TORONTO – The recent revival of the Canadian real-estate market and a rise in consumer confidence are being heralded by federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty as positive signs for the economy.
But Flaherty told a Toronto news conference this afternoon that he still expects only a measured and gradual recovery over the balance of the year.
In particular, Flaherty indicated he doesn’t expect a great improvement in the jobless figures in the immediate future.
Flaherty said Canada remains in the most serious recession since the Second World War and improvements in job growth and unemployment tend to lag other aspects of a recovery.
He was in Toronto to announce the launch of an advertising campaign for the new Registered Disability Savings Plan, an initiative introduced several months ago.
