Aspects of the Canadian economy will experience some tough times in the near future, but it will continue to remain strong over the long haul, she told nearly 100 attendees last week at the Shelburne and District Economic Development Committee's annual breakfast.

"Canada's economy is facing some crosswinds. Our biggest trading partner is weakening, so demands for our exports is lower, but at the same time, we have a vibrant domestic economy supported by the elevation in commodity prices," shared the guest speaker.

The global economy is slowing as a result of increased borrowing costs, which Desjardins attributes largely to fallout from the crash of the American real estate market. However, there are economies that continue to grow at a rapid pace, such as India and China.

In response to the slowdown, the U.S. government is providing tax rebate cheques to its residents in an effort to shore up the economy, she explained, suggesting that will allow for moderate growth of about 1.2 per cent in 2008.

Growth in Canadian commodity prices may also slow in the interim, she said, noting they'll remain elevated compared to traditional standards.

"For each dollar from exporting that our economy receives, we can buy more imported business services. So it's actually a boost to our overall national income," Desjardins told the crowd.

"We're seeing that in many areas of our economy; our governments are reporting stronger than expected revenue growth ... as well as we're seeing it in our labour market.

"The economy generated more than 100,000 new jobs in the first three months of this year. That's building on the 350,000 new jobs last year, which puts up well over two million new jobs created since 2002."

The vast majority of those new jobs (82 per cent) may be part-time, but they've brought Canada's unemployment rate to a generational low. In turn, that puts upward pressure on wage rates, she noted.

"That's supporting that very strong consumer spending growth that we've been seeing, and we think will likely continue to support that growth in 2008 and 2009," the senior economist said.