To: Canadians concerned about small business growth amidst reconfiguration of supply chains From: Daniel Schwanen Re: Preparing Ontario SMEs for supply chains of the future – getting the big picture right – II Date: December 22, 2023 My previous Intelligence Memo focused on the overarching importance for Ontario’s economy of being home to firms that […]
William Robson, CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, talks with Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn about how capital per worker has been falling for the first time since the 1930s and what it means to the economy.
In this study, we estimate the efficiency gains associated with the introduction of the Real-Time Rail (RTR), Fast Payment System (FPS) in Canada. In a benchmark scenario, we estimate that these gains will amount to $3.24 billion over the first five years after introduction of the system. These gains will arise mainly from: 1) the […]
From: Parisa Mahboubi and Tingting Zhang To: Canadian Labour Force Observers Date: December 1, 2023 Re: Navigating Labour Shortages: A Strategic Path for Canada’s SMEs Your local entrepreneur, whether a coffee shop owner or a medium-sized manufacturer, has a problem. They are likely to face labour shortages that stymie their growth plans and reduce their significant contribution to […]
Business investment in Canada has been so weak since 2015 that capital per worker has been falling – part of an ominous pattern of stagnating productivity and living standards. A longstanding gap between investment per available worker in Canada compared to the United States and other OECD countries narrowed from the late 1990s through […]
To: Canadian businesses From: George N. Addy and Calvin Goldman Date: October 20, 2023 Re: Four flaws in Ottawa’s New Competition Framework If you own or run a business and if you are concerned about your commercially sensitive information you need to speak up now. The federal government’s new Competition Act amendments could result in […]
From: Charles Plant To: Productivity observers Date: September 5, 2023 Re: Marketing and Sales are Canada’s Missing Productivity Link Our national productivity gap has spurred analyses, reports and media articles for decades. While public debate in Canada has focused on productivity improvement for more than 50 years, we have made limited progress. Fresh thinking is required. While innovation through […]
To: Small business watchers From: Miwako Nitani and Aurin Shaila Nusrat Date: August 3, 2023 Re: Solving Canada’s SME Financing Conundrum Canada’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an out-sized role in generating jobs and promoting economic prosperity. Even so, Canadian growth-oriented SMEs lag behind those of other advanced countries and face financing hurdles, in raising debt and attracting […]
According to the National Angel Capital Network (NACO 2022), angels affiliated with regional angel networks collectively invested $262.1 million in 635 firms in Canada in 2021 up from $102.9 million in 416 firms in 2020. These investments averaged $346,024 per company in 2021 up from $289,792 in 2020. In the US, using data from Angel […]
To: Labour Force Observers From: Tingting Zhang Date: July 13, 2023 Re: Let’s Embrace a Golden Age for Career Guidance As digital technology and the green transition sweep through Canada’s labour market, career navigation becomes increasingly complex and increasingly important to help both employed and unemployed people. This makes the availability and quality of career guidance services, which aim […]
From: G. Kent Fellows To: Concerned Canadians Date: June 1, 2023 Re: New Automaker Subsidies are Unwise and Inflationary Following the federal Government’s announcement of $700 million in construction subsidies and up to $14 billion in production subsidies to attract a Volkswagen battery plant to Ontario, automaker Stellantis has demanded a similar deal. Stellantis had already begun building […]
From: Mawakina Bafale and William B.P. Robson To: Canadian Workers Date: March 28, 2023 Re: The Sorry Sag in Business Investment A core message in former federal finance minister Bill Morneau’s 2022 book, Where To from Here? is that Canada needs faster economic growth, which requires higher business investment. If Canadian living standards fail to keep pace with those abroad, […]
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William Robson, CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, talks with Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn about how capital per worker has been falling for the first time since the 1930s and what it means to the economy. 
In this study, we estimate the efficiency gains associated with the introduction of the Real-Time Rail (RTR), Fast Payment System (FPS) in Canada. In a benchmark scenario, we estimate that these gains will amount to $3.24 billion over the first five years after introduction of the system. These gains will arise mainly from: 1) the […] 
From: Parisa Mahboubi and Tingting Zhang To: Canadian Labour Force Observers Date: December 1, 2023 Re: Navigating Labour Shortages: A Strategic Path for Canada’s SMEs Your local entrepreneur, whether a coffee shop owner or a medium-sized manufacturer, has a problem. They are likely to face labour shortages that stymie their growth plans and reduce their significant contribution to […] 
Business investment in Canada has been so weak since 2015 that capital per worker has been falling – part of an ominous pattern of stagnating productivity and living standards. A longstanding gap between investment per available worker in Canada compared to the United States and other OECD countries narrowed from the late 1990s through […] 
From: Charles Plant To: Productivity observers Date: September 5, 2023 Re: Marketing and Sales are Canada’s Missing Productivity Link Our national productivity gap has spurred analyses, reports and media articles for decades. While public debate in Canada has focused on productivity improvement for more than 50 years, we have made limited progress. Fresh thinking is required. While innovation through […] 
To: Small business watchers From: Miwako Nitani and Aurin Shaila Nusrat Date: August 3, 2023 Re: Solving Canada’s SME Financing Conundrum Canada’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an out-sized role in generating jobs and promoting economic prosperity. Even so, Canadian growth-oriented SMEs lag behind those of other advanced countries and face financing hurdles, in raising debt and attracting […] 
According to the National Angel Capital Network (NACO 2022), angels affiliated with regional angel networks collectively invested $262.1 million in 635 firms in Canada in 2021 up from $102.9 million in 416 firms in 2020. These investments averaged $346,024 per company in 2021 up from $289,792 in 2020. In the US, using data from Angel […]