--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-7/future-productivity-growth-in-canada-comparing-to-the-united-states/" title: "Future Productivity Growth in Canada: Comparing to the United States" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T05:43:07+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T06:41:29+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Fall 2003" ipm_keyword: - "Canada" - "capital deepening" - "growth accounting" - "human capital" - "ICT" - "labour productivity" - "productivity" - "R&D" - "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" --- # Future Productivity Growth in Canada: Comparing to the United States Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-7/future-productivity-growth-in-canada-comparing-to-the-united-states/ # Future Productivity Growth in Canada: Comparing to the United States [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-7-6-Macklem.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Macklem, Tiff. 2003. “Future Productivity Growth in Canada: Comparing to the United States.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 7 (Fall 2003): 50–57. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-7/future-productivity-growth-in-canada-comparing-to-the-united-states/ ## Author: - Tiff Macklem Bank of Canada ## IPM Issue 7 Fall 2003 pp. 50–57 ## Related IPM articles [Labour Productivity as a Measure of Technological Change Ulrich Kohli Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 64–81](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/labour-productivity-as-a-measure-of-technological-change/) [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/) [De-industrialization and the Great Productivity Slowdown: What Comes Next? 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/) [The UK Productivity Slowdown: A Review of Timing, Magnitude, and Drivers Josh Martin Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 1–34](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/the-uk-productivity-slowdown-a-review-of-timing-magnitude-and-drivers/) [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 article reviews the sources of productivity growth in Canada and the United States in the second half of the 1990s and assesses prospects for future Canadian productivity growth. It finds that while output growth was stronger in Canada than the U.S. over 1996-2002, this reflected stronger labour input growth rather than productivity growth. Using growth accounting analysis, the article attributes the U.S. productivity resurgence primarily to ICT capital deepening and TFP gains in ICT-producing sectors, with Canada showing similar but more attenuated trends. The article also reviews broader determinants of productivity — human capital, R&D, competition policy, and regulatory environment — and identifies areas where Canada trails the United States. Cet article passe en revue les sources de la croissance de la productivité au Canada et aux États-Unis dans la seconde moitié des années 1990 et évalue les perspectives de croissance future de la productivité canadienne. Il constate que si la croissance de la production a été plus forte au Canada qu’aux États-Unis sur la période 1996-2002, cela reflète une croissance plus forte des intrants de main-d’œuvre plutôt que de la productivité. À l’aide de l’analyse de comptabilité de la croissance, l’article attribue la reprise de productivité américaine principalement à l’approfondissement du capital en TIC et aux gains de PMF dans les secteurs producteurs de TIC, le Canada affichant des tendances similaires mais plus atténuées. L’article passe également en revue les déterminants plus larges de la productivité — capital humain, R-D, politique de la concurrence et environnement réglementaire — et cerne les domaines où le Canada est à la traîne des États-Unis. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-7-6-Macklem.pdf)