Turning ambition into results

Theo Argitis opening remarks to the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance.

Mr. Chair, Honourable Senators, 

Thank you for the invitation to appear before this Committee. 

I am here today on behalf of the Business Council of Canada, which represents the CEOs and entrepreneurs of over 170 leading Canadian enterprises across all sectors of the economy. Together our members employ more than 2 million Canadians, and their companies are responsible for most of this country’s private-sector exports, investments, and corporate philanthropy. 

I want to begin with a simple observation. Over the past two years or so, Canada’s economy has proven to be more resilient than many of us expected.

Our economy grew in real terms by roughly 2 per cent in both 2024 and 2025. Growth has slowed this year, to around 1 per cent, as the economy began to feel the full effects of the trade war with the United States, as well as much slower population growth. But growth is widely expected to move back toward 2 per cent next year.

By historical standards, I wouldn’t call that exceptional. But given the shocks we’ve experienced, it is reassuring that the Canadian economy has shown this degree of resilience.

That said, the picture remains fragile.

Employment fell by 42,000 in August, and the unemployment rate remains at 6.4 per cent. There is still considerable slack in the economy, including in the labour market.

Renewed trade tensions with the United States have also injected another large dose of uncertainty into business planning and investment. There are still plenty of headwinds to growth.

At the same time as we face those growth headwinds, inflation remains elevated, particularly because of energy prices. Headline inflation was 3 per cent in August, with gasoline prices up almost 23 per cent from a year earlier.

So we have two forces pulling in opposite directions. Tariffs and trade uncertainty are a drag on activity, while higher oil and fuel prices are putting upward pressure on inflation.

That combination matters. Canada is exposed to weaker growth at precisely the moment when inflation pressures and expectations for tighter monetary policy are pushing long-term interest rates higher globally.

So the near-term outlook remains uncertain, even if the economy has done reasonably well so far.

The encouraging development, from our perspective, is the shift we are seeing in the longer-term economic policy agenda.

There is now much greater emphasis on investment, infrastructure, major projects, internal trade and building the productive capacity of the Canadian economy. That direction has been encouraging for the business community.

In our conversations with business leaders, there is more optimism about Canada’s economic potential today than there has been in a long time.

We are no longer spending most of our time talking about the need for greater ambition from our political leaders. I think the ambition is increasingly there.

The question now—and I think this is a very important question for this committee—is how do we execute?

What do we need to do to turn that ambition into results: into real projects, infrastructure, new productive capacity and stronger growth?

The big question today, in other words, is whether we as a country have capacity to deliver on our ambitions. Can we get the job done?

Thank you. I look forward to your questions.