The Canadian government has projected a $343 billion deficit as it continues its extraordinary effort to extend support to people and businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. As spending shifts from emergency aid toward long term economic recovery goals, there is an opportunity for government to prioritize support for various areas of the economy it would like to see grow. Government green stimulus is defined as direct government spending (grants, loans, investments), fiscal measures, or regulatory easing that are designed to increase economic activity – in the context of unemployment and uncertainty – that also achieve green outcomes. Lourie pointed out that the objective of resilient recovery investment is not about dealing with the pandemic itself, but how to build a resilient and competitive economy coming out of this event.

The webinar was convened in response to some early signals from government about green stimulus spending priorities. In the September 2020 Throne Speech, the government outlined some of its green priorities such as legislating net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, making Canada the most competitive destination for clean technology, retrofitting homes and buildings, producing electric vehicles and batteries, and significant investments in clean power to transition Canada off coal as well as investments to protect and restore nature. This was followed up a week later in early October with an announcement from the Canada Infrastructure Bank committing them to $10 billion in investments, including $2.5 billion for clean power, $2 billion for large-scale energy efficient building retrofits; and $1.5 billion to speed up the adoption of zero-emission buses and charging infrastructure. These announcements are mainly in line with the recommendations from the Taskforce for a Resilient Recovery that Lourie helped lead.

There has been a very clear message from government that green stimulus will be structured in a manner designed to attract significantly more capital from the private sector. The focus of the webinar was on implications and opportunities for financial institutions.