The Conference Board of Canada is predicting a highly profitable year for the auto sector in Canada.
In its industrial outlook for 2017 for the auto manufacturing and auto parts sectors, the board predicts profits in the 3-4-percent range.
Economist Sabrina Bond says the profits are expected to be above average in 2017 at about $2.1-billion and dipping to just under $2-billion in 5 years from now.
Bond says the US market for vehicles is the main driver of this increase wiht a strong consumer demand for vehicles.
She says the pending release of Auto Czar Ray Tanguay's report could boost the numbers even higher: "I believe there is a degree of upside in these numbers depending on what we see from those reports. The critically important element in terms of the positioning of the industry is the degree to which we foster disruptive innovation within Canada"
Bond says that means supporting things like research into autonomous driving cars.
Bond says the recent settlements with Unifor by the Detroit 3 automakers has brought stability to the Canadian industry.