Article content continued

In the arena of global competitiveness, workers elsewhere wield modern tools and information technology. By comparison, Canadian workers are taking the proverbial knife to a gun-fight.

Granted, much of Canada’s recent poor performance has its roots in the fall in oil prices in late 2014. Per-worker investment in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador is down from peaks close to $40,000. But capital spending in provinces that consumer energy — many of which should be benefiting from exports to a reviving United States — has not picked up the slack.

Investment per worker in Ontario will likely come in under $9,000 in 2017; in Quebec, under $8,000. While things are better in British Columbia (close to $11,000), the Maritime provinces are utterly anemic. Nova Scotia will come in under $8,000, New Brunswick at about $6,500 — its lowest figure in a decade — and P.E.I. at less than $6,000. At $13,100, Manitoba looks like a leader in this sluggish parade.

Recent trends in taxes are sending a message not to invest in their factories

It does not have to be this way. Canadian businesses have historically invested less per worker than the United States and other developed countries, but over a decade following the early 2000s, we narrowed the gap. From 2006 to 2011, for every dollar of business investment in the typical OECD worker, Canadian workers received 84 cents; by 2013, it was up to 91 cents. From 2006 to 2011, for every dollar of investment in a typical American worker, Canadian workers received 72 cents; by 2013, that figure was up to 77 cents. Getting those numbers back up from their current pathetic levels is an urgent task for Canadian business leaders and policy-makers.