-
Webinar on New Report: A Sequel We Don’t Want
The Centre for Future Work recently hosted a webinar presenting results from its new report, A Sequel We Don’t Want: What the 2026 Oil Price Shock Will Cost Canadians. The webinar featured presentations from Jim Stanford (Centre for Future Work Director, and author of the report), Atila Jaffar (Canada Country Manager from 350.org, sponsor of a campaign for an excess profit tax on petroleum companies), and DT Cochrane (Senior Economist at the Canadian Labour Congress).
-
Oil Price Spike Causing More Trouble for Canada’s Economy
Centre for Future Work Economist and Director Jim Stanford was recently interviewed on CBC News Channel regarding the outlook for Canada’s economy. He stressed that growth has been near-zero since U.S. president Donald Trump launched his trade war through big tariffs on Canadian exports. He also explained how high oil prices resulting from Trump’s attacks on Iran and the resulting disruption in global oil supplies would affect inflation in Canada, citing findings from the Centre’s recent report on the inflationary impacts of the war.
-
Political Drama Over Technical Recession Not Justified
Canada’s economy has been growing very slowly for the last year, since Donald Trump launched his trade war against Canada’s exports. The side-effects of Trump’s attacks against Iran (including high oil prices and accelerating inflation) have further undermined growth in Canada. Recent Statistics Canada data indicate that real GDP in Canada (adjusted for inflation) declined very slightly (by 0.036%) in the first quarter of 2026. Coming on the heels of a larger decline in real GDP in the final quarter of 2025, this signifies that Canada is experiencing a ‘technical recession” – traditionally defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction in real GDP. There is no doubt that Canada’s economy…
-
CBC Sunday Morning Feature Interview: Trump’s War and the Macroeconomic Outlook
In this CBC national radio interview with host Piya Chattopadhyay, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford discusses the impacts of the war (on top of the disruptions from Trump’s tariff policies) on Canada’s economy, in the lead-up to the federal government’s spring fiscal update.
-
Speculation and Greed Explain the Price of Gasoline, not Supply and Demand
The economic impacts of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran were felt by Canadians within hours of its launch. Prices for gasoline, diesel, and home heating oil (widely used in Atlantic Canada) shot up very quickly. This is both surprising and infuriating—since those products were produced, refined, and delivered long before the war started. Why do consumers have to pay more, given the war had no impact on the cost of production?
-
How do Banks Make so Much Money, Anyway?
CBC journalist Andrew Chang is known for his unique ability to break down complex topics, for his ‘About That’ program. He has recently posted an outstanding segment on how Canada's big banks make so much money. Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford was one of the experts interviewed for the show.
-
Fighting for Fair Work
For decades, David Fairey has served as an outstanding researcher and advocate on a wide range of labour and trade union issues. He served for 23 years as Director of the former Trade Union Research Bureau, based in Vancouver, B.C., legendary for the high-quality, practical, but inspiring research it performed for a vast range of union and other clients. Later he founded Labour Consulting Services to continue this work – along with numerous voluntary commitments (including founding the B.C. Employment Standards Coalition). David also generously serves as a voluntary Director of the Centre for Future Work.
-
Stellantis Shows Canada’s Industrial Economy is On the Line
Automaker Stellantis recently announced it would shift production of a new vehicle from an assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario (which has been closed for re-tooling) to Indiana, in order to escape the effects of Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on Canadian-assembled vehicles. This decision seems to confirm the worst fears of Canadian economists regarding the long-run impact of Trump’s trade war: by weaponizing access to the U.S. market and pressuring global companies to relocate long-run investments to the U.S., Trump would shatter the viability of continued production in Canada and other countries.
-
This Is Not An Ordinary Federal Budget
As the federal government prepares to table its next budget on November 4, most of the public debate has centred on how big the deficit will be – as if that is the only metric of significance to Canadians. This is predictable and disappointing. At a moment when Canada as a country faces unprecedented challenges to our prosperity and sovereignty arising from Donald Trump’s trade war and other threats, a much more important question is how will the budget equip Canada to protect itself against Trump’s attacks, reorient away from so much dependence on the U.S. market, and invest in the things (including physical and social infrastructure) necessary to a…
-
Bringing Capital Home Would Boost Canadian Growth, Reduce Trade Imbalance with U.S.
Donald Trump claims his aggressive trade actions are justified because of ‘unfair’ trade practices by other countries, that result in big U.S. trade deficits. But the real cause of those perpetual U.S. trade deficits is ongoing capital inflows to the U.S. from other countries – including Canada. In this commentary originally published in the Toronto Star, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford shows that Canada is now a huge net lender to the U.S., with a positive foreign investment balance there of $1.6 trillion. Bringing some of that capital back to Canada would not only help to finance the major projects we are undertaking to protect our economy against…