The Business Development Bank of Canada reached out to the Portage and District Chamber of Commerce to hold a luncheon today and present an economic outlook from a global, Canadian, and Manitoban economic perspective. Chamber president Dave Omichinski says BDC's chief economist Pierre Cleroux did an excellent job.

Chamber President Dave Omichinski"It was good to hear a good news story, because the message that he provided was very positive. That typically isn't what you hear in the media all too often. But he did it in such a way that it was very understandable, I think, for anybody. I've listened to many economists over the years and sometimes it's kind of difficult to necessarily understand what the heck they're talking about. And boy, he did a good job."

Cleroux says Manitoba has a lot to look forward to.

"Despite the fact that there's a lot of negative news, the Canadian economy, and especially the Manitoba economy, continues to grow. We expect to see growth in Manitoba over 2% mostly driven by export. I think it's going to be one of the best growths in the country, third just after British Columbia and Ontario."

He notes our low dollar at 78 cents has dropped due to oil prices. He explains there's a strong correlation between the two. Canada sells a lot of oil, and when the oil prices decrease, the dollar goes with it. Cleroux expects we'll be living with the lower dollar for a while because of oil prices remaining the same.

Pierre ClerouxCleroux adds, "Manitoba has the most diversified economy in Canada, and it's helping. When the oil sector, for example, is not doing so well, some other part of the economy is doing well. Construction is doing well, farming is doing well, and manufacturing is improving. So, that's the reason Manitoba is having a solid growth. And it's going to be one of the best growths in the country. Manitoba has the second lowest unemployment rate in the country just after BC."

He says Canada's currently adjusting to lower oil prices. While we lost a lot of investments in the oil sector that affected Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, on the other side -- because our dollar is lower -- we have a strong demand from the U.S. Cleroux notes our manufacturing sector is doing well. Provinces with a strong manufacturing base, like B.C., Manitoba and Quebec are benefiting from that. So, he notes, despite the fact that the Canadian economy is increasing by only 1%, some parts of the country are doing much better, which is the case of Manitoba, Ontario, and British Columbia.

Cleroux says Brexit's going to have an impact in Europe with less investment, since a lot of uncertainty exists about the new trade agreement they'll have. He says we don't see any negative impact in Canada, since we don't export a lot to the U.K. He notes about 3% goes there. So, with the economy slowing down in the U.K. it won't have an impact here.

One of the luncheon guests asked Cleroux about the impact the upcoming U.S. election might have on Canada. Cleroux responded saying, "There's a lot of talk about reducing free trade or changing free trade. But I'm not too worried, because historically every presidential election candidate always critiqued free trade. When they get elected they don't change anything about free trade. I think it will be similar this time. I think it's good politics to blame free trade for some problems. But in the end of the day free trade benefits both Canada and the U.S. And I don't see free trade changing."