done by older workers. fourth, since the baby boomers are better educated than the current cohort of retiring workers, they may find it easier to adapt to changing work environments. all of these factors mean that the aging of our population over the next two decades need not have as serious an effect on economic growth as some fear. but we will need to increase productivity and to prepare our workforce and our economy for the demographic realities ahead. a focus on skilled labour this leads naturally to the subject that i will discuss in the remainder of my remarks tonight. these three global trends - technological change, globalization, and demographic shifts - must be central to our thinking as we prepare our workforce and our economy for the challenges that we face. so, in light of these trends, how do we best develop our labour force to boost our productivity? as i said at the beginning, the key to achieving these goals lies in coordinated effort. skills development is a shared responsibility of business, academic institutions, the public sector, workers, and students. we need a system of incentives for continuous learning and upgrading of skills, and an infrastructure that delivers the training. this has always been important. but, as i mentioned earlier, it will be particularly important in the next two decades, as labour force growth in canada slows. this system of incentives must benefit both workers and firms. if companies don ’ t see the payoff from training and skills development for their workers, they won ’ t make the investments. if workers don ’ t see what ’ s in it for them, they won ’ t devote the time and energy to improve their skills. the first step to improving skills is to build an excellent infrastructure for early childhood development, feeding into a school system that effectively teaches basic skills. for canada to generate productivity gains in a world market that ’ s embracing technological change, provincial education systems must continue to boost literacy and numeracy rates among students. there ’ s no longer such a thing as an unskilled job. the workers of today and tomorrow need to know how to learn, so that they can continuously improve their skills after they leave school. if we find more innovative ways to keep students engaged in their education, they will leave school with the enthusiasm they need to continue learning throughout their career. for some students, especially boys, school can feel like incarceration. one reason why drop - out rates are high is that some students don ’ t see the connection between what they ’ re being taught in school

finally, discussions will take place at the g - 20, where all major economies are present and where china has assumed a very constructive, leadership role. that is not to argue that the role of sdrs cannot be enhanced, particularly among central banks ( see williamson 2009 ). under current rules, new sdrs can be issued only with the agreement of members, representing 85 per cent of voting share. framework discussions would be complemented by successful implementation of the g - 20 financial reform agenda. these reforms, when combined with the peer review process of the financial stability board ( fsb ) and external reviews by the imf, could increase actual and perceived systemic stability and thereby reduce reserve accumulation. canada's macroeconomic strategy and the g - 20 framework canada will bring to these discussions one of the soundest financial systems in the world and a macroeconomic strategy that contributes to sustainable and balanced global growth. our economy is one of the most open and our policy response to the crisis has been one of the most aggressive. starting from the strongest fiscal position in the g - 7, canada's fiscal stimulus this year and next will total 4 per cent of gdp. monetary stimulus has been both unprecedented and timely. as a result of these policy actions, the imf projects that canadian domestic demand will be the strongest in the g - 7 next year. with a current account that has shifted from a surplus of 2 per cent of gdp in the first quarter of 2006 to a deficit of 3 per cent today, canada is doing its part to rebalance global growth. consistent with the objectives of the g - 20 framework, canadian policy is guided by transparent and coherent frameworks. the government of canada has announced a fiscal plan to return its budget to broad balance by 2015. the cornerstone of the bank's monetary policy framework is its inflation target, which aims to keep the annual rate of cpi inflation close to 2 per cent. it is in this context that we view the exchange rate. a floating exchange rate is a central element of our monetary policy framework. it allows canada to pursue an independent monetary policy appropriate to our own economic circumstances. although there is no target for the canadian dollar, the bank does care why the exchange rate moves and what the potential impact will be on output and inflation. the challenge for the bank is to understand the reasons behind currency movements, incorporate those into our assessments of other data, and set a course for monetary policy that works to keep total demand and supply in balance and inflation on target