What is Behind Canada’s Growth Crisis?

— Jul 11, 2023

What is Behind Canada’s Growth Crisis? finds that Canada’s per-person GDP, a common measure of prosperity, is growing at its slowest rate since the 1930s and the Great Depression.

Comparing Business Investment per Worker in Canada and the United States, 2002–2021

— Jun 29, 2023

Comparing Business Investment per Worker in Canada and the United States, 2002–2021 finds that in Canada business investment per worker—a key driver of income gains and living standards—has declined by 20 per cent since 2014.

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Recent Competitiveness Commentaries and Blog Posts

Federal government clearly misstates its economic record

Jock Finlayson

Appeared in the Toronto Sun, November 29, 2023

Since 2015 Canada has posted some of the weakest economic growth numbers in half a century.

More capitalism, less government—that’s how you reduce racism

Matthew Lau

Appeared in the National Post, November 8, 2023

Racism is also costly for the person doing the discriminating.

IMF report spotlights Canada’s economic woes

Jock Finlayson

Prosperity on a per-person basis has been stagnant since the mid-2010s.

Canadians pay high price when governments lose common sense

Jason Clemens, Niels Veldhuis

Appeared in the National Post, August 8, 2023

From 2015 to 2022, Canada’s population increased by 3.3 million compared to only 1.6 million housing completions.

Canada’s economy should worry all Canadians no matter their political stripe

Jason Clemens, Milagros Palacios

Appeared in the Hill Times, August 1, 2023

Over the last decade, growth in per-person GDP is at its lowest level since the 1930s.

Cabinet shuffle won’t improve Canada’s weak economic performance

Niels Veldhuis, Milagros Palacios

Appeared in the Financial Post, July 26, 2023

Canada’s average income per person is now lower than income levels in 41 U.S. states.

Canada’s economy is not booming—it’s stagnating

Jake Fuss, Tegan Hill

Appeared in the Globe and Mail, July 25, 2023

While the population and federal spending have both risen significantly, growth in real incomes and living standards has stalled.

Steep drop in business investment bad news for Canadians

Tegan Hill, Joel Emes

Appeared in the Financial Post, June 29, 2023

Businesses in Canada went from investing approximately 79 cents per worker (for every dollar invested in the U.S.) in 2014 to only 55 cents in 2021.

Key measure of economic wellbeing in Canada basically flatlined since 2015

Jock Finlayson

Appeared in the Toronto Sun, June 21, 2023

In 2022, real GDP per person remained below the 2019 level and was scarcely higher than five years earlier.

Federal government’s upcoming budget must address ‘growth deficit’

Jason Clemens, Milagros Palacios, Jake Fuss

Appeared in National Newswatch, March 16, 2023

Between 2016 and 2019, the Trudeau government recorded average economic growth of 2.1 per cent compared to 4.6 per cent during the Chrétien years.

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Competitiveness

What is Behind Canada’s Growth Crisis?

Comparing Business Investment per Worker in Canada and the United States, 2002–2021

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