WEBVTT - U.S. tech firms turn to Canada’s immigration policy 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.830 Welcome to The Ivy. Today the Daily Business News podcast 0:00:11.830 --> 0:00:15.310 from business in Vancouver newspaper and the ivy dot com. 0:00:15.310 --> 0:00:18.640 I'm Tyler Horton. And today we're going to talk all 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:22.420 about that talent crunch with regards to how maybe American 0:00:22.420 --> 0:00:27.160 perceptions of Canadian immigration policy could actually be feeling more 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.010 growth especially in cities like Vancouver. 0:00:30.010 --> 0:00:32.950 We're gonna be joined by Jon Voight Global's Richard Burke 0:00:32.950 --> 0:00:38.680 discussing all about this new report delving into American perceptions 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:43.000 of Canadian immigration policy. Then later on retail insiders CRAIG 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:47.710 PATTERSON He breaks down Lululemon is exceptional quarterly financials as 0:00:47.710 --> 0:00:50.950 well as price hikes going on in groceries. And guys 0:00:50.950 --> 0:00:53.140 we've got to do this. It is April 1st today 0:00:53.140 --> 0:00:54.790 as we records are going to have a bit of 0:00:54.790 --> 0:00:57.900 a rundown of all the big brands that are there. 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.310 They've been doing some April Fools joke so far today 0:01:00.310 --> 0:01:03.310 and whether or not they've been effective. But first let's 0:01:03.310 --> 0:01:04.860 talk all about immigration. 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.319 So talking to any hiring manager here in Vancouver's tech 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:20.410 sector and they'll tell you that the talent crunch is 0:01:20.530 --> 0:01:24.840 perhaps the biggest barrier that's impeding growth right now. Candidates 0:01:24.850 --> 0:01:27.490 been looking outward to fill those gaps. But is the 0:01:27.490 --> 0:01:30.970 message getting out there to other countries. A new report 0:01:30.970 --> 0:01:35.229 from online global it reveals how American perceptions of our 0:01:35.230 --> 0:01:39.280 immigration policy may influence further growth here at home. Calling 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:41.860 in today from Chicago it is Richard Burke. He's CEO 0:01:41.860 --> 0:01:43.960 of on voice global. Richard thanks for joining us on 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:47.020 the program today. Thank you Tyler for having me. And 0:01:47.020 --> 0:01:48.640 so before we dive into the numbers and there's some 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:50.980 fascinating numbers that you guys have produced here in your 0:01:50.980 --> 0:01:54.460 latest reports. But can you tell me maybe anecdotally how 0:01:54.580 --> 0:01:59.560 American professionals maybe perceive your own immigration policies in terms 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:01.840 of drawing global talent to fill in some of the 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.320 gaps that your country's facing right now heavily. 0:02:05.330 --> 0:02:07.370 So what we do it on a global is we 0:02:07.370 --> 0:02:14.690 help employers secure work authorization in any country around the world. 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:16.780 And then we make certain they say compliance or we're 0:02:16.790 --> 0:02:19.770 fortunate where were the biggest players in the United States. 0:02:19.910 --> 0:02:22.320 And we've with a growing practice in the Qantas we 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:24.950 are taught to get a very good view and every 0:02:24.950 --> 0:02:28.760 year we augment that view by doing a big survey 0:02:29.060 --> 0:02:32.870 with Harris Associates. We go up to 400 H.R. professionals 0:02:34.370 --> 0:02:38.600 but equally between publicly traded and private companies and ask 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:42.590 for how all things immigration one of the questions we 0:02:42.590 --> 0:02:45.370 asked is directly response to what you just asked Tyler. 