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Trudeau update Canadians on COVID-19 pandemic July 8


Federal Economic Snapshot


Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau presented an Economic and Fiscal Snapshot in the House of Commons. The Snapshot provided the first estimate of Ottawa’s bottom line since a December report that was released prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 168-page document can be found here.


Minister Morneau told reporters that the government intends to release a budget or full fiscal update in the fall.


Top Figures from Today’s Economic and Fiscal Snapshot

  • Canadian deficit sits at $343 billion, compared to $19.8 billion last year.

  • Canadian national debt approaching $1.2 trillion by March 2021.

  • Employment in mining and oil and gas has fallen by over 15%.

  • 3 million Canadian workers have had their job supported through CEWS and growing.

  • The household debt/income ratio has reached 175%, nearly a record.

  • The GDP fell by 6.8% as of May 2020.

  • Servicing the national debt will actually cost $4 billion less than forecast last fall.

  • 5.5 million Canadians (30% of workforce) have had their jobs impacted by COVID-19.

  • Canadian GDP won’t return to pre-COVID levels until at least Q1 2022.

COVID-19 Modelling Numbers


During his morning brief, the Prime Minister said while overall cases of the coronavirus in Canada are declining some areas of outbreak remain, namely in long-term care facilities and in farm settings. This was later confirmed by Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo who presented the latest COVID-19 data for Canada.


The data showed that there are lingering hotspots in Ontario and Quebec – which makes up 87% of overall cases. Dr. Njoo also highlighted that while transmission between older groups was on the decline, there had been a slight increase in spread among those aged 20-39. Mandatory face masks in hotspot cities and the Canada-US border closure is helping lower transmission rates of COVID-19.


*Above summary by Enterprise Canada