17. 2018: Shifting to more protectionist policies, the United States began renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—which went into effect in 1994. The Canadian government was concerned that it could have a significant impact on exports to the country's largest trading partner. The conflict led to a short-lived but dramatic trade war. Canada, the United States and Mexico have finally negotiated a new trade agreement—the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA)—which includes a sunset clause after 16 years.
18. 2019: The federal government has been concerned about retirement security, shrinking workplace pension plans and the low savings rate of Canadians. So, expand the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The public pension system will increase to cover 33.33% of Canadians' average earnings, up from 25%. In the seven years since the launch of the program development, CPP's contributions will also continue to grow.
19. 2020: The COVID-19 pandemic hit the entire world, and had dramatic effects on the economy. Provincial and provincial governments have implemented varying degrees of lockdowns across Canada to try to contain the impact of the virus.
20. 2020: The government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to pay for benefits that encourage Canadians to stay at home and get used to socializing, most notably, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which was a taxable monthly payment of $2,000. The government has also lent large sums of money to businessmen to support them with road closures preventing many from working. The high level of spending is one of the factors that will lead to lower inflation in the next few years.
21. 2021: Savings rates soared during the crisis when the Bank of Canada cut interest rates to historic lows. Those factors and others have led to the Canadian real estate market. In the past, high prices were mostly limited to big cities, but 2021 will see house prices rise across the country, exacerbating housing affordability problems.
22. 2021: The large influx of money into the economy during the violence due to government spending and borrowing, as well as disruptions in the supply of goods, led to massive inflation. Houses, cars, groceries and other daily essentials have all gone up in price.
23. 2022: The Bank of Canada began raising interest rates quickly to try to reduce inflation. Home prices have stabilized (and fallen slightly), but affordability remained an issue as mortgage payments increased, doubling. The stock market went into a slump, while the prices of everyday goods like gas and groceries remained high, leading to frustration for many Canadians.
24. 2023: The federal government continued to increase its immigration targets to unprecedented levels, admitting millions of international students and low-wage, low-skilled workers under temporary worker programs. Population growth challenged Canada's already tight housing market and fragile health care systems. Wages, which had started to rise shortly after the pandemic due to labor shortages, began to stabilize. Widespread support for immigrants, which had been strong for decades, began to falter.
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