--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-35/the-productivity-slowdown-in-canada-an-ict-phenomenon/" title: "The Productivity Slowdown in Canada: an ICT Phenomenon?" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:52:42+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:52:42+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Fall 2018" ipm_keyword: - "1993-2014" - "Canada" - "capital deepening" - "Great Recession" - "ICT" - "Oulton model" - "productivity" - "slowdown" ipm_research_theme: - "Measurement and methodology" - "Technology and innovation" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" - "OECD" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # The Productivity Slowdown in Canada: an ICT Phenomenon? Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-35/the-productivity-slowdown-in-canada-an-ict-phenomenon/ # The Productivity Slowdown in Canada: an ICT Phenomenon? [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-35-5-Mollins-St-Amant.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Mollins, Jeff, and Pierre St-Amant. 2018. “The Productivity Slowdown in Canada: an ICT Phenomenon?” International Productivity Monitor, No. 35 (Fall 2018): 95–112. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-35/the-productivity-slowdown-in-canada-an-ict-phenomenon/ ## Authors: - Jeff Mollins Bank of Canada - Pierre St-Amant Bank of Canada ## IPM Issue 35 Fall 2018 pp. 95–112 ## 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/) [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/) [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/) [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 We ask whether a weaker contribution of information and communication technologies (ICT) to productivity growth could account for the productivity slowdown observed in Canada since the early 2000s. To answer this question, we consider several models which capture channels by which ICT could affect productivity growth. Our results indicate that ICT continues to contribute to productivity growth, but that this contribution has declined and consequently accounts for part of the productivity growth slowdown. However, the productivity slowdown and the change in the contribution of ICT do not seem to have the same timing. While productivity growth slowed in the early 2000s, the ICT contribution does not appear to have fallen until around the Great Recession. This prompts the conclusion that while ICT had little to no role in the initial productivity slowdown, it has been a major determinant of the subdued productivity growth since 2007-2009. Nous nous demandons si une contribution plus faible des technologies de l’information et des communications (TIC) à la croissance de la productivité pourrait expliquer le ralentissement de la productivité observé au Canada depuis le début des années 2000. Pour répondre à cette question, nous examinons plusieurs modèles qui captent les canaux par lesquels les TIC pourraient affecter la croissance de la productivité. Nos résultats indiquent que les TIC continuent de contribuer à la croissance de la productivité, mais que cette contribution a diminué et explique donc en partie le ralentissement de la croissance de la productivité. Cependant, le ralentissement de la productivité et la variation de la contribution des TIC ne semblent pas avoir le même calendrier. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-35-5-Mollins-St-Amant.pdf)