Following meetings with his G20 counterparts from around the world, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Canada's banks are the "soundest in the world" but it will be some time before we are out of the woods.
Flaherty was with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in London last week for G20 meetings that focused largely on the economy and Afghanistan.
While there, he described Canada's banking system as the strongest in the world and said the nation would be one of the first to emerge from the economic slowdown.
On Monday, Flaherty told CTV's Canada AM he is confident Canada will get through the recession and come out stronger on the other side.
"We've been through difficult recessions before. We obviously went through the 30s, early 80s, early 90s. We always come back strong. Our banking system is the most sound in the world, we're the envy of other banking systems," Flaherty said.
The Conservative government's stimulus funding, which began flowing on April 1, and international co-operation that was evident last week, are positive measures, Flaherty said.
He also noted there has been some improvement in credit availability and retail sales in Canada, but said there are still major challenges that lie ahead.
"We're still going to have negative job numbers and we know that first quarter, second quarter, it's going to be difficult for Canadians," Flaherty said.
"That's why we made the changes in employment insurance, to make it easier, to cushion the impact. But we will come out of this. We are going to get stronger as we go forward."
He said it is also vital that banks follow the government's lead on interest rates. Reductions to the Bank of Canada's key lending rate, for example, are only effective if banks pass on the savings to clients.
Flaherty said he will be announcing measures soon to help Canadians access credit.
He called on other nations, particularly the U.S. and European nations, to bring in banking regulations that will help the global economy recover from the recession.