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:49.820 We asked Is the U.S. immigration process getting more difficult 0:02:49.940 --> 0:02:53.120 or less difficult. And we've asked this question for years 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.600 in a row. And in 2016 and 2017 it was 0:02:56.600 --> 0:03:00.829 pretty evenly split between those employers who felt that the U.S. 0:03:01.070 --> 0:03:04.640 immigration process was getting more difficult less severe weather almost 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:08.480 a tie in 2019 it was the biggest spread ever 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:13.460 47 percent believe the process is getting more difficult which 0:03:13.460 --> 0:03:16.280 is two and a half times those who feel that 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.520 the process is becoming less difficult. Only 18 percent said 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:23.089 less difficult 47 percent more difficult. And that's the biggest 0:03:23.090 --> 0:03:25.490 golf we've seen in the years we've done it. We 0:03:25.490 --> 0:03:29.750 know why that happened. The U.S. government is making the 0:03:29.750 --> 0:03:33.650 process much more onerous adding quite a bit of uncertainty 0:03:33.650 --> 0:03:36.260 in the eyes of employers and that counts for this 0:03:36.710 --> 0:03:40.940 drove this 2 to 2.5 X spread between internal and 0:03:40.940 --> 0:03:46.010 external in which we think is making Canada increasingly appealing 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:47.630 to U.S. employers. 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:49.910 Well let's get into that because you guys do have 0:03:49.910 --> 0:03:52.940 the report out and it says that American companies are 0:03:52.940 --> 0:03:57.290 increasingly targeting Canada's future talent hub based in part on 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:02.670 our immigration policies as Canada being perceived quite favorably right now. 0:04:02.700 --> 0:04:06.920 Absolutely it is one of our questions was whose immigration 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:11.840 policy do you consider to be more favorable. Sixty five 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:17.890 percent of employers said Canada. And that is growing the 0:04:17.890 --> 0:04:21.859 US perception is being friendly is shrinking and we believe 0:04:21.860 --> 0:04:25.219 that is very conscious by Canada. We helped a number 0:04:25.220 --> 0:04:28.610 of companies go into Canada and were increasingly helping Canadian 0:04:28.610 --> 0:04:35.210 companies procure work authorization into Canada and literally 65 percent 0:04:35.450 --> 0:04:39.500 find Canada to be more appealing and perhaps more importantly 0:04:39.529 --> 0:04:44.980 almost an equal number 63 percent Tyler respondents said they 0:04:44.980 --> 0:04:49.460 are considering expanding into Canada for this very reason. You've 0:04:49.460 --> 0:04:53.870 got a much more accommodating immigration policy. You've also got 0:04:54.050 --> 0:04:58.920 terrific universities throughout Canada most often cited not surprisingly as 0:04:58.910 --> 0:05:03.920 the Kitchener Waterloo corridor but those two factors are favourable 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:11.270 immigration policy and strong academic institutions that are causing well 0:05:11.270 --> 0:05:13.910 over half of U.S. employers who responded to the survey 0:05:13.910 --> 0:05:15.080 to consider expanding. 0:05:15.380 --> 0:05:18.140 So I'll tell you as a Canadian who grew up 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:22.130 in the United States down in the 1990s I don't 0:05:22.130 --> 0:05:24.619 know if there is that much awareness of Canada at 0:05:24.620 --> 0:05:26.000 least at the time that I was living there. Do 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.070 you think that Canada is doing a much better job 0:05:28.070 --> 0:05:30.770 at getting its out its name out there getting its 0:05:30.770 --> 0:05:32.570 policies out there that there's a lot more of the 0:05:32.630 --> 0:05:34.640 people that need to know now what's going on with 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:38.240 regards at least immigration policy down in the United States. 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:40.760 They do. They do and they do for a few reasons. 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:47.360 One immigration is was President Trump's calling card issues. So 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.810 the whole issue of immigration has become much more engrained 0:05:50.810 --> 0:05:54.410 in people's consciousness. And once you start looking at the 0:05:54.500 --> 0:05:59.870 legal high skilled immigration many people are aware of these 0:05:59.870 --> 0:06:03.300 Canadian initiatives to increase the population of Canada the immigration 0:06:03.589 --> 0:06:09.479 to add a aggressive impressive growth to the population via immigration. 