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OTTAWA — You can’t knock Stephen Poloz for being guardedly optimistic about the economy.

Yes, the numbers seem to be getting better in Canada, as well as in the critically important U.S. market and other major industrialized nations that have struggled with positive growth.

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Still, the governor of the Bank of Canada says business investment and exports are continuing to lag behind consumer spending in powering the recovery.

So much so, Mr. Poloz told the House of Commons finance committee on Tuesday, Canadian exporters are falling behind their global competitors as they struggle to recapture business lost since the recession.

Trade in dollar terms, for example, is down between $35-billion and $40-billion from where it should be under normal market conditions.

“This wedge is real and it is big,” said Mr. Poloz, 58.

Competitive challenges will “weigh down” Canadians companies’ ability to benefit from growth in other countries.