Canada’s federal government has committed $176 billion over five years to boost productivity and unlock private investment. While on the surface it sounds transformative, the architects of Canada’s economic future are quietly skeptical about whether this actually works.

In this episode of the Colliers Talks Economics podcast, host Adam Jacobs is joined by Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist at The Conference Board of Canada, to unpack why Canada continues to lag peers on productivity and what it means for businesses, policymakers, and real estate decision-makers in the year ahead.

Subscribe to Colliers Talks Economics wherever you listen. Learn more about how Colliers Canada stays on top of real estate trends at https://www.collierscanada.com/en-ca.

What You’ll Learn:

● How to diagnose Canada's productivity gap

● Why federal budget catalyst effects may overpromise

● The residential construction productivity trap

● How to segment labour market health beyond headline unemployment

● Why Canada's dramatic immigration reversal creates structural uncertainty

● The AI productivity opportunity and displacement risk

Pedro Antunes is the Chief Economist at The Conference Board of Canada, leading a team of economists focused on thought leadership across productivity, labour market dynamics, trade diversification, federal budgeting, and human capital development. As a recognized spokesperson for the Conference Board, he provides expert testimony to Parliament and regularly engages with business leaders, policymakers, and media on critical economic issues shaping Canada's future.

Subscribe to Colliers Talks Economics wherever you listen. Learn more about how Colliers Canada stays on top of real estate trends at https://www.collierscanada.com/en-ca.

Could Canada’s housing crisis and economic headwinds be solved with smarter policy coordination? In this episode of the Colliers Talks Economics podcast, host Adam Jacobs is joined by Randall Bartlett, Deputy Chief Economist at Desjardins, to unpack why the condo market has cooled so dramatically, how purpose-built rental has surged in response, and what higher-for-longer interest rates and evolving demographics mean for developers, investors, and lenders.

Subscribe to Colliers Talks Economics wherever you listen. Learn more about how Colliers Canada stays on top of real estate trends at www.collierscanada.com.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why the condo market collapsed and why it won't recover without fundamental price corrections
• How to pivot development strategy from condos to purpose-built rental
• The infrastructure bottleneck killing downtown viability and office occupancy
• How to recalibrate population growth expectations and navigate their impact on project underwriting
• Why soft costs and development charges now represent the single largest obstacle to housing affordability

Randall Bartlett is the Deputy Chief Economist at Desjardins, leading economic research and forecasting across Canadian and provincial economies, housing markets, and fiscal policy. With vast experience as Director of Economic Research at Omers, where he supported global investment decisions across asset classes, Randall brings deep expertise in macroeconomic trends, demographic shifts, and their cascading impact on real estate markets.

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/canadas-economic-reset-rates-inflation-real-estate/id1541655070?i=1000741709754

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1YpOxQ8P92zxChHy3BeVeq?si=wwvzvsDKR7qhkK6Tx78YgQ

YouTube: https://youtu.be/CfMqXEtP4Es

In the new Colliers Talks series, Retail Unfiltered, hosts Tina Williams and Bri-Ann Stuart discuss the hot trends and key issues that are front and centre in retail.

The conversation covers:

• How consumer behaviour is shifting and why it's essential for retailers and landlords to understand the impact of new wants and trends to their business
• Why a super focused, data-driven approach is required to achieve savings and manage assets amidst inflation and rising operational costs
• The importance of collaboration between landlords and their retail tenants, and with that, understanding each other's needs and finding co-investments and creative deal structures that spark win-wins
• Why launching pilot programs and testing new products, services and activations can spell success for retailers and their landlords