--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-7/future-productivity-growth-in-canada-the-role-of-the-service-sector/" title: "Future Productivity Growth in Canada: The Role of the Service Sector" 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" - "demographics" - "ICT" - "long-run growth" - "productivity" - "retail trade" - "service sector" - "TFP" - "United States" - "wholesale trade" ipm_research_theme: - "Productivity trends and comparisons" - "Sectoral and firm-level dynamics" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" - "OECD" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Future Productivity Growth in Canada: The Role of the Service Sector Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-7/future-productivity-growth-in-canada-the-role-of-the-service-sector/ # Future Productivity Growth in Canada: The Role of the Service Sector [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-7-7-Robidoux.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Robidoux, Benoît. 2003. “Future Productivity Growth in Canada: The Role of the Service Sector.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 7 (Fall 2003): 58–65. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-7/future-productivity-growth-in-canada-the-role-of-the-service-sector/ ## Author: - Benoît Robidoux Department of Finance Canada ## IPM Issue 7 Fall 2003 pp. 58–65 ## Related IPM articles [Efficiency Adjustment of Hours Worked: Two Possible Modifications of a Jorgensen Production Model Barbara Fraumeni Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 103–115](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/efficiency-adjustment-of-hours-worked-two-possible-modifications-of-a-jorgensen-production-model/) [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? 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Drawing on aggregate and industry-level evidence for Canada and the United States, it finds that the productivity pick-up in both countries was largely structural and driven by heavy ICT investment in services leading to TFP gains. The article argues that continued growth of the service sector and population ageing will make the service sector an increasingly important determinant of Canada’s long-run productivity performance, and that sustaining the gains depends on the sector’s ability to continue embodying ICT effectively. Cet article examine le rôle du secteur des services — en particulier le commerce de gros et le commerce de détail — dans la reprise de productivité au Canada depuis 1996. S’appuyant sur des données agrégées et sectorielles pour le Canada et les États-Unis, il constate que la reprise de productivité dans les deux pays était largement structurelle et portée par d’importants investissements en TIC dans les services, se traduisant par des gains de PMF. L’article soutient que la croissance continue du secteur des services et le vieillissement de la population feront du secteur des services un déterminant de plus en plus important de la performance à long terme de la productivité du Canada, et que le maintien des gains dépend de la capacité du secteur à continuer d’intégrer efficacement les TIC. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-7-7-Robidoux.pdf)