--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-11/from-productivity-to-well-being-keep-the-focus-on-basic-skills/" title: "From Productivity to Well-Being: Keep the Focus on Basic Skills" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T06:53:25+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T06:53:25+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Fall 2005" ipm_keyword: - "basic skills" - "Canada" - "CEGEP" - "education" - "human capital" - "inequality" - "low-skilled workers" - "productivity" - "well-being" ipm_research_theme: - "Policy and institutions" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # From Productivity to Well-Being: Keep the Focus on Basic Skills Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-11/from-productivity-to-well-being-keep-the-focus-on-basic-skills/ # From Productivity to Well-Being: Keep the Focus on Basic Skills [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-11-1-Fortin.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Fortin, Pierre. 2005. “From Productivity to Well-Being: Keep the Focus on Basic Skills.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 11 (Fall 2005): 3–6. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-11/from-productivity-to-well-being-keep-the-focus-on-basic-skills/ ## Author: - Pierre Fortin Université du Québec à Montréal; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR) ## IPM Issue 11 Fall 2005 pp. 3–6 ## Related IPM articles [The Relationship between Efficiencies Defenses for Mergers and TFP Growth Robin Shaban Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 82–102](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/the-relationship-between-efficiencies-defenses-for-mergers-and-tfp-growth/) [Adult Skills and Productivity: New Evidence from PIAAC 2023 Dan Andrews, Balázs Égert, Christine de La Maisonneuve Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 41–63](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/adult-skills-and-productivity-new-evidence-from-piaac-2023/) [Appendix: Variable Definitions and Country/Sector Coverage for Regulatory Reform Analysis Gilbert Cette, Jimmy Lopez, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Océane Vernerey Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 1–18](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/appendix-variable-definitions-and-country-sector-coverage-for-regulatory-reform-analysis/) [The Potential Impact of Pro-competitive Regulatory Reforms on Productivity and Growth in Canada Gilbert Cette, Jimmy Lopez, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Océane Vernerey Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 3–40](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/the-potential-impact-of-pro-competitive-regulatory-reforms-on-productivity-and-growth-in-canada/) [IPM Issue 49 Editors’ Overview Andrew Sharpe, Bart van Ark, Paul Schreyer Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 1–2](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/) [Appendix: UK Productivity Growth Rates Across Data Vintages and Studies Josh Martin Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 65–73](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/appendix-uk-productivity-growth-rates-across-data-vintages-and-studies/) [Opportunities and Risks of Artificial Intelligence for Productivity Francesco Filippucci, Peter Gal, Katharina Laengle, Matthias Schief, Filiz Unsal Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 1–26](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/opportunities-and-risks-of-artificial-intelligence-for-productivity/) [Using Ecosystem Accounting to Integrate the Environment in Measures of Multifactor Productivity Carl Obst Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 87–108](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/using-ecosystem-accounting-to-integrate-the-environment-in-measures-of-multifactor-productivity/) [Eroding Natural Capital: An Alternative Explanation for the Secular Decline in Productivity Growth Christina Caron Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 109–147](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/eroding-natural-capital-an-alternative-explanation-for-the-secular-decline-in-productivity-growth/) [How Does Industrial Policy Impact Output, Hours and Productivity? The Canadian Experience Tim Sargent Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 39–53](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/how-does-industrial-policy-impact-output-hours-and-productivity-the-canadian-experience/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn This article argues that the most pressing productivity policy task for Canada is not to make already-productive workers even more productive, but to bring the low-productivity segment of the workforce closer to the median. Drawing on research linking well-being to relative income, the impact of basic skills on growth, and the effects of global competition on low-skilled workers, the author advocates fostering basic skills, reducing the high-school dropout rate, and raising the profile of community colleges and CEGEPs. Cet article soutient que la tâche de politique de productivité la plus urgente pour le Canada n’est pas de rendre les travailleurs déjà productifs encore plus productifs, mais de rapprocher le segment à faible productivité de la main-d’œuvre de la médiane. S’appuyant sur des recherches reliant le bien-être au revenu relatif, l’impact des compétences de base sur la croissance et les effets de la concurrence mondiale sur les travailleurs peu qualifiés, l’auteur préconise de favoriser les compétences de base, de réduire le taux de décrochage scolaire au secondaire et de rehausser le profil des collèges communautaires et des cégeps. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-11-1-Fortin.pdf)