2014 is a welcome calendar change for many economy-watchers, as Canada this year saw some of the slowest economic growth since the Great Recession of 2008 to 2009.
One of the biggest headaches of 2013 was a political showdown in the U.S. over debt, which shut down the government in early October and threatened a massive global economic slowdown.
Ahead in 2014, a more certain climate stateside is expected to bolster the domestic economy and the outlook for the global economy is also glowing rosier.
The latest Canadian gross domestic product figures suggested a positive handover from the final months of 2013.
Income and job growth, exports, the housing market and consumer spending are expected to be healthy. And 2014 is the year economists expect the economy to shift from consumer spending and the housing market to exports and business investment — but the evidence of that happening is scant, so far.
Growth is expected to rise to about 2.3 per cent, rebounding from the past two years of expansion below two per cent.
Still, no one is expecting an economic boom, and there are too many monsters lurking underneath the predictions to make for a comfortable 2014.
Here are some of the biggest risks Canada’s economy faces as it heads into 2014:
