Why Economists Are Sounding the Alarm on Productivity

Stats in brief: 45-20-00032024005
Description: Canada's workforce is among the most educated in the world. But when it comes to worker productivity, we've seen a real slump over the past few years. The quarterly data published by StatCan in June 2024 confirms Canadian workers are continuing to underperform compared to our neighbours to the south. This comes as no surprise to this episode's guest, Guy Gellatly, Chief Economic Advisor at StatCan. The latest quarterly numbers are a continuation of an ongoing decline in Canada's productivity that economists have been tracking for years. 

But what factors influence worker productivity? And why does it matter if Canadians are less productive? As a matter of face, what even is productivity? In this episode, we asked Guy to help us understand how we got to this point and why it matters for Canadians.
Issue Number: 2024005
Frequency: Occasional
Author(s): Lepage, Annik
Main Product: The Eh Sayers Podcast
Format Release date More information
HTML August 14, 2024