Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. It's a pleasure to be here virtually today.
In the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic and a second wave, it is difficult to think beyond confronting the immediate effects of COVID-19. However, even as we continue supporting each other today, we must also begin looking over the horizon to the post-COVID-19 world. We need to start planning how our country and our economy can emerge stronger.
Full recovery is a long way off, but recovery starts with resilience. The emergency supports provided have spared many Canadian businesses from economic disaster, and will help many Canadians through a challenging winter. Measures like the Canada emergency wage subsidy and the Canada emergency business account have provided urgently needed assistance to Canadian workers and businesses, helping to ensure that they will be there to propel our economic recovery. However, these pandemic-related fiscal supports have come at an enormous cost that's estimated at over a quarter of a trillion dollars so far. Their cost will continue to mount for the coming months and beyond. The burden of carrying the cost will be borne by an economic infrastructure that has been badly damaged.
As we prepare for a significant majority of Canadians to be vaccinated, Canada must also prepare for a transition away from a subsidy-based crisis response toward economic stimulus and getting Canadians back to work while ensuring their health and safety. All Canadians understand the need for one-time emergency spending to support people and businesses through the crisis, but now is not the time to add permanent new spending programs that will mortgage the future of the next generation of Canadians by creating structural deficits. We will need to encourage investment and business activities that will create jobs and generate the revenue needed to offset the extraordinarily high levels of public spending during the emergency.
This will be no easy task. Over the coming months and years, our international competitors will be fixated on attracting investment and creating jobs. For Canada's recovery plan to succeed, our policy-makers will need a singular focus on economic fundamentals and promoting growth. Governments must be as agile and determined in pursuing economic growth as they have been in responding to the virus.
The recommendations in our pre-budget submission were developed in partnership with our vast network of over 450 chambers of commerce and boards of trade and more than 100 of Canada's business associations. The submission lays out eight policy areas and specific measures that our political leaders must consider to ensure a sharp and lasting recovery.
Almost 600,000 Canadians are still unemployed due to the pandemic. Priority number one needs to be to get them back to work to drive our recovery. This will require getting local labour market data on what skills employers are demanding and developing talent pipelines with educational institutions at the community level to fill these needs.
At the same time, the latest data show that there are also 70,000 fewer businesses in Canada than there were pre-pandemic. Creating the significant amount of business openings and reopenings that will be necessary for recovery will also require a focus on harnessing our tax system for growth—for example, a temporary consumption tax holiday to spur local purchases, or pausing the alcohol escalator tax. It will also require adopting technology and innovation, strengthening supply chain resiliency, reducing regulatory burdens, ensuring a resilient resource sector, planning for small business continuity and strengthening public health infrastructure.
We ask the government to work closely with the business community in developing a road map for a business-led recovery. A growth-focused plan with a clear fiscal anchor based on broad consultation will unlock economic capacity, fuel job creation and promote new business investment. By working together, we can forge a path to recovery that is inclusive, environmentally responsible and innovative.
Just as every downturn is first felt on main street when the lights begin to go out, every recovery starts when the open signs begin to reappear. For all the uncertainty about what to do, we know one thing for sure: The true measure of every recovery is job growth, and everyone recovers when business recovers.
Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you this afternoon. I look forward to our discussion.