University of Calgary Professor to Lead National Research on Canada's Productivity Slump
A University of Calgary professor has been selected to spearhead a comprehensive nationwide research initiative aimed at understanding and reversing Canada's decade-long decline in economic productivity. This ambitious project will develop concrete policy recommendations to enhance the country's long-term economic resilience and prosperity.
National Research Team Assembled
Trevor Tombe, an economics professor and director of economic and fiscal policy at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, will lead a team of thirty researchers representing fifteen different organizations across Canada. The research consortium will examine multiple factors contributing to Canada's productivity challenges, including interprovincial trade barriers, labor market dynamics, tax policies, and governmental support for innovation and technological advancement.
The Canada's Productivity Initiative will receive substantial federal backing through a $6-million grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. This funding represents the inaugural award from the council's newly established Policy Innovation Partnership Grants program and will support research activities for up to fifteen years.
Addressing a Critical Economic Challenge
Professor Tombe emphasized the project's significance in addressing Canada's declining productivity relative to major trading partners. "We're talking about Canada's economy and there's a lot of different ways of thinking about it," Tombe explained. "But it's really about how much we're producing for every hour that we work. What is the amount and value of goods and services we create with our labor?"
The research initiative follows a two-day summit hosted by the U of C School of Public Policy in October 2024, which focused specifically on Canada's sluggish economic productivity. During that summit, Tombe highlighted concerning data showing the United States was on track to produce nearly fifty percent more per person than Canada in that year.
Historical Context and Current Reality
Tombe provided historical context for Canada's productivity challenges, noting that over the past decade, the country's economic productivity has grown by only about 0.2 percent annually. This represents a dramatic slowdown from the twenty-year period preceding this decline, when national productivity growth averaged 1.5 percent per year.
"We just haven't seen the pace of growth, in terms of how much stuff we're producing per year, that we used to," Tombe stated. "That translates into the experience of everyday Calgarians in terms of the affordability challenge, in terms of paycheques not going as far as people would like, in terms of the amount we can afford but the income we earn not increasing at the pace people are previously used to."
Long-Term Research Collaboration
The fifteen-year research project will involve collaboration between academic institutions, government agencies, and non-governmental partners. Participating universities include Memorial University, Western University, McMaster University, and the University of Toronto, among others. This broad collaboration ensures diverse perspectives and expertise will inform the research findings and policy recommendations.
Tombe underscored the fundamental importance of productivity growth to national prosperity, stating, "Productivity, at the end of the day, is really the ultimate source of prosperity and easing the affordability challenge." The research team's work will focus on identifying practical solutions that governments can implement to stimulate productivity growth and improve economic outcomes for all Canadians.
