Five key takeaways from the 2023 Economic Outlook Forum

1. Stability is Key

"Our company in particular has invested about $2 billion over the last 10 years, and we are contemplating another investment, but we just have to know the conditions in which we are making the investment, and can we have a reasonable expectation of return...we need predictability."

- Susan Yurkovich, Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, Canfor

2. Housing First

"I think for the first time in a long time, we have the province, the city and other municipalities - everybody in the same line about housing - Focusing on supply, not just demand and how we can fix the housing crisis."

- Walter Pela, Regional Managing Partner, KPMG

 3. Opportunity in Crisis

"If you worry too much about the risks too much about recession and you batten down the hatches and you protect against all these risks what you end up doing is missing out on trends and opportunities. The reality is that recessions and periods of weakness are periods of opportunity."

- Jean-Francois Perrault, Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist, Scotiabank

4. Cracking Climate Change

"The world is not going to net zero by a magic wand; we are going to get there by doing carbon capture properly. We need to figure out the decarbonization part."

- Stephen Poloz, Special Advisor, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and Former Governor, Bank of Canada (2013-2020)

5. Progress on Permitting

"[The time taken to get a permit] is a big issue, and we heard it at the State of the City Address as well...If ABC Vancouver and the majority council can get even close to the targets they are setting, then it would be a win"

- Dan Fumano, City Columnist, Vancouver Sun & Province