Worst of recession over, Conference Board says

The Canadian economy will grow 2.9 per cent next year, bolstered by government stimulus programs, the Conference Board of Canada said yesterday. "The darkest days now seem to be in the past," the Conference Board said in a report. "Over all, real GDP [gross domestic product] is now forecast to contract by 2.1 per cent in 2009, down 0.4 percentage points from what we forecast in our summer Canadian outlook. As private sector activity stabilizes and strengthens next year, planned capital spending by all levels of government will help boost real GDP growth to 2.9 per cent in 2010," the Conference Board said, adding that "stronger, post-recession-type growth of 3.6 per cent is in the cards for 2011." Private sector spending is expected to plunge by 13.7 per cent in 2009 and is forecast to grow by less than 1 per cent in 2010. "For now, government policy remains the economic stabilizer," the Conference Board said, with Canadian infrastructure spending levels forecast to surpass $50-billion in 2009 and peak at $60-billion in 2010.