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:14.960 Most employers are very much familiar with this. For those 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.670 two reasons One the topicality of immigration can shoot the 0:06:18.740 --> 0:06:24.050 challenges in the United States and finding resident born talent 0:06:24.350 --> 0:06:27.890 and also those affirmative steps that the Canadian government is 0:06:27.890 --> 0:06:34.760 taking to make Canada hospitable and welcoming place for high 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:36.230 skilled talent. 0:06:36.250 --> 0:06:38.600 What's fascinating to me though is the American economy is 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.420 doing quite well right now. You get the sense from 0:06:41.420 --> 0:06:44.109 a lot of your clients that growth could be stymied 0:06:44.130 --> 0:06:47.179 to a certain degree. If Americans don't have access to 0:06:47.180 --> 0:06:49.040 the global talent that it needs to fill in those 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:52.760 gaps that can't be matched domestically without a doubt that's 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.400 what's happening the U.S. government is doing very very well 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.410 particularly when it comes to unemployment. 0:06:57.410 --> 0:07:01.159 We know that the unemployment rate in the States for 0:07:01.339 --> 0:07:04.830 people with a college degree is to 1 percent. We 0:07:04.830 --> 0:07:08.560 know there's about seven point three million jobs in the 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:13.190 US that are open only six point three million job seekers. 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:16.380 We know that there will be about 4 million folks 0:07:16.380 --> 0:07:20.400 retiring from the workforce this year. That's you know 10000 0:07:20.490 --> 0:07:23.610 a day. It's the baby boomers age out. And as 0:07:23.610 --> 0:07:26.520 a result because of that U.S. employers are saying we 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:32.410 want to continue growing but the shortage of qualified talent 0:07:32.490 --> 0:07:36.150 is scrimping our growth. Our survey expressly asked questions in 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:41.220 about 30 percent of employers said that challenges in hiring 0:07:41.220 --> 0:07:47.230 talent are causing either delay or the cancellation of projects. 0:07:47.370 --> 0:07:52.830 We help represent a very well-known consumer the food and 0:07:52.830 --> 0:07:58.200 beverage company. They needed to produce bottles plastic bottles to 0:07:58.410 --> 0:08:02.520 hold their product in plastic bottles are some forms that 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.340 regards miracles and engineering they have to be liked to 0:08:05.340 --> 0:08:06.570 have to be durable. 0:08:06.660 --> 0:08:11.340 They have to be efficient and economic to produce. They 0:08:11.340 --> 0:08:13.590 have to meet certain environmental standards there's quite a bit 0:08:13.590 --> 0:08:14.310 of engineering. 0:08:14.460 --> 0:08:18.810 This company could not get sufficient engineers in the United 0:08:18.810 --> 0:08:23.010 States because of the combination of a tightening immigration policy 0:08:23.250 --> 0:08:26.340 and an expense in a very difficult job market for 0:08:26.340 --> 0:08:30.750 employers saying that moving the work to Mexico more often 0:08:30.750 --> 0:08:33.090 than not the work is moving to Canada. 0:08:33.090 --> 0:08:37.440 As companies seek growth and believe that the Canadian immigration 0:08:37.950 --> 0:08:41.170 landscape is like I said much more hospitable and favourable 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.010 and I'll tell you as an outsider and let me 0:08:44.010 --> 0:08:45.500 know if I'm on the right track here. 0:08:45.510 --> 0:08:47.160 But I wonder if Canada is in a bit of 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:50.670 a unique position in terms of American eyes. If Americans 0:08:50.670 --> 0:08:54.840 turn to say the United Kingdom for say expanded growth 0:08:54.870 --> 0:08:57.760 over there it's facing a Brexit situation right now to 0:08:57.820 --> 0:09:00.920 look to other English speaking countries say Australia New Zealand. 