--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-13/benchmarking-canadas-economic-performance/" title: "Benchmarking Canada’s Economic Performance" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T06:53:53+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T06:53:53+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Fall 2006" ipm_keyword: - "benchmarking" - "Canada" - "fiscal policy" - "GDP per capita" - "Going for Growth" - "OECD" - "product market regulation" - "productivity" - "well-being" ipm_research_theme: - "Policy and institutions" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" - "OECD" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Benchmarking Canada’s Economic Performance Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-13/benchmarking-canadas-economic-performance/ # Benchmarking Canada’s Economic Performance [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-13-1-Cotis.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Cotis, Jean-Philippe. 2006. “Benchmarking Canada’s Economic Performance.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 13 (Fall 2006): 3–20. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-13/benchmarking-canadas-economic-performance/ ## Author: - Jean-Philippe Cotis OECD ## IPM Issue 13 Fall 2006 pp. 3–20 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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Among the impediments to faster growth are the taxation of capital and restrictive regulations in certain sectors. Canada’s experience raises the general question of why it is difficult to implement reforms, even when the barriers to improved performance are known. Peer pressure based on sophisticated benchmarking, as takes place under OECD auspices in the context of the multilateral Going for Growth surveillance, helps overcome some of the political economy hurdles standing in the way of reform. A related issue is whether GDP is a reasonable proxy for well-being, and hence an appropriate metric for policy purposes. It turns out that it is, notwithstanding its shortcomings and even if other indicators need to be considered as well alongside GDP. T HIS ARTICLE SETS OUT THE OECD frame- Bien que le bilan économique du Canada au cours de la dernière décennie environ soit enviable, le PIB par habitant demeure nettement inférieur aux niveaux américains, reflétant un écart de productivité considérable. Parmi les obstacles à une croissance plus rapide figurent la fiscalité du capital et les réglementations restrictives dans certains secteurs. L’expérience du Canada soulève la question générale de savoir pourquoi il est difficile de mettre en œuvre des réformes, même lorsque les obstacles à une meilleure performance sont connus. La pression des pairs fondée sur des comparaisons comparatives sophistiquées, telle qu’elle s’exerce sous l’égide de l’OCDE dans le cadre de la surveillance multilatérale Aller de l’avant, contribue à surmonter certains obstacles liés à l’économie politique qui freinent les réformes. Une question connexe est de savoir si le PIB constitue une approximation raisonnable du bien-être, et donc une mesure appropriée à des fins de politique économique. Il s’avère que c’est le cas, nonobstant ses insuffisances et même si d’autres indicateurs doivent également être pris en compte aux côtés du PIB. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-13-1-Cotis.pdf)