Estimates of multifactor productivity growth in the provinces, 2017

This release covers the experimental database on provincial multifactor productivity and related variables by the business sector industry from 1997 to 2017. Data include multifactor productivity, value-added, capital input and labour input in the aggregate business sector and major sub-sectors.

This experimental database is constructed using a methodology that is similar to the one used to construct multifactor productivity estimates at the national level released in The Daily on March 8, 2019.

Data in this release reflect the estimate of gross domestic product by industry in the provinces and territories for 2017, published in The Daily on November 8, 2018; estimates of stock and consumption of fixed assets for 2017, published in The Daily on November 20, 2018; and estimates of hours worked and labour productivity in the provinces and territories for 2017, published in The Daily on February 22, 2019. The estimate of skills upgrading that captures the compositional shifts in hours worked by education, age and class of workers (paid versus self-employed workers) is revised to incorporate data from the 2016 Census of Population. In addition, year 2012 has been adopted as a reference year instead of 2007 for multifactor productivity measures and related variables.

Multifactor productivity measures at Statistics Canada are derived from a growth accounting framework that allows analysts to isolate the effects of increases in input intensity and skills upgrading on the growth in labour productivity. The residual portion of labour productivity growth that is not attributable to increases in input intensity and skills upgrading, is called 'growth in multifactor productivity. It measures the efficiency with which the inputs are used in production. Growth in this area is often associated with technological change, organizational change or economies of scale.