--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-2/review-article-on-productivity-growth-in-canada-and-industry-level-productivity-and-international-competitiveness-between-canada-and-the-united-states/" title: "Review Article on Productivity Growth in Canada and Industry-level Productivity and International Competitiveness Between Canada and the United States" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-10T09:13:15+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T06:38:10+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2001" ipm_keyword: - "Canada" - "international competitiveness" - "IT investment" - "manufacturing" - "productivity" - "review article" - "Statistics Canada" - "United States" ipm_research_theme: - "Productivity trends and comparisons" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Review Article on Productivity Growth in Canada and Industry-level Productivity and International Competitiveness Between Canada and the United States Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-2/review-article-on-productivity-growth-in-canada-and-industry-level-productivity-and-international-competitiveness-between-canada-and-the-united-states/ # Review Article on Productivity Growth in Canada and Industry-level Productivity and International Competitiveness Between Canada and the United States [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-2-6-Sharpe.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Sharpe, Andrew. 2001. “Review Article on Productivity Growth in Canada and Industry-level Productivity and International Competitiveness Between Canada and the United States.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 2 (Spring 2001): 52–58. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-2/review-article-on-productivity-growth-in-canada-and-industry-level-productivity-and-international-competitiveness-between-canada-and-the-united-states/ ## Author: - Andrew Sharpe Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## IPM Issue 2 Spring 2001 pp. 52–58 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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Paul Fisher Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 115–138](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/de-industrialization-and-the-great-productivity-slowdown-what-comes-next/) [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/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn This review article summarizes two major 2001 productivity publications: Statistics Canada’s Productivity Growth in Canada and Industry Canada’s Industry-level Productivity and International Competitiveness Between Canada and the United States. Key findings include: significant imprecision in productivity estimates warrants caution; peak-to-peak growth rates are preferable for trend analysis; Canada’s overall productivity growth has been comparable to the U.S. in the business sector but has lagged in manufacturing; and the Canada–U.S. productivity gap is largely driven by differences in IT investment intensity and industry structure. Cet article de recension résume deux grandes publications sur la productivité parues en 2001 : La croissance de la productivité au Canada de Statistique Canada et La productivité au niveau des industries et la compétitivité internationale entre le Canada et les États-Unis d’Industrie Canada. Les principales conclusions comprennent : l’imprécision notable des estimations de productivité appelle à la prudence; les taux de croissance de sommet à sommet sont préférables pour l’analyse des tendances; la croissance globale de la productivité au Canada a été comparable à celle des États-Unis dans le secteur des entreprises, mais a été à la traîne dans le secteur manufacturier; et l’écart de productivité entre le Canada et les États-Unis est principalement attribuable à des différences dans l’intensité de l’investissement en TI et dans la structure industrielle. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-2-6-Sharpe.pdf)