Ten Business Predictions for 2025

1. Gen Z Will Dominate the Workforce

Gen Z—those born between the mid ’90s and 2010—will comprise 27 per cent of the workforce across OECD countries in 2025. They’re a stressed-out bunch, coming of age during a global pandemic and a historic cost-of-living crisis. They’ll arrive in workplaces expecting mental-health support, flexible and remote work, and commitments to diversity. Employers are responding with perks such as benefits plans that include long-term psychological services, fewer in-office days and lengthy onboarding programs to let new hires find their comfort zone in the workplace.

2. The Government Will Enact Right-to-Disconnect Laws

With Slack and email on our phones, and our phones by our beds, it’s getting harder and harder to log off from work. In 2025, the federal government will change that. For six years, it’s been studying ways to create a Canadian right to disconnect. Modelled after laws in France, Spain, Belgium and Portugal, Canada’s legislation will require employers in federally regulated industries, like air transport and telecom, to develop rules around after-hours contact. These changes would affect the roughly 500,000 Canadians who work in those sectors—though not the federal public service, which the government says deserves its own special bill.

3. Open Banking Will Kick Into Gear

Open banking promises to get Canada’s banks finally talking to each other. Already a reality in Australia and the U.K., the system forces banks to safely and securely share customer information with other businesses—with the client’s permission, of course. Consumers can then use budgeting apps that show accounts, investments and loans across institutions, all in one place. And lenders can get a better immediate picture of consumers’ full financial situations. Beyond convenience, open banking could increase competition in the financial sector. The last federal budget gave the government until 2025 to come up with a plan, meaning we should expect movement this year.

4. Wage Growth Will Outpace Inflation

Canadians’ purchasing power is finally growing: wages will rise this year by an average of 3.4 per cent nationwide. That’s lower than in the past, but the sinking inflation rate will make up the difference. Driven by an ongoing labour shortage, workers can expect some relief from the sharp price increases of recent years, plus improved financial well-being, better workplace satisfaction and greater demand for their talent—all of which makes 2025 a good time to play hard to get.

5. More Strikes Are on the Horizon

The conditions that gave rise to labour discontent in the past two years—rising inflation and stagnating wages—are improving, but the appetite for activism remains strong. This year, employees at an Ontario Walmart warehouse became the first such workers to unionize, and similar drives are happening at Amazon. In November, 55,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers went on strike. And in 2025, the union representing workers in the federal public service will enter into bargaining. Some experts think we may be on the cusp of a period of prolonged labour unrest, unlike anything we’ve seen in decades.

6. TD Will Try to Repair Its Image

In 2024, TD became the first bank to plead guilty in the U.S. to conspiracy to commit money laundering, after three criminal networks moved over US$670 million through its accounts, and employees turned a blind eye. The bank has been charged US$3.1 billion in fines, but the real damage has been to its reputation. It will be up to new CEO Raymond Chun (above) to clean up its image. After joining TD as a management associate in 1992, Chun worked his way up to land a series of senior roles in insurance, investing and wealth management. Chun is considered thoughtful and astute, but his most notable attribute is that he’s had no involvement in the bank’s scandal-plagued U.S. operations—a sign that TD wants to put the debacle behind it.

7. Canadians Will See a Corner Store Comeback

A corner store renaissance is sweeping the U.S., as city planners rediscover humble shopkeepers’ outsized contributions to neighbourhoods. Now the same trend is coming to Canada. Toronto city staff have been researching zoning changes to encourage corner stores. Vancouver has asked for public input on how to support the shops. And in Calgary, proposed zoning to allow more of them is scheduled to arrive in 2025. Small stores in Ontario can now also sell alcohol, giving them an extra kick. More vibrant, walkable neighbourhoods are just around the corner.

8. The Gig Economy Will Explode

If it seems like everyone has a side hustle, the data bears it out: a recent report from insurance provider Securian Canada found that nearly a quarter of Canadians participate in gig work, many on top of a full-time job. Whether it’s selling crafts on Etsy, driving for Uber or doing graphic design on the QT, gig work is becoming a necessary part of living in an ever more expensive country. More than a third of respondents to the Securian survey said they did so due to the rising cost of living, and gig work accounted for an average of 15 per cent of their income.

9. Federal Workers Will Fight Back-to-Office Mandates

The battle over back-to-office mandates will reach its zenith this year. The Public Service Alliance of Canada—the union representing over 240,000 federal workers—is incensed by the government’s demand that their members spend at least three days per week in the office and is planning a national campaign promoting remote work as a means to reduce traffic congestion, lower emissions and unlock new talent. A strike may even be on the table. They’ll have a receptive audience: studies suggest 80 per cent of Canadians who work remotely would look for a new job if forced back to the office full-time.

10. Quebec’s Commercial Streets Will Get a Linguistic Overhaul

This June, new laws will take effect in Quebec requiring outdoor business signs to be at least two-thirds French by area. Thousands of businesses will need to modify their signage, and those whose names are English will have to add French words or descriptors. That means the province’s 620 Subway sandwich shops and 100 Canadian Tires will have to either shrink their names or scatter a lot of additional French-language signage around. The alternative is a fine up to $30,000—which, considering that for some large companies the cost of compliance could be more than $20 million, might be the better deal.