Board: Canada’s economic recovery on track

Some regions of Canada are already out of recession and the rest will follow suit in 2010, the independent Conference Board of Canada think-tank said Thursday.

In a release from Ottawa, the board said the central province of Manitoba and the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are on track to post growth this year, but others will take longer, the board’s summer provincial outlook said.

All provinces will recover slowly over the next year. Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario are expected to post the strongest growth in 2010, said analyst Marie-Christine Bernard.

The board warned recovery would come with costs to taxpayers.

The economic recovery as forecast over the medium term will not suffice on its own to bring regional governments back into surpluses, the report said. The implication is that, sooner or later, provinces will have to boost taxes and cut spending in order to return to a balanced budget.

The board forecast Newfoundland/Labrador would experience the slowest recovery of all the provinces in 2010.