Private sector economists see slightly stronger growth for the Canadian economy this year, but weaker economic growth in the years ahead, according to their latest projections provided to the Department of Finance.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty met Tuesday with a collection of private sector economists to gather their latest views on the country’s economic prospects, and to gather projections that will inform the fiscal and economic forecasts to be used in the next federal budget, which is slated for March 4. When planning the budget, Finance bases its economic forecast on the average of private sector economic forecasts.

Finance also released the results of a survey of 15 private sector forecasters that was carried out in December. Overall, private sector economists slightly lowered their call on 2009 real GDP growth to -2.5% from the -2.3% they forecast last September. However, they raised their prediction for 2010 to 2.6% from 2.3%.

The forecast for 2011 remains unchanged at 3.2%, but beyond that the average forecast is reduced from 3.3% in 2012 to 3.0%, 2.8% in 2013 from 3.0%, and 2.6% in 2014 from 2.7%. Overall the projection for average annual growth from 2009 to 2014 remains at 2.0%.

The survey also suggests that the forecast uncertainty has been reduced from record levels and that the unemployment rate is forecast to be lower in the near term than expected in September. Unemployment is now expected to peak in 2010 at 8.5%, down from the previous call of 9.0%. And, the rate is expected to decline in subsequent ears, to 6.6% in 2014.

“Our government’s priority will be to continue the rapid implementation of the Economic Action Plan, planning for deficit reduction once the economy has recovered, and building a strong foundation for job creation and economic growth,” said Flaherty. “We need the most up-to-date private sector projections to ensure that our economic assumptions are sound, objective, and based on the best possible information we can get.”

“While there have been encouraging signs in recent months that the economy continues to stabilize, the global economy remains fragile,” added Flaherty. “This is why we must stay the course in implementing the Economic Action Plan.”