Contemporary Issue in Business: * Demographic problem – Baby boomers are aging, and there are fewer younger people in Canada. Therefore, the demographic drag would probably increase in the coming years. As the boomer generation ages, labor force participation rates will decline and hours worked will fall. Aging will put pressure on the labour market. As workers retire and there are fewer people to replace them, there will be upward pressure on wages and adjustments on the composition and the nature of the labour force. For firms, attracting talent, while retaining relevant expertise and institutional knowledge, will be more challenging

* Financial systemic risk: Until today we continue to see the enormous costs to the global economy of the financial crisis that started five years ago. Canada is not averse to this risk, since it gets transmitted across financial institution and markets. Although, this risk cannot be really controlled, managers do have the tendency to take on excessive risks during economic upswings, which leads to firms becoming overly risk averse during economic downturn. * More recently, Statistics Canada issued a report (March 9, 2010) arguing that by 2031, 25-28% of the Canadian population could be foreign born. These statistical forecasts are telling us that immigration is a major force shaping Canada’s urban areas. * Indeed, Canada’s track record in successfully integrating immigrants is slipping. On average, immigrants arrive in this country better educated, in better health, and at similar stages of their careers as those born in the country, but the evidence suggests that during the past two decades, they have been much less successful in achieving success than earlier waves of immigration. Immigrants are having a harder time reaching Canadian income levels than was true in the past, in part because we have cut back on programs that help immigrants adjust and in part because many immigrants have difficulty gaining recognition for the education, skills and work experience they bring with them. If foreign-born workers were as successful in the Canadian workforce as those born in the country, personal incomes would be about $13billion higher each year than at present. These higher incomes would have obvious multiplier effects in markets for housing and consumer spending, as well as savings and investment.

* A third issue is the high Canadian dollar relative to the American dollar. Canada exports mostly to the United States - and manufacturing in Canada in the past relied on a cheap Canadian dollar. The last time the dollar went over parity (before the financial crisis), Canadian manufacturing was crying for help. The Bank of Canada was also worried the high dollar could stop the recovery in Canada.