--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/productivity-trends-in-the-gold-mining-industry-in-canada/" title: "Productivity Trends in the Gold Mining Industry in Canada" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-02T13:59:53+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-02T13:59:53+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "" post_tag: - "Canada" - "gold mining" - "natural resources" - "price effects" - "productivity" - "technology" country_focus: - "Canada" province_region: - "National" research_theme: - "Productivity and Economic Measurement" - "Sector/Industry Analysis" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/old-reports_hero_banner_bg.webp" status: "publish" --- # Productivity Trends in the Gold Mining Industry in Canada Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/productivity-trends-in-the-gold-mining-industry-in-canada/ # Productivity Trends in the Gold Mining Industry in Canada [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2004-08-1.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Smith, Jeremy. 2004. “Productivity Trends in the Gold Mining Industry in Canada.” CSLS Research Report 2004-08. Ottawa: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. https://csls.ca/research/productivity-trends-in-the-gold-mining-industry-in-canada/ ## Author: - Jeremy Smith Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2004-08 October 2004 43 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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It is found that real price movements have had a substantial impact on productivity growth in the gold mining industry in Canada. The real price of gold declined steadily throughout the 1990s, squeezing the profits of mines on sites of marginal quality and thereby leading to the closure of the least productive gold mines. This had the effect of increasing the average productivity of the overall industry. The report also finds evidence that the gold mining industry in Canada was not in good health towards the end of the 1970s, despite the record gold prices of this period. Real gold mining output decreased sharply and steadily throughout the 1960s and 1970s, despite massive capital accumulation. This situation was reversed in the 1980s, with new discoveries of gold, and strong productivity growth driven by technological and organizational improvements. As these observations suggest, the productivity performance of the Canadian gold mining industry has been markedly different from decade to decade. The 1960s and 1970s witnessed productivity stagnation followed by sharp declines, but the 1980s and 1990s saw gold mining productivity growth exceeding that at the total economy level by a wide margin. Overall, the productivity gains of the past two decades have more than offset the earlier poor performance, so that the average productivity record of the gold mining industry over the past four decades remains strong. L’objectif de ce rapport est de cerner les facteurs expliquant la solide performance moyenne de l’industrie canadienne de l’extraction de l’or en matière de productivité au cours des quatre dernières décennies. On constate que les variations du prix réel ont eu une incidence substantielle sur la croissance de la productivité de cette industrie au Canada. Le prix réel de l’or a diminué de façon constante tout au long des années 1990, comprimant les profits des mines de qualité marginale et entraînant ainsi la fermeture des mines d’or les moins productives. Cela a eu pour effet d’accroître la productivité moyenne de l’ensemble de l’industrie. Le rapport constate également que l’industrie de l’extraction de l’or au Canada n’était pas en bonne santé vers la fin des années 1970, malgré les prix records de l’or observés durant cette période. La production réelle d’extraction de l’or a diminué fortement et de façon constante tout au long des années 1960 et 1970, malgré une accumulation massive de capital. Cette situation s’est inversée dans les années 1980, avec de nouvelles découvertes aurifères et une forte croissance de la productivité attribuable à des améliorations technologiques et organisationnelles. Ces observations indiquent que la performance de la productivité de l’industrie canadienne de l’extraction de l’or a varié considérablement d’une décennie à l’autre. Les années 1960 et 1970 ont été marquées par une stagnation de la productivité suivie de reculs marqués, tandis que les années 1980 et 1990 ont vu la croissance de la productivité de l’extraction de l’or dépasser largement celle de l’ensemble de l’économie. [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2004-08-1.pdf)