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Provided below is a summary of today’s ‘Economic Outlook 2010′ webinar hosted by Canadian Business featuring RBC Chief Economist, Craig Wright.  For more information, visit www.canadianbusiness.com/webinars

Economic Outlook 2010 (Abridged Summary Notes)

OCTOBER 30, 1:30 pm-2:30 pm, EST

To begin,  RBC is taking an overall view of “cautious optimism” towards the economy

• This was not a recession made in Canada, so we need improvements globally and in the US (where the recession began). We expect to see fiscal policy and low inflation and low interest rate will help lift us out of this economic recession.

Our growth is dependent mainly on other factors:

• Global financial market stability
• We can see this in key indexes such as the Volatility Index, TED Spread, Borrowing Cost, and Credit Standard that stability is coming back.
  • Global growth & global economy improving
    • We see an improving tone, Decline of 1.5%. Outlook has stabilized and outlook for next year has improved significantly. Continue to revise higher (3-3.5% growth range). We expect that global growth will be lead by emerging economies.
  • Recovery based on the condition that authorities make the right exit-strategy, but of course there’s a risk that errors are made and they pull out too early before a full recovery, creating a possible double dip in the economy.

Looking Ahead – and caveats in our economic recovery

The Canadian Outlook in detail

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How Small Businesses can Benefit from the Canadian Budget

In efforts to stimulate the economy, the Canadian Government has included a number of changes in the 2009 budget to help small businesses. In fact, there’s so much in the budget that I had to write a second posting in order to touch on a few other facts that I found beneficial.

Now I haven’t read through the entire budget word for word, but from my quick overview of the sections that I thought were most relevant to small businesses, here are my top ten points all small business owners should be aware of:

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Home Renovations Tax Credit

There are big opportunities  in the 2009 Canadian Federal Budget to help retailers boost their business. In the 2009 Canadian Federal Budget announced on January 27th, The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Finance Minister, included a Home Renovations Tax Credit (HRTC).

How the Temporary HRTC Will Work

The proposed HRTC will provide a temporary 15-per-cent income tax credit on eligible home renovation expenditures for work performed, or goods acquired, after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2010, pursuant to agreements entered into after January 27, 2009. The credit may be claimed for the 2009 taxation year on the portion of eligible expenditures exceeding $1,000, but not more than $10,000, and will provide up to $1,350 in tax relief.

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