--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-10/canadas-productivity-performance-in-international-perspective/" title: "Canada’s Productivity Performance in International Perspective" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T06:53:23+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T06:53:23+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2005" ipm_keyword: - "Canada" - "creative destruction" - "firm dynamics" - "human capital" - "ICT" - "international comparison" - "labour productivity" - "MFP" - "OECD" - "R&D" ipm_research_theme: - "Productivity trends and comparisons" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" - "Europe" - "OECD" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Canada’s Productivity Performance in International Perspective Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-10/canadas-productivity-performance-in-international-perspective/ # Canada’s Productivity Performance in International Perspective [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-10-2-Pilat.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Pilat, Dirk. 2005. “Canada’s Productivity Performance in International Perspective.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 10 (Spring 2005): 24–44. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-10/canadas-productivity-performance-in-international-perspective/ ## Author: - Dirk Pilat Economic Analysis and Statistics Division, OECD ## IPM Issue 10 Spring 2005 pp. 24–44 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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Drawing on OECD research on aggregate, industry, and firm-level productivity drivers, it highlights Canada’s strengths — high human capital levels and low barriers to firm creation facilitating creative destruction — while identifying its weakness in innovative capacity as measured by R&D intensity and patents. The article also examines the role of ICT use, organizational change, and firm dynamics in driving multifactor productivity growth across OECD countries. Cet article offre une perspective internationale sur la performance de productivité du Canada, soutenant que sur l’ensemble de la période 1995-2003, le Canada a en réalité affiché des performances relativement bonnes par rapport aux autres pays de l’OCDE. S’appuyant sur les recherches de l’OCDE sur les facteurs déterminants de la productivité aux niveaux agrégé, sectoriel et de l’entreprise, il met en évidence les forces du Canada — niveaux élevés de capital humain et faibles obstacles à la création d’entreprises favorisant la destruction créatrice — tout en cernant sa faiblesse en capacité d’innovation telle que mesurée par l’intensité de la R-D et les brevets. L’article examine également le rôle de l’utilisation des TIC, des changements organisationnels et de la dynamique des entreprises dans la stimulation de la croissance de la PMF dans les pays de l’OCDE. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-10-2-Pilat.pdf)