Canada’s poor innovation and productivity record
The Globe and Mail
By Roger Martin and John Armstrong
Canadian productivity has inched ahead by only about 0.7 per cent a year over the past decade. And in 2008, it actually shrank by 0.6 per cent, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which ranks this country’s performance behind such economic basket cases as Greece and Spain. That same year, the United States, Canada’s biggest trading partner, boosted its productivity by 1.3 per cent, widening an already large gap.
Toronto-Dominion Bank recently described Canada’s record on productivity as appalling. If Canadian productivity growth remains sluggish over the next 10 years while an aging labour force expands at a projected annual rate of about 0.5 per cent, GDP will grow at only slightly more than 1 per cent a year, or about a third of its historic pace, calculates Craig Alexander, chief economist with the bank.
What can companies do to address Canada’s poor productivity?
Read Wednesday’s discussion: Click here
Taking questions were Roger Martin, leader of The Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic progress and dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto; and John Armstrong, task force member and senior adviser and consultant with twenty-five years of experience, working with clients on issues of strategy and technology.
