CSLS archive

This report evaluates the economic returns of Canada’s Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system, five years after historic federal investments launched the initiative in 2021. Using Labour Force Survey microdata and a difference-in-differences methodology, the report finds that approximately 29,000 additional mothers entered employment by the end of 2025 as a result of the…

The productivity performance of Canada’s residential construction has been abysmal since the turn of the century. Output per hour in 2024 was 8 per cent lower than in 2000, reflecting an average annual decline of 0.4 per cent over the period. This report sheds light on this troubling development, with particular attention to the sharp 3.8…

This report examines the role of natural capital in economic and productivity growth. It proposes that natural capital should be considered a pivotal explanatory variable in the rise and subsequent decline of global productivity growth over the past five centuries, and presents extensive supporting evidence. Labour productivity and multifactor productivity (MFP) growth rates have been declining…

This report investigates recent trends in productivity growth within the U.S. manufacturing sector, highlighting a significant and persistent slowdown. By evaluating compound annual growth rates, we found that growth in manufacturing fell from 3.75 per cent over 1997-2011 to -0.51 per cent over 2011-2023, the largest slowdown of any two-digit NAICS sector. Using two- and three-digit…

This report provides estimates for the Index of Economic Well-being (IEWB) for Canada for the 1981-2023 period. The IEWB is a composite measure developed by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards that assesses the economic well-being of Canadians through the lens of consumption flows, stocks of wealth, economic equality, and economic security. The report…

Over the past half century, Canada’s labour productivity growth has slowed dramatically, falling from 3.7 per cent annually in 1947–73 to less than 1 per cent since 2000. This paper asks whether weak public policy explains that decline and whether new pro-productivity policies could reverse it. Using long-run data and the policy typology of Van Ark…

This study provides internationally comparable estimates of the United Nations’ Human Development Index (HDI) for Canadian provinces and territories over the 2000-2023 period. The HDI is a composite index composed of three dimensions (life expectancy, education and income) measured by four indicators (life expectancy at birth, average years of education, expected years of schooling and gross…

Canada’s position in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) has slipped from 3rd in 1990 to 16ᵗʰ in 2023, when the latest report was released in 2025. This 13‑place decline occurred even though Canada’s absolute HDI score continued to improve. Using the UNDP’s revised HDI series, national Labour Force Survey (LFS) enrolment data and counterfactual…

This paper looks at the regional economic and political structure of the UK and Canada, and how these have evolved over time. We look at the regional distribution of industries in both countries, noting both differences and similarities across the two countries, and look at each country’s experience with regional economic development policy and political decentralization…

Productivity growth in Canada has been abysmal in Canada in recent years. Using either 2017 or 2019 as a base, output per hour growth in this country has been by far the weakest in the G-7. For two-digit NAICS industries, the transportation and warehousing sector has experienced the worst labour productivity performance, down 4 per cent…