{"id":102318,"date":"2025-10-25T05:50:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T12:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resourcework2.devstudio.work\/?p=102318"},"modified":"2025-11-04T04:57:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T11:57:48","slug":"economists-warn-that-canadas-prosperity-depends-on-productivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resourcework2.devstudio.work\/?p=102318","title":{"rendered":"Economists warn that Canada\u2019s prosperity depends on productivity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The productivity fix for a new generation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the opening of the B.C. Business Summit 2025, economists Trevor Tombe and David Williams delivered a wake-up call on Canada\u2019s declining productivity \u2014 and the cost of complacency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams, Vice President of Policy at the Business Council of British Columbia<\/a>, said there\u2019s growing awareness outside the major cities that the economy is underperforming. \u201cIn the regions, there\u2019s an acute awareness that things are not right,\u201d he said. \u201cDowntown, we\u2019re a little more in our own model. We need to connect those dots to understand what\u2019s really going on in the Canadian economy in terms of our ability to produce more per person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that this is no longer an abstract problem. \u201cIt acutely matters for young people,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThey\u2019re on the hook for a lower standard of living across their working lives and for their children.\u201d The OECD projects Canada to have the weakest per-person growth of any of its 38 member countries over the next 40 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen an economy isn\u2019t producing more per person,\u201d he said, \u201cthe only way to get ahead is if someone else falls behind. That\u2019s not sustainable \u2014 productivity growth is the only way to make opportunity possible again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trevor Tombe, Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary, speaks at the B.C. Business Summit 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Common sense solutions to shared prosperity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Trevor Tombe, Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary<\/a>, said Canada\u2019s geography and fragmented markets have always constrained productivity \u2014 but they don\u2019t explain why the country has fallen further behind in the past decade. \u201cOur markets are small and dispersed, and that naturally limits scale,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that hasn\u2019t worsened in recent years. What\u2019s changed is our willingness to invest, innovate, and adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the fixes are straightforward but long overdue. \u201cWe need infrastructure that overcomes distance, freer internal trade that connects provinces, and a regulatory and tax environment that encourages firms to adopt innovation rather than wait for it,\u201d Tombe said. \u201cOur challenge isn\u2019t invention \u2014 it\u2019s adoption. That\u2019s what turns ideas into prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higher productivity, he added, isn\u2019t about working harder. \u201cIt\u2019s about working smarter \u2014 investing in tools, systems, and competition so people can do more with less,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what allows Canadians to work fewer hours, live better, and still grow the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams agreed that productivity is about fairness as much as efficiency. \u201cThis is a question of intergenerational equity,\u201d he said. \u201cYoung Canadians need to see a path forward. Without action, they\u2019ll be the first generation in modern times to inherit a poorer country than their parents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two economists set the tone for the summit: a call to rebuild Canada\u2019s capacity to build, compete, and grow through ambition, investment, and common sense. It\u2019s not just a policy debate. It\u2019s a test of whether Canada can still get it done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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