The low productivity of Canadian companies threatens our living standards

[daftandbarmy]

Maybe the thousands of regulations are also playing a part. Several of the folks I've become acquainted with during my CO tenure have lamented that the feds are governing by regulation, and dragging down their ability to function as a business.

Oh hell yeah...

But Canadians love/hate businesses, so they don't really care that much until it hits them in the wallet....

Small businesses pay five times more per employee than larger businesses​

Regulation costs small businesses $38.8 billion annually, roughly 30 per cent ($10.8 billion) of which can be considered unnecessary, redundant, or overly burdensome regulation or red tape, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)’s Canada’s Red Tape Report. The report, released in partnership with Intuit Canada, launches CFIB’s 12th annual Red Tape Awareness Week™. Businesses with fewer than five employees spend $7,023 per employee to comply with government regulation, while businesses with 100 or more spend $1,237 per employee.

Regulatory costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic are not included in the estimate. However, 83 per cent of Canadian small businesses agreed COVID-19 substantially increased compliance costs.

Regulation costs Canadian businesses $39 billion annually, $11 billion of which is unnecessary red tape | CFIB

Toronto, January 25, 2021 – Regulation costs small businesses $38.8 billion annually, roughly 30 per cent ($10.8 billion) of which can be considered unnecessary, redundant,

www.cfib-fcei.ca

 

[ModlrMike]

That's because when Canadians hear the word "business" they picture the big, evil corporations. They have no idea that the average small business is the guy next door.

 

[daftandbarmy]

The Bank of Canada weighs in...

Glass half full: at least Italy is still behind us

A healthy economy depends on high productivity​

Strong productivity—which leads to faster growth, more jobs and higher wages—is an important way to protect the economy from the risks of high inflation.

Canada has seen no productivity growth in recent years. And over the past four decades, we have actually slipped significantly compared with some other countries. In fact, relative to the United States, among G7 countries we are now second only to Italy when it comes to productivity decline.

This is important because a number of factors threaten to drive inflation persistently higher in the future. These include global trade tensions, changing demographics and the economic impacts of climate change. We need to ramp up our productivity now, as a buffer against these and other forces down the line.

The productivity problem

Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers talks about some of the reasons for Canada’s poor productivity track record, and what we can do to turn the tide.

www.bankofcanada.ca