--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/an-analysis-of-the-canada-u-s-ict-investment-gap-an-update-to-2013/" title: "An Analysis of the Canada-U.S. ICT Investment Gap: An Update to 2013" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-02T12:55:13+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-02T12:55:13+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "" post_tag: - "business sector" - "Canada" - "computer hardware" - "ICT investment" - "investment gap" - "productivity" - "software" - "United States" country_focus: - "Canada" - "United States" province_region: - "National" research_theme: - "Productivity and Economic Measurement" - "Technology and Innovation" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/old-reports_hero_banner_bg.webp" status: "publish" --- # An Analysis of the Canada-U.S. ICT Investment Gap: An Update to 2013 Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/an-analysis-of-the-canada-u-s-ict-investment-gap-an-update-to-2013/ # An Analysis of the Canada-U.S. ICT Investment Gap: An Update to 2013 [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2015-01-1.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Thomas, Jasmin. 2015. “An Analysis of the Canada-U.S. ICT Investment Gap: An Update to 2013.” CSLS Research Report 2015-01. Ottawa: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. https://csls.ca/research/an-analysis-of-the-canada-u-s-ict-investment-gap-an-update-to-2013/ ## Author: - Jasmin Thomas Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2015-01 January 2015 84 pages ## Related research [Measuring the Appropriate Outcomes for Better Decision-Making: A Framework to Guide the Analysis of Health Policy Matthew Calver March 2016 | Report 2016-03 | 132 pages](https://csls.ca/research/measuring-the-appropriate-outcomes-for-better-decision-making-a-framework-to-guide-the-analysis-of-health-policy-2016-03/) [Living Standards Domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing Andrew Sharpe, Christopher Ross November 2011 | Report 2011-17 | 124 pages](https://csls.ca/research/living-standards-domain-of-the-canadian-index-of-wellbeing-2011-17/) [Productivity: Key to Economic Success Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) March 1998 | Report 1998-01 | 99 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-key-to-economic-success/) [Apprenticeship in Canada: A Training System Under Siege? 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The objective of this report is to examine the country’s ICT investment performance since 2000. The key finding is that, since the 2008 peak, business sector ICT investment in Canada has performed poorly, both relative to the Canadian non-business sector and to the business sector in the United States. By 2013, four years after the 2009 recession, nominal ICT investment in the business sector in Canada had failed to regain the 2008 level, falling on average 1.0 per cent per year over the 2008-2013 period. In contrast, despite government belttightening, nominal investment in the non-business sector in Canada advanced at a 2.0 per cent average annual rate. Equally, the United States, which experienced a more severe downturn than Canada, saw business sector nominal ICT investment grow at a 1.5 per cent average annual rate between 2008 and 2013. The fall in nominal ICT investment in Canada, combined with the increase in the United States, resulted in an 8.5 percentage point fall in the ICT investment per worker in Canada from 59.6 per cent of that of the US business sector in 2008 to 51.1 per cent in 2013. More research is needed to understand the reasons for the weak post-2008 ICT investment performance of Canada’s business sector. La performance du Canada en matière de productivité reflète en grande partie son bilan en matière d’innovation, tant sur le plan de la R-D des entreprises que de l’investissement en technologies de l’information et des communications (TIC). L’objectif de ce rapport est d’examiner la performance du pays en matière d’investissement en TIC depuis 2000. Le principal constat est que, depuis le sommet de 2008, l’investissement en TIC du secteur des entreprises au Canada a connu une faible performance, tant par rapport au secteur non commercial canadien qu’au secteur des entreprises aux États-Unis. En 2013, quatre ans après la récession de 2009, l’investissement nominal en TIC du secteur des entreprises au Canada n’avait toujours pas retrouvé son niveau de 2008, ayant reculé en moyenne de 1,0 % par année durant la période 2008-2013. En revanche, malgré les compressions gouvernementales, l’investissement nominal du secteur non commercial au Canada a progressé à un taux annuel moyen de 2,0 %. De même, les États-Unis, qui ont connu un ralentissement plus marqué que le Canada, ont vu l’investissement nominal en TIC du secteur des entreprises croître à un taux annuel moyen de 1,5 % entre 2008 et 2013. Le recul de l’investissement nominal en TIC au Canada, combiné à la hausse observée aux États-Unis, a entraîné un recul de 8,5 points de pourcentage de l’investissement en TIC par travailleur au Canada, qui est passé de 59,6 % du niveau du secteur des entreprises américain en 2008 à 51,1 % en 2013. Des recherches supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour comprendre les raisons de la faible performance de l’investissement en TIC du secteur des entreprises canadien après 2008. [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2015-01-1.pdf)