--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-5/raising-canadian-living-standards-a-framework-for-analysis/" title: "Raising Canadian Living Standards: A Framework for Analysis" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T05:42:46+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T06:41:24+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Fall 2002" ipm_keyword: - "Canada" - "GDP per capita" - "income gap" - "labour force participation" - "living standards" - "OECD" - "productivity" - "United States" - "working time" ipm_research_theme: - "Policy and institutions" - "Well-being and living standards" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" - "OECD" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Raising Canadian Living Standards: A Framework for Analysis Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-5/raising-canadian-living-standards-a-framework-for-analysis/ # Raising Canadian Living Standards: A Framework for Analysis [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-5-2-Sharpe.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Sharpe, Andrew. 2002. “Raising Canadian Living Standards: A Framework for Analysis.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 5 (Fall 2002): 23–40. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-5/raising-canadian-living-standards-a-framework-for-analysis/ ## Author: - Andrew Sharpe Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## IPM Issue 5 Fall 2002 pp. 23–40 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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It reviews definitions and trends in living standards in Canada, the United States, and OECD countries, and decomposes the drivers of living standards growth into productivity, working time, demographic structure, labour force participation, and unemployment. The article concludes that productivity growth — with Canadian aggregate labour productivity some 18 per cent below the U.S. level — is the only sustainable avenue for closing the living standards gap. Cet article élabore un cadre d’analyse du niveau de vie canadien et des politiques nécessaires pour l’améliorer, motivé par l’objectif de voir le Canada dépasser le niveau de vie américain dans un délai de 15 ans. Il passe en revue les définitions et les tendances du niveau de vie au Canada, aux États-Unis et dans les pays de l’OCDE, et décompose les facteurs de croissance du niveau de vie en productivité, temps de travail, structure démographique, taux d’activité et chômage. L’article conclut que la croissance de la productivité — la productivité du travail globale canadienne étant environ 18 % inférieure au niveau américain — est la seule voie durable pour combler l’écart de niveau de vie. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-5-2-Sharpe.pdf)