By global standards, Ontario, and particularly the Toronto region, is a prosperous place to be with a high standard of living. We’re fortunate to have a wealth of opportunities and industries at our fingertips, making us a desirable place for many to call home. But economically we’re falling behind – and when compared to our counterparts in the U.S., we’re not growing and investing in ourselves at the same rate.
When we talk about Canada's productivity gap, we’re referring to the disparity between our level of productivity compared to our peer countries, particularly the United States. Ontarians are leaders among developed economies in terms of work effort, or hours worked per person, but we are laggards in creating economic value per hour worked and have been for many years.
Several factors contribute to this gap, including underinvestment in innovation and technology, limited competition in certain sectors and a complicated regulatory environment for businesses. We’ve seen this trend continue for many years, and simply sounding the alarm without acting is no longer enough.
To address this gap, we need to make a concerted effort to foster innovation, invest in upskilling opportunities through training and enhancing our competitive advantage to unlock our full economic potential.
