Mark Carney’s Net Zero Agenda and Canada’s High Minimum Wage Laws Accelerate Business Closures
Canada’s economy continues to struggle under the weight of policy-driven costs, price controls, and political overreach. Even in fiscally conservative provinces like Alberta, rising minimum wages and costly federal environmental mandates are eroding competitiveness and driving businesses south of the border.
Provincial Minimum Wages as Price Controls
The lowest minimum wage in Canada currently sits at $15.00 CAD per hour in Alberta. While this might appear moderate, it acts as a price control—a legal wage floor that restricts employers’ flexibility and pushes up costs throughout the labor market.
High minimum wages raise expectations for professional and skilled-trade compensation, inflating labor costs across industries. For instance, if the base pay for entry-level workers is $16 per hour, professionals will demand at least $45 per hour to maintain relative value.
This ripple effect is why many economists consider the minimum wage a form of inflationary policy, not a poverty solution. It makes paying someone $14.99 per hour illegal, even when both employer and employee would willingly agree to it.
In Alberta’s case, it means the provincial government indirectly sets labor costs for the entire private economy — discouraging hiring and limiting growth.
Ontario, with its $17.60 minimum wage, faces an even steeper climb, compounding affordability issues and squeezing small business owners.
Federal Interference and the CMHC Parallel
The same centralization mindset extends to housing. Canada’s federal government, through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), has distorted housing markets by guaranteeing mortgages and stimulating demand far beyond local capacity.
Before CMHC’s intervention, provincial and municipal housing markets were struggling but locally managed. After federal involvement, a nationwide housing boom emerged — not based on real demand, but on credit expansion and price speculation.
Many CMHC beneficiaries became landlords themselves, leveraging inflated values rather than productive income. But as prices detached from wages, the number of tenants able to afford $2,500 monthly rents collapsed, leaving investors reliant on perpetual price appreciation instead of sustainable cash flow.
This overreach demonstrates the danger of nationalizing local problems. When Ottawa steps into provincial affairs — whether housing, healthcare, or labor — it replaces competition and accountability with bureaucracy and dependency.
Mark Carney’s Net Zero and ESG: A Parallel Mistake
Former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney is championing a Net Zero and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) agenda that mirrors CMHC’s interventionist model.
The approach assumes that through public-private “partnerships”, government can coerce or “incentivize” private companies to adopt costly green policies — even when they make no economic sense.
In practice, ESG mandates and carbon taxes act as indirect subsidies, requiring taxpayers to fund projects that global investors won’t touch without guaranteed returns. The energy sector, unlike housing, is international. Global capital will not finance projects distorted by government interference or anti-market restrictions.
Carney’s vision risks undermining Canada’s energy competitiveness, leaving companies dependent on government approval rather than consumer demand — a path that historically leads to stagnation, capital flight, and unemployment.
Holsag Canada: A Case Study in Policy Consequences
These pressures are no longer theoretical. Holsag Canada, a furniture manufacturer based in Lindsay, Ontario, announced it will close its operations in March 2026, relocating to the United States and eliminating up to 130 jobs.
Parent company Mity Inc., headquartered in Orem, Utah, cited macroeconomic and operational realities, including fluctuating tariffs, rising costs, and weak domestic demand.
“With the challenges of fluctuating tariffs, shifting trade policies, and rising costs, combined with a challenging sales environment and sustained pressure on profitability, we must consolidate operations to ensure the long-term strength of our business,”
— Kevin McCoy, CEO, Mity Inc.
Kawartha Lakes Mayor Doug Elmslie confirmed that tariffs and declining U.S. competitiveness were major factors, noting the company’s 30% export tariff made operations unsustainable.
MPP Laurie Scott called the closure “devastating news”, attributing it to ongoing trade wars and weak industrial resilience.
Founded in 1960 and operating in Canada since 1990, Holsag built its reputation on high-quality beechwood chairs and furniture supplied to restaurants, retirement homes, and healthcare facilities. Its closure underscores the cumulative effect of tariffs, rising operational costs, and regulatory overreach on Canadian manufacturing.
The Broader Economic Picture
When private businesses close while government employment expands, tax revenue per worker declines. The result is a growing dependency on money printing and deficit spending to maintain government payrolls.
Despite the Bank of Canada lowering interest rates, debt demand remains weak — raising questions about who will buy Canadian bonds in an environment of declining productivity and shrinking private participation.
That the Canadian dollar remains stable amid these imbalances likely reflects global weakness elsewhere rather than domestic strength.
A Spiritual Reflection
From a Christian perspective, socialism and secularism often place government in the role of God, eroding private property rights and individual freedom. The Net Zero movement, in particular, elevates environmental ideology to near-religious devotion — worshipping creation rather than the Creator.
Even if man-made climate change exists, the belief that humanity can unilaterally “reverse” it reflects a false sense of control. As Jesus taught, even He did not know the hour of the Father’s return — a reminder that mankind’s authority is limited.
When a society abandons faith, it replaces divine order with political manipulation. The result is moral decay, economic dysfunction, and eventual collapse.
Mark Carney’s promise to raise taxes to fight climate change, coupled with Canada’s cultural comfort with government dependency, suggests the country is at a crossroads.
Conclusion
Canada’s combination of high minimum wages, ESG regulation, and federal overreach is suffocating private enterprise. Businesses like Holsag Canada are not anomalies but warnings of what’s to come if policy doesn’t change.
When private sector vitality shrinks while government spending expands, the economic foundation weakens — and with it, national sovereignty and personal liberty.
Consider making Jesus Christ your Lord and Saviour today.