Canada's Productivity Summit

Canada’s Productivity Summit gathered experts from across the country to explore multiple aspects of our nation’s economic growth and productivity. Taking place on October 16-17, 2024, the summit was hosted by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy and took place at the BMO Centre in Calgary, Alberta. 

Productivity is at the heart of any robust economy, underpinning long-term improvements in living standards, and it has far-reaching implications for almost all areas of public policy. There are countless factors that impact economic performance, but relatively little is known about the reasons for Canada’s recent challenges. Since 2015, real disposable income growth of Canadian families has been slower than any other eight-year period outside of the Great Depression or the 1990s recession. Explanations range from a lack of business innovation, lacklustre capital investment and interprovincial trade barriers, to inefficient features of our taxation and regulatory system. This summit examined how we can invigorate growth and increase economic stability for the benefit of Canadians in the future. 
 

Summit Highlights 

Canada’s Productivity Summit gathered business and community leaders, economists, policymakers, scholars, and more from across the country. The objectives were to reach a comprehensive understanding of these issues, identify opportunities for improvement across a number of sectors, and craft actionable recommendations for policymakers. 
 
The summit drove conversations on how to: 

• Create an environment for policy innovations that raise economic growth across Canada 
• Offset inflationary pressures, accelerate wage growth and address the ongoing affordability crisis 
• Generate additional revenues to support spending on infrastructure, education, healthcare and social services 
• Respond to upcoming structural challenges such as shifting demographics, climate change, innovation and technological change 
• Identify what influence government policies and private decisions could have on our nation’s growth 
• Resolve fiscal imbalances and reverse the trend towards higher deficits 

Canada’s Productivity Summit was organized by the School of Public Policy, with the Government of Alberta as its presenting sponsor. The generous support received from the Government of Alberta emphasizes the importance the province places on raising economic growth, boosting incomes and living standards, and ensuring that funding our infrastructure and vital public services is managed sustainably into the future.