They met Bank of Canada governor and Western graduate Tiff Macklem, MA’84, PhD’89 – even sitting with him for lunch.
They prepared an interest rate recommendation and analysis, as if they were advising the governing council of the Bank of Canada amid a hefty dose of economic uncertainty.
A team of Western students had the trip of a lifetime to Ottawa, participating in the finals of the Governor’s Challenge on Feb. 1, an annual competition among university students to build understanding of the role monetary policy plays in the Canadian economy.
It marks the first time Western has earned a spot in the final round since the challenge began 10 years ago.
“It’s quite an accomplishment. They delivered an excellent presentation. They learned how to do economic forecasting and what goes into a policy decision,” said Western economics professor Stephen Williamson, the team’s faculty advisor.
“Some schools have whole courses devoted to the competition, but this team was doing it all in their spare time.”
More than 26 universities fielded a team in the challenge, which began in November 2024, before the competition was whittled down to the final six teams. In addition to the group from Western, teams from University of Alberta, University of Guelph, University of Ottawa, University de Sherbrooke and Wilfrid Laurier University presented their analyses and economic forecasts to a panel of Bank of Canada judges on Feb. 1. University of Ottawa was crowned the winner.
Experience ‘surreal’ for students
Western’s team included four economics students and one from Ivey Business School: Lis Hoxha, Andrew Kerr, Ronan Mahaffy, Sofia Tischler and Kaan Alpli.
They described the competition as an incredible learning – and life – experience.
“It really pushed me to think like a policymaker and consider the pros and cons of different interest rate decisions on different parts of the Canadian economy,” said Alpli, a fourth-year student at Ivey Business School.
“It was incredibly valuable to take a lot of the theory, concepts and models that I learned in various courses and apply them to real data and current events.” – Kaan Alpli, fourth-year Ivey student
Tischler, a second-year economics student and youngest participant in the final round of the challenge, said she would be “forever grateful” for the chance to take part.
“It was surreal to be inside the Bank of Canada. I didn’t feel the full amazement of that opportunity until after I left. We not only had the chance to go the executive floor, but it’s also where we gave our presentation, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had that opportunity,” she said.
From the executive floor to an underground vault, the students were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour. Mahaffy, a second-year economics student, described the Bank of Canada as both massive and breathtaking.
“One of the most surprising parts of our tour of the bank was exploring the fitness area. Deep underground, in a vault that used to be used to store the gold held by the bank, there is a full-size basketball court and state of the art gym – definitely not something that I expected to find in a central bank,” he said.
Meeting Tiff Macklem a highlight
The competition was made especially interesting this year by unique factors impacting the Canadian economy.
“We’re coming out of this high inflation episode and a big part of the students’ presentation was what’s in store under a Trump government; the effects of tariffs and a trade war. It’s an unusual time, so predicting how monetary policy would respond to that is more interesting than it sometimes is,” said Williamson, who also holds the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair in Central Banking.
Mahaffy recalled sitting next to Macklem at lunch, as he received a note from a senior government official about the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump becoming official (he later announced a 30-day pause). Macklem is a two-time Western graduate who completed a master’s degree and a PhD in economics, even taking one of Williamson’s classes during his program.
“It was a privilege to speak so directly with such a powerful person,” Mahaffy said. “Our conversation ranged from our favorite ski runs in Whistler, to his career path, to the incoming tariffs and even about his time at Western. He spoke very fondly about his time here and was eager to hear about what the university is like today, and how I enjoyed it.”
The experience gave the students an incredible opportunity to network with Bank of Canada economists, officials and other students from across the country, exposing them to possible future career paths, Williamson said.
“They get so much out of it. They make contacts, connect with other teams, meet people from the Bank of Canada and find out what it’s like to work there. The Bank of Canada uses this as a recruiting tool, they have a whole research assistant program, so participating is a good career move.”
It was an invaluable experience personally and professionally, the students and their advisor said. Williamson was particularly proud of the group for their success in this year’s competition, despite being younger than some other teams.
“It’s a big deal that they made it to the final – that’s what everyone told them.”