0:09:01.050 --> 0:09:04.740 They're pretty far away is Canada benefiting much from its 0:09:04.740 --> 0:09:07.530 cultural position as well as its geographic position to United 0:09:07.530 --> 0:09:10.079 States to be able to seize on some of that 0:09:10.230 --> 0:09:12.790 international talent in the United States needs right now. 0:09:12.809 --> 0:09:16.950 Very perceptive. There is a cultural advantage that Canada has 0:09:17.340 --> 0:09:20.160 compared to any other country in the world from the 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:22.240 United States perspective. 0:09:22.380 --> 0:09:27.760 There is most obviously that manifests in the same language. 0:09:27.780 --> 0:09:32.220 There is a geographic benefit which candidate feels more so 0:09:32.220 --> 0:09:42.210 than any. Even Mexico because of your time zone frequency 0:09:42.210 --> 0:09:45.340 of flight ease of transfer from one board to the other. 0:09:46.140 --> 0:09:49.370 And then there's also the political that while you know 0:09:49.410 --> 0:09:52.709 just today the Trump administration which is talking about shutting 0:09:52.710 --> 0:09:55.770 off the border with Mexico that that'll give many employers 0:09:55.800 --> 0:10:02.580 pause about investing into and expanding into Mexico. Relations with 0:10:02.580 --> 0:10:06.060 Canada are much warmer than they are relative to relations 0:10:06.059 --> 0:10:09.090 with Mexico so there's a cultural reason a geographic reason 0:10:09.420 --> 0:10:12.570 and a political reason. And I'd add a fourth reason 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:19.439 Tyler educational those schools. University of Waterloo Vancouver has excellent schools. 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:24.630 Toronto Montreal. That is a fourth meaningful driver of the 0:10:24.929 --> 0:10:27.569 benefits the Canada has rather than anyone else. 0:10:27.570 --> 0:10:30.210 Well we're talking a lot about maybe American perceptions right now. 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:33.000 But from your own work and unlike global telling me 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:36.750 you've been getting into more business with Canada What is 0:10:36.750 --> 0:10:41.430 your own experience been like working with Save the Canadian 0:10:41.429 --> 0:10:45.239 study on immigration policy what do you notice kind of 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.200 the differences between the U.S. and Canada right now. 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.710 Personally very very much so a couple of points Tyler. 0:10:50.730 --> 0:10:54.449 First of all we are experience in the candidate comes 0:10:54.450 --> 0:10:57.300 in two contexts one is helping us companies who are 0:10:57.300 --> 0:11:01.830 seeking to grow they use their first country of as 0:11:01.830 --> 0:11:04.380 Canada for those for reasons we just set. So we 0:11:04.380 --> 0:11:06.320 get quite a bit of experience. We've helped over a 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:10.590 thousand over a thousand cases into Canada. That gives us 0:11:10.590 --> 0:11:17.460 a unique perspective. We're also seeing increasingly Canadian company of 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:20.640 Canadian companies to grow particularly in the startup scene. The 0:11:21.090 --> 0:11:23.819 scene in Toronto is very very vibrant as it is 0:11:23.820 --> 0:11:30.540 in Vancouver. And those companies are increasingly attracting U.S. venture capital. U.S. 0:11:30.540 --> 0:11:34.530 private equity and as importantly Canadian venture capital and private 0:11:34.530 --> 0:11:38.160 equity and as they grow. They're saying well you you 0:11:38.210 --> 0:11:41.910 envoy have a solution that works very well. You've got 0:11:41.910 --> 0:11:46.559 experience by virtue of helping companies move into Canada help 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:50.310 us grow as well so we're increasingly helping Canadian companies 0:11:50.490 --> 0:11:55.860 seeking to bring folks into Canada. We're also helping the 0:11:55.860 --> 0:12:01.350 couple retain and continued search firms whose express model is 0:12:01.350 --> 0:12:07.199 to take advantage of Canada's Liberal a relatively liberalized immigration policies. 