The aging of the baby boomer generation heralds a historic demographic crisis with important implications for Canada’s future trading patterns, three UWindsor instructors argue in an opinion piece published Monday in the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Contributing to the article “Demographics dictate the direction that Canada’s trading should go” were:

• Ron Meng, professor emeritus of economics;
• Imran Abdool, lecturer in economics and finance; and
• Richard Douglass-Chin, associate professor of English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing.

The authors note that Canada’s biggest export market is the United States, where spending habits have pivoted sharply toward health and other services, and away from more traditional tangible goods.

“Canada cannot rest on its laurels as an exporter of resources and primary materials of production,” they write. “Canada needs to become an exporter of processes, innovations, technology and cutting-edge research in health care and other service sectors.”

The three warn that time is of the essence: “Failure to act will result in a poorer and more economically fragile Canadian society.” Read their entire piece online.