The Canadian Economy, Inequality, and the Environment

 COVID-19 and the Canadian Economy: The devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Canadian economy cannot be overstated. With two million people losing their jobs, half of which were in $15-per-hour jobs, predominantly in the hospitality and retail sectors, and numerous small businesses forced to close, the economic landscape has been significantly altered. In response, the government has injected billions of dollars into the economy, with initiatives such as CERB providing $500 per week to those in need.

The Canadian Economy: - Outline the basic feature of the Canadian economy: The Canadian Economy is a free market economy. Most of the companies are private. Though, all levels of government play a good role in the economy. The Role of Government: Some businesses in Canada are government-owned. They called Crown Corporation, such as Air Canada, Rail, etc. In some provinces, Hydro and other facilities are. The government doesn’t involve too much in private corporations. Economic Development: European settlers were interested in Canada because of its rich natural resources, like Cod, wheat, oil, timber, wheat, etc. Now a day, Canada exports Oil, minerals, etc. Canadians don’t have stable labour jobs. New industries developed in Canada in the twentieth century.

Canada’s Trade and Foreign Investment Agreements: - Canada is one of the founding countries of GATT. In 1995, it converted to the World Trade Organization (WTO), which controls rules for 164 countries’ trade flow. There was a controversial agreement to give subsidies to the agricultural farmers of the rich country, which has been omitted.

Canada’s North American Free Trade Agreement: Canada is practicing a free trade agreement. Free trade Agreement doesn’t put tariffs on any product or service; it creates rules to protect labour rights and other elements of the trade.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, 1992: Canadian economics feared Canada would become a satellite of the USA. After World War 2, Canada and the USA traded mainly free of tariff. 1988, the Canadian election results were directly reflected in the trade agreement with the USA. After the election, the conservative party won and signed a 1989 free trade agreement with the USA. In 1992, Mexico joined Canada and the USA in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Though this trade agreement didn’t stop the USA campaign “Buy America.” Here, mostly Canadian steel factories are affected.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, 2018 (USMCA): President Trump was against NAFTA; he made this new agreement to replace NAFTA and threatened Canada that if Canada disagreed with it, he would push out Canada from the agreement. He made a new policy to give more access to US dairy products in Canada and put tariffs on Canadian products, like Aluminium. Which continued till May 2019.

The European Union-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) removed almost all tariffs between Canada and the European Union trades. Foreign Investment: During 1960, 50% of foreign investment companies were from the USA. In 2018, Canada made an agreement with China for foreign investment.

Government and the Economy: Canadian Government plays a significant role in the economy. From the beginning, the government created and regulated rail and air transport. It helped by creating rules and regulations to run the private companies well. The government also invests money to educate people about business.

Economic Inequality: Canada’s economic inequality has grown more in recent decades.

The Economy and the Environment: Canadian government took the environmental issues seriously and took many internal and international policies and actions to work on it.