0:12:07.410 --> 0:12:12.069 And they'll say that Canadians employers we will get for 0:12:12.070 --> 0:12:16.360 you high skilled foreign national talent. We will partner with 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.059 on void to secure the work authorization and you'll be 0:12:19.059 --> 0:12:24.260 able to quickly and efficiently and skillfully fill your open positions. 0:12:24.580 --> 0:12:28.809 Interestingly CBRE the big real estate firm did a survey 0:12:29.050 --> 0:12:36.400 and they found that Toronto added more technology positions last 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:40.900 year than the Bay Area Seattle in Washington D.C. combined. 0:12:41.020 --> 0:12:41.960 So think of that. 0:12:42.230 --> 0:12:46.090 While and I'd like to imagine especially here in Vancouver 0:12:46.090 --> 0:12:49.300 that we could get some of that runoff effect as 0:12:49.300 --> 0:12:52.569 we get American companies looking outward seeing where they can 0:12:52.570 --> 0:12:54.699 fill in some of those gaps and Richard Di. Your 0:12:54.700 --> 0:12:57.429 company did some really interesting reporting on this and I 0:12:57.429 --> 0:13:00.010 want to thank you for joining us on the program today. 0:13:00.170 --> 0:13:03.040 Well thank you. Coming. You're exactly right about Vancouver. Yeah 0:13:03.130 --> 0:13:05.380 it in Toronto are we are where we are the 0:13:05.490 --> 0:13:10.930 most interested in actual proximity to Asia strong Asian connection 0:13:10.929 --> 0:13:15.520 in Vancouver obviously entertainment is very big to the U.S. 0:13:16.420 --> 0:13:19.439 going into Vancouver so delighted to be able to join. 0:13:19.540 --> 0:13:21.550 And we're out of those winter months so hopefully those 0:13:21.550 --> 0:13:24.490 Americans will give us a second look as we move 0:13:24.490 --> 0:13:26.550 from spring and into summer now too. 0:13:26.650 --> 0:13:29.410 I can assure you they're looking I can promise you that. 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.920 Excellent thanks Richard. That's Richard Burke CEO of Anvil global 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:35.880 Stay with us Craig Patterson from retail insider dot com. 0:13:35.890 --> 0:13:38.580 He joins us next to talk about Lululemon and more. 0:13:47.270 --> 0:13:49.490 And with us to talk all about the latest news 0:13:49.490 --> 0:13:51.380 in retail this is gonna be a fun episode because 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.120 I don't know if you've heard but it is April 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:57.290 Fool's today. It's Craig Patterson editor in chief retail insider 0:13:57.290 --> 0:13:59.599 dot com Craig. Thanks for joining us on the show. 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:01.910 Thank you for having me. OK. So I don't think 0:14:01.910 --> 0:14:03.650 we want to bury the lead here. It is in 0:14:03.650 --> 0:14:07.010 fact April 1st 20 19 as we record this and 0:14:07.010 --> 0:14:09.380 we always expect some brands to get in on the 0:14:09.380 --> 0:14:11.670 jokes what's popping up to you today. 0:14:11.690 --> 0:14:14.180 CRAIG There's some interesting ones in there coming out of 0:14:14.179 --> 0:14:17.530 Vancouver into Chino sent out a press release that said 0:14:17.540 --> 0:14:20.690 they were going to be making custom made pajamas from 0:14:20.690 --> 0:14:23.000 the linings of their suits. And you know I know 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:24.650 it was a bit of a joke but when I 0:14:25.100 --> 0:14:26.750 got the pitch last week and we knew it was 0:14:26.750 --> 0:14:29.150 gonna be a joke. I actually I was sort of 0:14:29.150 --> 0:14:31.580 a good idea. Same thing with kidneys that came out 0:14:31.580 --> 0:14:35.510 with one on clothing basically you know be kind of 0:14:35.510 --> 0:14:37.250 technical like the rest of kit nice. And I thought 0:14:37.250 --> 0:14:40.620 well actually I mean maybe this is a good idea. 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:45.200 It's curious because like whenever these April first jokes happen 0:14:45.290 --> 0:14:47.900 a lot of people might complain or you know say 0:14:47.900 --> 0:14:50.450 that it takes a hit on the credibility of these companies. 0:14:50.450 --> 0:14:52.670 Is that really the case like do these brands ever 0:14:52.670 --> 0:14:55.250 hurt because maybe there's an improv first choke that doesn't 0:14:55.250 --> 0:14:56.560 go quite right. 0:14:56.740 --> 0:14:58.400 Well in the case of it in the Chino and 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:00.770 kitten these definitely not you know I think it was 0:15:00.770 --> 0:15:03.710 fairly obvious that they were jokes and it certainly made sense. 