not to.....’The housing markets are strong across the country, and are very hot in British Columbia and Ontario, mainly in the Vancouver and Toronto and surrounding areas such as Oakville. There is a shortage of detached single family homes which is keeping these prices high. Attached homes also remain attractive and more affordable for the first time Buyer and those wanting to downsize. The housing market according to Mr. Wright, might “cool slightly but certainly not collapse.” The price of the Canadian dollar, consumer spending, high rates of employment were but a few of the indicators cited to indicate the strength of the 2016 economy.
Also presenting was Ray Kong, Executive Vice President of Ipsos Loyalty Toronto . Ray was in accord with Craig as he discussed trends to watch for when going to market in 2016. Ray agreed that there is reason for optimism and excitement in Canada. A leader in Canadian market research and a part of one of the world’s largest independent market research companies, Ray Kong gave many reasons to demonstrate his enthusiastic and often humorous interpretation of today’s market trends. Ray chose to look at the last 40 years. At that time Canada had 23 million households. Today there are 43 million. The average wage has gone from $6.40 per hour to $11.40. He says that 78% of the people surveyed are very optimistic about the next 40 years with only 22% being pessimistic.
According to Mr. Kong, “Trudeau has added to this excitement and, although the proof is in the pudding”, he sees people looking forward to a new world of politics and to changes in the nature of day to day living. It is the generation of millennials. Social media is here to stay. The population is better educated with 50% of the workforce having a university education. People will travel more and will have many jobs in their lifetime – many of our young people will have as many as 17 different jobs. They will not stay in one place. The population will be more urban and will live within a higher real estate density. There will be more females and a higher number of older people. Immigration patterns will also change and continue to do so. This will all affect the way society behaves and values will continue to shift.
This is all cause for excitement in 2016. Many thanks go to Craig Wright and Ray Kong for such an enlightening and upbeat economic forecast. The “Sold Out” crowd - was “Sold”.