Incoming governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, says Canada has benefitted from globalization, although some businesses and people have suffered.

Today in Vancouver, in his first official address since taking over the central bank, Carney defended globalization as not only inevitable but also primarily beneficial to both businesses and individuals.

He added that Canada can gain even more from globalization if provinces eliminated inter-provincial barriers and helped encourage Canadians to move where the jobs are.

“This means maximizing the ability of workers to relocate if they wish, maintaining appropriate social safety nets that do not discourage employment and focusing on lifelong learning and training,” Carney told the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce.

Carney gave no hints as to what the Bank of Canada will do on March 4, when it announes its next decision on interest rates.

But he repeated the language used in the last bank statement, saying that “further monetary stimulus is likely required in the near term.”

“This all sounds like a central bank governor perfectly content with his inherited gradual easing clip,”
BMO senior economist Michael Gregory said in a note after Carney’s speech.