0:15:04.410 --> 0:15:05.880 And in fact like I said I think they might 0:15:06.230 --> 0:15:08.780 have been bad ideas. However you know it's just that 0:15:08.780 --> 0:15:12.300 one today about the fly festival and you know basically 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.440 they're saying they're gonna be flying into a festival we 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.200 know that the festival you know ended in criminal charges 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:19.970 fraud and we've heard a lot of news about people 0:15:19.970 --> 0:15:23.660 getting stranded but vacation provider. My first thought I just 0:15:23.660 --> 0:15:26.180 cringe I cringe myself that I thought Oh my God 0:15:26.180 --> 0:15:27.620 West Jet look you know there is such thing as 0:15:27.620 --> 0:15:31.130 West Jet vacations. You know I don't know if something 0:15:31.130 --> 0:15:32.850 just I feel like they just missed the mark with 0:15:32.850 --> 0:15:35.300 us and you know Calgary based West Jet. They're flying 0:15:35.300 --> 0:15:38.479 around western Canada and all over the world now. Yeah. 0:15:38.530 --> 0:15:40.940 I don't know sometimes you gotta be careful what you mock. 0:15:40.970 --> 0:15:43.630 And I think that there was a little tone deaf. 0:15:44.650 --> 0:15:46.830 So however they were the one I got from my 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:51.860 condominium Web site based in central Canada. That was pretty 0:15:51.860 --> 0:15:54.620 amazing it was a dog condominium the prices were absolutely 0:15:54.620 --> 0:15:57.290 outrageous and made perfect sense for the City of Toronto 0:15:57.520 --> 0:15:59.300 ten thousand a square foot and I thought Yeah I 0:15:59.300 --> 0:16:00.980 know this is foreshadowing not a joke. 0:16:01.310 --> 0:16:04.540 Yeah I got to feel it over here in Vancouver too. 0:16:04.550 --> 0:16:07.280 But it's interesting how people love to do stuff for 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.040 the Pats especially on April 1st. I cover the technology 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.890 beat at the newspaper and Roku is asking me if 0:16:12.890 --> 0:16:15.470 I wanted to do like a fake news story which 0:16:15.980 --> 0:16:18.140 I don't know if we can really do that as journalists. 0:16:18.170 --> 0:16:20.420 So it had to decline but they were saying hey 0:16:20.420 --> 0:16:23.360 we're going to have streaming services for pets complete with 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.570 a TV remote. Designed for pets as well so I 0:16:26.570 --> 0:16:28.730 know something about pets that people really cling on to 0:16:28.750 --> 0:16:32.950 and especially with April 1st Yeah I mean I don't 0:16:32.950 --> 0:16:34.520 even think it has to be a joke. 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:36.290 These are things that we might actually see down the 0:16:36.290 --> 0:16:38.600 road to some degree I that we want our pets 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:40.950 taking over our TV channels but who knows right. 0:16:40.950 --> 0:16:43.420 I mean the future is an interesting one technology wise 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:45.020 and I just think about how some of the most 0:16:45.020 --> 0:16:49.010 popular like youtube channels are essentially like kiddie cams or 0:16:49.010 --> 0:16:52.040 just people watch cats walk around all day. So that's 0:16:52.190 --> 0:16:55.640 an interesting one. And Craig my memory is going a 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:57.680 little bit. I maybe you can help me out with 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.320 this but was it WestJet that maybe last year the 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:02.600 year before they actually had a good April 1st joke 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:05.150 where I think they announce that they're going to rebrand 0:17:05.150 --> 0:17:08.970 as Canadian airlines. You know that old defunct airline that 0:17:09.570 --> 0:17:12.109 we knew so well as the second largest carrier out 0:17:12.140 --> 0:17:14.450 way back in the day like what I like. That 0:17:14.450 --> 0:17:16.250 to me was like actually a good funny joke because 0:17:16.310 --> 0:17:18.620 it made people pause you go look at the Twitter 0:17:18.650 --> 0:17:21.080 outrage and you kind of see oh some people aren't 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.870 in and eye and it's like a ridiculous funny sort 0:17:23.869 --> 0:17:28.120 of joke I mean some people will believe anything. 