Productivity or our ability to efficiently produce goods and services is getting a lot of attention these days as Canada’s track record compared to the rest or the world is considered weak. This is especially true when we match ourselves against American business. Simply put, they are more efficient.
A key part of that improvement relates to investment in technology which streamlines production or enhances the quality of what we produce. Americans tend to spend more on research, development and technology than we do and it shows up in the numbers.
The latest figures for Canada are to the end of 2023 and have just come out. There are three factors in measuring productivity. First is technology investment. Second is training of workers to improve skill levels and then third is everything else. It’s call multi-factor productivity.
And on this one, Saskatchewan was the only province that posted a gain in 2023 as everyone else fell back. This was especially true everywhere east of us.
We were second-best on skills improvement and in the middle of the pack on investment.
