Many Canadians feel worse off than they did 10 years ago, says this report from Desjardins
That’s according to the economists at Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec who say output per capita fell in every province last year, making it the most broad-based decline in standard-of-living in Canadian history outside of the pandemic.
“Only at the peak of the pandemic did we see all 10 provinces report a decrease,” they said.
What’s more, early data from 2024 suggests the trend is continuing.
Canada in 2022 was producing just 71 per cent of the value generated in the United States economy per hour and the capital spending gap had widened, she said.
Per capita output measures our standard of living.
It could even be worse depending on where you live.
“That means many people outside our two biggest provinces feel worse off today than they did 10 years ago,” he said.
Investment has fallen in Canada’s oil industry and “other sectors haven’t stepped up to fill the gap.”
Another problem is that small- and medium-sized businesses, which are less productive than larger companies, make up a bigger share of Canada’s economy than in the United States.
Canada is good at producing start-ups, but it falls short of growing them to scale.
In fact, Dejardins’ research suggests that Ottawa’s decision to cut the temporary resident population will weigh on, rather than benefit, the economy.
The world’s population has grown by 1 billion since 2010 and is expected to surpass 10 billion by 2050, but some populations are aging, says BofA Global Research, which brings us today’s chart.
Countries with the largest projected rise in working population over the next 25 years are India, Nigeria and Pakistan. The countries with the biggest decline in this population are China, Japan and Russia.
“A nation’s potential growth is a function of working-age population growth, labour productivity and innovation,” said BofA.
Take India, for example. Last year it overtook China as the world’s most populous nation with more than 1.4 billion people. Its demographics are a big factor behind the country’s share of the MSCI EM equity index rising from 4 per cent to 19 per cent in the past 20 years, the strategists said.
- Changes to the capital gains tax announced in the 2024 budget come into effect.
- Statistics Canada will release its latest reading for inflation this morning when it publishes its consumer price index for May. The annual inflation rate cooled to 2.7 per cent in April compared with 2.9 per cent in March as increases in the prices for food slowed.
- Leading automotive industry associations will announce the Countdown to 2035, tracking progress toward Canada’s 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales target.
- BlackBerry Ltd. will hold its annual meeting of shareholders today and release its latest quarterly results on Wednesday. The company announced a deal in April to work with chipmaker AMD on new robotic systems technology.
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- Earnings: Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc, Carnival Corp, FedEx Corp
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