Productivity accounts

Description: This product contains articles related to the latest methodological, conceptual developments in the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts as well as the analysis of the Canadian economy. It includes articles detailing new methods, concepts and statistical techniques used to compile the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts. It also includes information related to new or expanded data products, provides updates and supplements to information found in various guides and analytical articles touching upon a broad range of topics related to the Canadian economy.

Description: Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely recognized as a transformative technology with the potential to reshape business operations and drive productivity growth. Understanding the relationship between AI adoption and business performance is critical for shaping policies that foster innovation, technology diffusion and sustainable economic growth, especially given Canada’s persistent productivity challenges. This article summarizes key findings from the study “The Role of Complementary Capabilities in AI Adoption and Productivity: Firm-Level Evidence from Canada” by Li and Liu (2026), published in Canadian Public Policy. Using a novel firm-level database that links multiple waves of the Survey of Digital Technology and Internet Use (SDTIU) to administrative business microdata, the study examines factors influencing AI adoption among Canadian businesses and explores the relationship between AI adoption and firms’ labour productivity.

Description: Canada’s weak productivity growth over the past two decades has raised concerns about the country’s long-term economic performance and has renewed interest in the role of competition policy and structural reforms. Although limited competition in several industries is frequently cited as a contributing factor, empirical evidence on the competition–productivity nexus in Canada remains relatively sparse. Building on the Department of Finance Canada’s internal studies, this paper re-examines the relationship between competition and labour productivity growth using more comprehensive data and multiple measures of competition.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Given the longstanding and deeply integrated economic relationship between Canada and the United States, knowledge of how Canada’s economic performance compares to that of its southern neighbor can provide valuable insights into potential changes in relative living standards between the two countries. This paper measures economic performance across three common aggregate measures: labour productivity, real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and real gross national income (GNI) per capita.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

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Quarterly labour productivity and related measures, for the aggregate business sector, indexes.

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Quarterly labour productivity and related measures, by major industrial sectors for the business sector (15 two-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries) and two sectors (goods-producing businesses and service-producing businesses), as well as for the total economy and the non-business sector, indexes.

Description: Canada has experienced relatively low productivity growth in the construction sector over the last several decades. This study examines the evolution of labour productivity in residential construction from 2001 to 2023 by using firm-level data from the National Accounts Longitudinal Microdata File. In addition to providing statistics on labour productivity growth, the study decomposes the growth in labour productivity by firm size (by number of employees), and province, showing which types of firms contribute to aggregate growth. It also provides statistics on labour productivity growth for some large census metropolitan areas.

Description: Canada’s business sector has a lower level of labour productivity compared with that of the United States. Moreover, there has been a substantial divergence in labour productivity in the business sectors of Canada and the United States since 2000. As a result, Canada’s labour productivity gap with the United States widened in that period. This paper examines the role of firm size in the widening labour productivity gap between the two countries since 2000.

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Quarterly labour productivity and related measures, for the aggregate business sector, indexes.

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Quarterly labour productivity and related measures, by major industrial sectors for the business sector (15 two-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries) and two sectors (goods-producing businesses and service-producing businesses), as well as for the total economy and the non-business sector, indexes.

Description: Labour productivity and related measures by business sector industry and by non-commercial activity consistent with the industry accounts, provinces and territories, annual.

Description: Labour statistics by job category, for Canada, the provinces and territories, annual.

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This table presents data for the current year and previous 4 years on labour statistics by job category, for Canada, the provinces and territories, annually, by total number of jobs.

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This table presents data for the current year and previous 4 years on labour statistics by job category, for Canada, the provinces and territories, annually, by total number of jobs.

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This table presents data for the current year and previous 4 years on labour statistics by job category, for Canada, the provinces and territories, annually, by total number of jobs.

Description:

This table presents data for the current year and previous 4 years on labour statistics by job category, for Canada, the provinces and territories, annually, by total number of jobs.

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This table presents data for the current year and previous 4 years on labour statistics by job category, for Canada, the provinces and territories, annually, by total number of jobs.

Description: Multifactor productivity and related variables in the aggregate business sector and major sub-sectors, by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), provinces.

Description: Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely recognized as a transformative technology with the potential to reshape business operations and drive productivity growth. Understanding the relationship between AI adoption and business performance is critical for shaping policies that foster innovation, technology diffusion and sustainable economic growth, especially given Canada’s persistent productivity challenges. This article summarizes key findings from the study “The Role of Complementary Capabilities in AI Adoption and Productivity: Firm-Level Evidence from Canada” by Li and Liu (2026), published in Canadian Public Policy. Using a novel firm-level database that links multiple waves of the Survey of Digital Technology and Internet Use (SDTIU) to administrative business microdata, the study examines factors influencing AI adoption among Canadian businesses and explores the relationship between AI adoption and firms’ labour productivity.

