OTTAWA – The negative impacts of low oil prices that have struck Western Canada will reverberate across the entire national economy, the head of the Bank of Canada said Thursday. But governor Stephen Poloz estimates the latest drop in crude prices will likely have less bite across the country than the 2015 oil-price crisis, which contributed at the time to a slight, technical recession. In prepared notes for a speech in Toronto, Poloz said oil and gas production now makes up just 3.5 per cent of Canada’s economy, compared with six per cent in 2014. “It is already clear that a painful adjustment is developing for Western Canada, and there will be a meaningful impact on the Canadian macroeconomy,” Poloz said in an address to be delivered at a breakfast event hosted by CFA Toronto. “That said, given the consolidation that has taken place in the energy sector since 2014, the net effects of lower oil prices on the Canadian economy as a whole, dollar for dollar, should be smaller than they were in 2015.” Looking at the positive side, Poloz said the ongoing “oil-price shock” has also arrived at a time when Canada’s economy is running close to […]
