This past weekend, Toronto hosted one of the G20 summits that have been occurring twice a year since 2008. One of the hot topics on the agenda was economic recovery after our recent recession, and due to the European debt crisis that is currently underway.

While there was a divide among attendees about which was better – more stimulus spending to help the economy recover, or more conservative spending and balanced budgets – all countries involved in the G20 summit have agreed to reduce their deficit by half by 2013. By the year 2016, these countries are all hoping to have stabilized their debt loads.

So what does that mean for Canadian businesses?

While nothing official has been announced as to what Canada will be doing to reduce its deficit, Canada was agreeing with the European countries that what is required to reach the goal of cutting back stimulus spending, so we can speculate that stimulus spending will be reduced. And that could mean, unfortunately, that a lot of programs small businesses get assistance from would not be able to provide as much fiscal support as we have become used to.

Of course, we don’t know what will happen for certain yet. But we will definitely be keeping an eye on what is decided about Canadian stimulus spending, and will be keeping you up-to-date with any announcements that are made that could have an effect on the way you run your business.

The Royal Bank of Canada polls Canadian consumers regularly. Today, the results for the most recent poll were released. We’ve heard a lot in the news that the economy is getting better, but there’s been debate over whether it actually is improving, or whether people are just being optimistic. According to the Canadian Consumer Outlook, sixty-two percent of Canadians are expecting the economy to improve over the next year.

“Recovery is in sight for the world economy,” said Dawn Desjardins, assistant chief economist, RBC. “We’re off to a slow start but the economy will start to build steam and unemployment will reach its peak early next year and then fall off.”
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The number of Canadians filing for bankruptcy and unemployment benefits rose significantly in January, according to new numbers released Tuesday by The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada.

More than 117,000 Canadians filed for bankruptcy over the period of twelve months ending January 2009. This denotes an increase of 15.8 % from the previous year. Nationally, the number of Canadians who filed for EI increased to more than 500,000 for January, according to Statistics Canada. Our unemployed Canadians filing for financial help is now 23% higher than it was in February of 2008.

Both the rapidly increasing bankruptcies and EI claims are signs of escalating troubles faced by Canadian citizens as the recession here deepens. And it’s not just individuals facing worry, but businesses as well.

In January of this year, 567 firms pulled the plug on their operations and filed for bankruptcy. Ontario manufacturing bankruptcies also rose 24%. Business insolvencies rose severely in Quebec, where the recession is strongly hitting the province’s industrial sector. 250 companies closed their doors in January, up from 202 closures in December of 2008.

How can individuals cope with job loss? Apply for EI as quickly as possible. The process takes time to be finalized, so the sooner you do, the less you’ll have to dip into savings. If faced with having to pay high prices for prescription medication after losing benefits, programs such as Ontario’s Trillium Drug Program can help cover these expenses.

Businesses can look at cost cutting where feasible, look for opportunities to expand their services to stable or growing sectors, and seek financing from federal and provincial funding programs (such as SR&ED or SMART). Companies on the brink of bankruptcy can look at Turnarounds and seek assistance from an experienced professional.

Source: Statistics Canada