Description: Canada’s weak productivity growth over the past two decades has raised concerns about the country’s long-term economic performance and has renewed interest in the role of competition policy and structural reforms. Although limited competition in several industries is frequently cited as a contributing factor, empirical evidence on the competition–productivity nexus in Canada remains relatively sparse. Building on the Department of Finance Canada’s internal studies, this paper re-examines the relationship between competition and labour productivity growth using more comprehensive data and multiple measures of competition.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Given the longstanding and deeply integrated economic relationship between Canada and the United States, knowledge of how Canada’s economic performance compares to that of its southern neighbor can provide valuable insights into potential changes in relative living standards between the two countries. This paper measures economic performance across three common aggregate measures: labour productivity, real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and real gross national income (GNI) per capita.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Canada has experienced relatively low productivity growth in the construction sector over the last several decades. This study examines the evolution of labour productivity in residential construction from 2001 to 2023 by using firm-level data from the National Accounts Longitudinal Microdata File. In addition to providing statistics on labour productivity growth, the study decomposes the growth in labour productivity by firm size (by number of employees), and province, showing which types of firms contribute to aggregate growth. It also provides statistics on labour productivity growth for some large census metropolitan areas.

Description: Canada’s business sector has a lower level of labour productivity compared with that of the United States. Moreover, there has been a substantial divergence in labour productivity in the business sectors of Canada and the United States since 2000. As a result, Canada’s labour productivity gap with the United States widened in that period. This paper examines the role of firm size in the widening labour productivity gap between the two countries since 2000.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: The unit labour cost (ULC) is often used as a broad measure of international price competitiveness. It deviates from the inflation rate when the real wage rate and labour productivity grow at different paces. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada has experienced an acceleration of unit labour cost growth and a significant upward deviation from the inflation rate, while this has not happened in the United States. This article explores the sources of the Canada–U.S. ULC growth gap and the factors contributing to its widening.

Description: This paper constructed a new measure of data assets and updated the estimates of other intangible capital for the Canadian business sector. The methodology used for estimating data assets and other intangibles for the United States and European countries is applied in this paper to compare Canada with the United States and European countries.

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This paper provides a brief description of the methodology currently used to produce the annual volume of hours worked consistent with the System of National Accounts (SNA). These data are used for labour input in the annual and quarterly measures of labour productivity, as well as in the annual measures of multifactor productivity. For this purpose, hours worked are broken down by educational level and age group, so that changes in the composition of the labour force can be taken into account. They are also used to calculate hourly compensation and the unit labour cost and for simulations of the SNA Input-Output Model; as such, they are integrated as labour force inputs into most SNA satellite accounts (i.e., environment, tourism).

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This paper examines the revision cycle for labour productivity estimates over the period 2001 to 2004.

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This paper provides a concise overview in plain language of the concept of productivity by explaining its relevance and usefulness. This paper is intended for users of the Canadian Productivity Accounts who wish to learn more about productivity concepts, in simple terms.

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The aim of this paper is to describe the actual methodology used to estimate annual hours worked by industry and province in Canada in view to be consistent with the System of National Accounts.

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A statistical agency faces several challenges in building Productivity Accounts. Measures of productivity require that outputs be compared to inputs.

This paper discusses the challenges that a statistical agency faces in this area -as illustrated by the Canadian experience. First, it examines the progress that has been made in developing a system that integrates the Productivity Accounts into the overall System of National Accounts. It also discusses deficiencies that still need to be overcome. Finally, the paper focuses on the need to consider whether the SNA manual should be extended into the area of productivity measurement. The paper argues that the advantage of integrating productivity accounts into the general accounts is sufficiently great that it is time to include more detail on the nature of productivity accounts in the general SNA framework.

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This paper examines the revision cycle for labour productivity estimates over the period 2000-2003.

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This series of articles provides users with an understanding of the notion of productivity and the underlying statistical standards, concepts, and methods used to compile the productivity statistics.

This series enables users to better judge the economic significance, quality and accuracy of the productivity statistics. It is particularly designed for those who regularly use the productivity estimates, such as academics and economic and financial analysts. It is also a reference for others who use the productivity figures less frequently, such as students of economics.

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This document describes the sources, concepts and methods utilized by the Canadian Productivity Accounts and discusses how they compare with their U.S. counterparts.

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This paper discusses the productivity program at Statistics Canada, covering topics such as international efforts to provide more comparable statistics, attempts to expand our knowledge of the factors behind productivity growth, and challenges facing the program.

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This paper describes how the analytical program of Statistics Canada's productivity group is used to enhance the quality (relevance, coherence, interpretability) of its products.