Source: The Canadian Press

The Conference Board is expecting most industries in Canada to recover from recessionary levels, and some very quickly.

The Ottawa-based private-sector forecaster says professional services and commodity-based industries, notably oil and gas support activities, will post the fastest rebounds.

Manufacturing, however, will struggle to return to pre-recession levels — particularly producers who supply components for other manufacturers.

That is because of the still-high Canadian dollar and large excess factory capacity.

The projections were completed about a month ago before the European debt crisis began roiling markets and slicing about seven% off the Canadian dollar’s value versus the U.S. currency.

But the Conference Board’s Michael Burt said Tuesday the long-term forecast for commodity prices and the loonie remain strong.

The economic think-tank’s report forecasts industries that support the oil and gas will more than double profits this year to $544 million, following a 68% fallout in 2009.

Professional services such as engineering, architectural, legal, accounting and administrative services will see profits rise modestly to $5.5 billion this year, the report says.

The textiles and apparel industry is also expected to return to the black this year after suffering losses last year.

Meanwhile, machinery equipment, fabricated metals and electrical equipment are not expected to return to pre-slump levels until about 2014.