For Canadian manufacturers, the financial crisis was the culminating event of years of pain caused by the explosion of competition from China and other low-cost countries, the rise in the value of the dollar and soaring costs for raw materials. A quarter of a million manufacturing jobs were lost in 2008-09 alone. Total employment in the sector shrank back to its 1997 level of two million from an average of 2.3 million between 2002 and 2004; its contribution to the country's economic output fell to a low of 12.4 per cent from around 20 per cent earlier in the decade.
Jim Stanford, economist for the Canadian Auto Workers, took questions in a live chat Thursday July 21 at noon (ET) to discuss the future of manufacturing in Canada. He took questions on unions, the recovery of the auto sector, the transition into greener jobs, and other challenges the industry faces.