Photo by Ian Muttoo/Flickr

A new Deloitte report is projecting 1.3 percent GDP growth for Canada this year. The same report says that as long as Donald Trump keeps the CUSMA carve-outs in his tariff plan—meaning that most of the goods we export to the United States won’t face tariffs—we can look forward to 1.7 percent growth next year. This would mark a return to the growth rates we saw in 2023 and 2024.

Economists seem cautiously optimistic that Canada will avoid a recession and return to a period of relative stability.

This should be great news. On paper, the economy has proved its resilience in the face of serious challenges. But why then do things feel increasingly precarious? If the economy is doing so well why are so many Canadians lining up at food banks, putting off having kids and giving up on the idea of homeownership? Why are 30 percent of us cutting down on essentials like food and heat to make ends meet? Why is it that, after years of post-pandemic growth, our wages feel more stretched than ever?

The disconnect between big economic indicators and Canadians’ day-to-day experience is a gap our political leaders seem unable or unwilling to bridge. Our collective sense of economic malaise was infamously dismissed by Chrystia Freeland late last year as a ‘vibecession.’

Indeed, parliamentarians have gotten in the habit of telling us that everything is basically fine—we just need to live within our means, blame immigrants, and cancel Disney Plus. It hasn’t occurred to our political elites........

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