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:29.659 I mean I think we've seen that with you know 0:17:29.740 --> 0:17:33.220 the U.S. election and otherwise. But yeah. Know I think 0:17:33.730 --> 0:17:37.660 there's differing degrees of believability. There's you know some people 0:17:37.660 --> 0:17:39.190 are more gullible than others. 0:17:39.190 --> 0:17:41.930 Well if we are talking about say you mentioned kidneys 0:17:42.130 --> 0:17:44.530 why don't we talk to one of their not quite 0:17:44.530 --> 0:17:47.139 a sibling company but a related company from the same 0:17:47.140 --> 0:17:51.280 founder I Lululemon shares when soaring last week after posting 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.070 its latest financial results. If you look at their fourth 0:17:54.070 --> 0:17:57.820 quarter profit it just skyrocketed 82 percent compared to the 0:17:57.820 --> 0:18:01.630 same period last year. Landing at two hundred and eighteen 0:18:01.630 --> 0:18:05.919 million dollars U.S.. The question is is Craig. Where is 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:10.900 this big growth coming from at this point in Lululemon history. 0:18:10.900 --> 0:18:14.320 It's interesting because it's domestic growth and you know the 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:17.980 company is also growing internationally and it's so I mean 0:18:17.980 --> 0:18:20.080 I don't want to say it surprises me how popular 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.330 9/11 is but it seems to have a cult following. 0:18:22.330 --> 0:18:24.280 I mean it's got a great product but the prices 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:27.790 are much higher than a lot of other fashion brands 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.239 and you know given the strength that we're seeing as 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:35.560 the lemon expands globally is to me quite surprising and 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:38.140 maybe it's because I'm not their customer. You know I 0:18:38.140 --> 0:18:41.369 I've got a few pieces. They were gifts and you 0:18:41.380 --> 0:18:44.020 know I think certain people were aware a little lemon 0:18:44.020 --> 0:18:45.790 and apparently a lot of people. 0:18:45.790 --> 0:18:49.030 Well the thing that I keep wondering though is they 0:18:49.270 --> 0:18:52.750 started to master or tuned in to the idea of 0:18:52.750 --> 0:18:56.080 the sustainable growth as opposed to trying to expand everywhere 0:18:56.109 --> 0:18:59.109 all at once and facing a lot of troubles there 0:18:59.109 --> 0:19:02.230 and we saw that say with kidneys for example have 0:19:02.230 --> 0:19:04.810 they kind of figured out the right formula about how 0:19:04.810 --> 0:19:07.159 to master growth at this point. 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.960 I think so. I mean Lululemon has been quite successful 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.690 in every market that has expanded into and now I 0:19:13.690 --> 0:19:15.220 mean if you think about it as long as they're 0:19:15.220 --> 0:19:19.199 able to maintain their brand popularity they're able to you 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:23.340 know saturate at least say the continent for example with stores. 0:19:23.350 --> 0:19:25.290 I mean they're very much a direct to consumer brand 0:19:25.300 --> 0:19:27.670 in terms of you know they do this through Lululemon 0:19:27.670 --> 0:19:29.709 stores you don't see Lululemon products you know at your 0:19:29.710 --> 0:19:32.859 local base or whatever you know it's it's very focused 0:19:32.859 --> 0:19:34.570 which is why they got these higher profits they're not 0:19:34.570 --> 0:19:38.879 paying a retail middleman to distribute their merchandise but you 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:43.030 know I think for brands like Canada Goose and like 0:19:43.090 --> 0:19:45.670 Lululemon and you know funny enough they're all Canadians that 0:19:45.670 --> 0:19:48.550 are you know growing like crazy and have this popularity. 0:19:48.550 --> 0:19:50.350 This will actually a lot more room for growth for 0:19:50.350 --> 0:19:53.050 Lululemon which I think is quite tremendous. Maybe I'll buy 0:19:53.050 --> 0:19:54.040 some stock. 