Weak research and development investment – largely caused by high taxation and government policies seemingly designed to discourage investment and innovation – is causing sluggish productivity growth, says the June 2024 edition of The Construction Monitor, published by the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) today.

Up until 2000, Canada achieved productivity growth rates above or roughly comparable to those in the U.S., but the country has been consistently falling behind since then.

“We are witnessing Canada’s long, slow decline. On productivity growth and many other measures of well-being and competitiveness, Canada is coming up short among its global peers,” wrote ICBA President Chris Gardner in his introduction to The Construction Monitor. “Why does productivity matter? Because the more Canadian firms innovate, the more they spend on upskilling their people and on adopting new technology, the more profitable they are and the more they can increase the size of paycheques for workers.”

Click HERE to view the June 2024 ICBA Construction Monitor. Permission is granted to all media outlets to use the data and infographics, with credit to ICBA.

To see ICBA Alberta’s version of this Construction Monitor, click HERE.