0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:56.650 Well at this point you know we've had the new 0:19:56.650 --> 0:19:59.859 CEO for a number of quarters. You know is it 0:19:59.859 --> 0:20:03.790 fair for him to begin putting his own stamp on 0:20:03.910 --> 0:20:05.950 the good results. Is he still just kind of the 0:20:05.950 --> 0:20:08.709 shepherd for where the company was already going. What's your 0:20:08.710 --> 0:20:10.390 take right now. 0:20:10.390 --> 0:20:12.340 I think it's a little bit of both. I think 0:20:12.340 --> 0:20:14.169 that the company was on a great trajectory but I 0:20:14.170 --> 0:20:18.340 think Calvin is a visionary. I mean they were probably 0:20:18.340 --> 0:20:22.119 brilliant to hire him. He he himself has an image 0:20:22.220 --> 0:20:25.419 that's quite interesting I think and is also right on brand. 0:20:25.420 --> 0:20:28.420 And you know I would actually think encourage him to 0:20:29.190 --> 0:20:31.570 you know add some innovation. I mean don't reinvent the 0:20:31.570 --> 0:20:35.680 wheel Lululemon obviously is very successful as it is with 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:37.780 its current concept. But you know certain to be a 0:20:37.780 --> 0:20:40.750 bit experimental I think I'd look to the future perhaps 0:20:40.750 --> 0:20:44.149 some sort of tack maybe dogs are involved maybe not. 0:20:44.190 --> 0:20:48.070 But you know I think that there is room for 0:20:48.070 --> 0:20:50.320 innovation and in fact you know Chip Wilson the founder 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:51.760 I think would very much encourage that. 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:56.100 I think he's always encouraging innovation whether or not you 0:20:56.260 --> 0:20:58.750 will listen it is another story altogether I know there's 0:20:58.750 --> 0:21:00.340 been a bit of a rift within the company and 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.640 you know there's been a few battles there. 0:21:03.670 --> 0:21:07.600 Well jumping into something that I think touches everybody those 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:09.940 course grocery there's a couple stories that we want to 0:21:09.940 --> 0:21:13.120 jump on here. The Global Mail they're reporting that there 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:15.280 are three major grocers that are in the midst of 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:19.570 raising prices. What's behind this increase that's going on right now. 0:21:19.590 --> 0:21:23.200 Craig I think it's a combination of factors. It's getting 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:26.650 more expensive to operate. You know let's say gas prices 0:21:26.650 --> 0:21:31.740 for example overall production costs of food and then like 0:21:31.869 --> 0:21:34.450 a store logistics comes around it which you know I 0:21:34.450 --> 0:21:37.190 think gas prices would have something to do with that. 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:40.180 We are seeing inflation in the country and I think 0:21:40.180 --> 0:21:43.239 that's starting to be reflected on food. You know there's 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:45.820 also an increased demand. I think it's actually quite a 0:21:45.820 --> 0:21:51.610 complicated situation but it's not necessarily good for consumers obviously. 0:21:51.609 --> 0:21:53.949 Well the thing that I keep wondering though is we 0:21:53.950 --> 0:21:57.490 have increased pressure on say some of the Canadian incumbent 0:21:57.490 --> 0:22:02.020 grocers from the likes of C Wal-Mart or Amazon as well. 0:22:02.230 --> 0:22:05.379 Are the margins getting even thinner at this point for 0:22:05.380 --> 0:22:08.440 the grocers if they want to stay competitive in this 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:10.870 particular market here in Canada. 0:22:10.869 --> 0:22:14.080 Yes. And sort of you know certainly groceries that are 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:17.310 competing on price you know the margins to be very thin. 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:21.389 And you know any competition can be a challenge to that. 0:22:21.460 --> 0:22:24.310 And we are seeing a lot of interesting grocers coming 0:22:24.310 --> 0:22:26.189 in that are doing things a bit differently and they're 0:22:26.190 --> 0:22:29.310 not necessarily competing on price. They're competing in other areas. 0:22:29.359 --> 0:22:31.320 And you know again this is stock as you know 0:22:31.740 --> 0:22:34.109