From Bad to Worse: Why Canada is finding itself with a productivity problem

James Orlando, Senior Economist with TD, discusses a new report from TD Economics that shines a light on Canada's deteriorating productivity and the potential implications for the economy.
Subscribe to BNN Bloomberg to watch more videos: / bnnbloomberg
Connect with BNN Bloomberg:
For the latest news visit: www.bnnbloombe...
For a full video offering visit BNN Bloomberg: www.bnnbloombe...
BNN Bloomberg on Facebook: / bnnbloomberg
BNN Bloomberg on Twitter: / bnnbloomberg
BNN Bloomberg on Instagram: / bnnbloomberg
BNN Bloomberg on LinkedIn: / bnn-bloomberg
--
BNN Bloomberg is Canada’s only TV service devoted exclusively to business, finance and the markets.

[@MontrealKid628]

Why isn't anyone talking about the poor jobs in Canada? There is no investment in employees or businesses. And we expect productivity to increase?

[@BDee3126]

@@MontrealKid628 How would companies record record profits if they pay their employees a living wage?

[@MontrealKid628]

​@@BDee3126 I did not want to say poor jobs from a salary perspective, rather from a professional perspective. Why is it that we have no large scale employers in Canada similar to the likes of Boeing, Airbus, Google, Microsoft, TSMC, etc (I'm not talking about foreign companies with offices in Canada). Those in STEM fields are all moving to the US where salaries are much higher (and in USD$). The US seems to be doing something right.

[@meh4770]

What you describe is a chicken and egg problem. It is both the the effect and cause of low productivity.

[@InvisibleHotdog]

​@@meh4770 no, we know what the start was, "maximizing shareholder value", just look at Boeing

[@frederickclause2694]

Productivity increased in the past decades but wages flatlined. Increasing productivity has only helped big business.

[@Solanki1245]

Why would anyone be more productive if they don’t get proper incentives for doing so.

[@alanj9978]

All our money goes to housing and taxes. Nothing left for anything else.

[@caitlin3875]

This sums it up. Money left over after that all I can buy is a box of Kraft dinner

[@chadc7500]

THIS IS THE ANSWER Our leaders and the ultra wealthy controlling class has decimated competition and our rules stymie large enough innovation and more competition.

[@momofighter3211]

Unproductivity is well rewarded.

[@ehhalexx]

The government sector has grown dramatically and private has shrunk. This accounts for a lot of the lost productivity, but the deeper issue is a cultural one. For probably at least a decade if not longer we have not invested in ourselves unless it was an investment home. We need to reinvigorate many areas of the economy to get back to being competitive and punch above our weight. Period.

[@jordonhope3408]

Oh, yes, it’s cultural. We’ve fostered an attitude of general disdain for corporate profits in this country, in our streets and schools and neighborhoods. People vilify elites like Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, solely on account of their wealth without even thinking about how they made all of their workers more productive because of the brand power they built. Who in Canada has built a globally significant brand recently? We shoot down development for environmental or socio-cultural concerns. We regulate construction and industry so heavily that people work full-time just to navigate the regulations… how is that productive? And…we have a whole generation of people raised anti-corporate, and we’re feeling the effects, for better or worse.

[@JJs_playground]

Yes very true. This is also how a lot of countries failed, more public sector jobs.

[@InvisibleHotdog]

​@@jordonhope3408 what? Corporations are raking in record in record profits, and they're protected from international competitors in Canada

[@WelcomeBub]

And as interest rates are cut every middle aged couple will all go back to investing in properties, business as usual.

[@ehhalexx]

@@WelcomeBub True, but most realtors you talk with don't see housing prices screaming higher at this point.

[@Prediculous]

Why would I be more productive at work when my pay is flat and the optionality to move up is inexistent?

[@Damazzzo]

It’s not necessarily your fault as an individual. There’s not enough investment coming into Canada to improve productivity for workers due to bureaucracy and high taxes.

[@seanothepop4638]

It's also you not understanding a rhetorical question, a very ununique thing.

[@cinifiend]

The simple truth is that unless your income has gone up by 30% since 2020 you are making that much less now than you were pre-2020.

[@dylanrocha2442]

I’m a heavy equipment operator and have been trying to get a job for 6 months now with over 100 applications and no success…

[@sparshrastogi2646]

not suprising, look at all the type of people we've imported. look at all the red tape, govt bloat, and insane taxes here, who in their right mind will open a business here or innovate anything?

[@bdegrds]

What exactly do you mean by "people we've imported "?

[@jay1645]

Franchises Tims / Circle K ( heard Harper on board) etc so new rackets but no innovation or productivity

[@meh4770]

The productivity problem is not caused by immigration it is caused by an unholy alliance between big government and mediocre business owners who rely on cheap labour and have no vision for scaling their businesses.

[@jay1645]

@@meh4770 There was one guy writing about productivity in the NP , Frank Stronach and looks like was very productive has over 12 sexual assault cases against him atm lol

[@seanothepop4638]

Immigrants are scam victims just like anyone else already in Canada. It's weird for you to tell me this country is failing and immigrants have that power. You aren't just critiquing immigrants (unfairly) but you are hoping I somehow think they have the power to ruin a whole country when I see what fucked canada and it's dollar signs, not immigrants. Be more convincing?

[@bernl178]

One thing this gentleman won’t talk about, how the banks, bleed billions and billions of dollars a year out of the economy, to relocate it where they believe it should go. And how that affects the economy. I’ve been in the housing Industry for most of my life. Watched very few get very rich and watched many work their entire life and get very little.

[@spyderativ2438]

Government tax policy is disincentivizing productivity.

[@UnsaltedCashew38]

Canadian tax system dis-incentivizes success. As a small business, any revenue over $500k, the tax rate DOUBLES! Any passive income in corp? 50% tax rate!! The gov't is so anti-business and pro-insane tax rates. Why kill myself to make my business grow over $500k in revenue? to feed the tax man? There are so many other things I can say.

[@tonyhladun9081]

1. Government meddling...setting economic priorities 2. Government meddling...death by regulation 3. Government meddling...takes forever to do anything 4. Government meddling...we don't need no free market 5. Government meddling...people who know nothing decide everything 6. Government meddling...picking winners and losers

[@TrevorWebb-ck2yv]

Don't forget immigration fraud involving LMIA worker program and international students

[@TrevorWebb-ck2yv]

How about enabling fraudulent immigration?

[@jay1645]

You forgot who they work for corp. lobbies lol

[@d099z]

​@@jay1645countries in the "East" have high corruption, countries in the "West" have no corruption... We got lobbies

[@tonyhladun9081]

@@jay1645 Who are the "who" and who are the "they"?

[@DavidCao-sg2pn]

In order to increase productivity, investment needs to go towards new tools, technology, and research. Unfortunately it has been going towards housing speculation, and taxes in recent years

[@stevekontis8992]

You mention incentive. How motivated can a worker be when his or her buying power diminishes. Some Canadians get a second job to make ends meet only to see the fruits of their labor plundered by government. Where I work some people debate working overtime because of diminishing returns. The government calls the income tax system progressive. It is progressive only for the government. For the worker, the income tax system is regressive. When a worker works long hours, missing time with his or her family for diminishing returns that person definitely wants to be productive. All we see in Canada is incompetent and irresponsible overspending thanks to Soviet Socialist economic policy. The result is Canadians really motivated to be productive while waiting in line at food banks for a meal and living in tents and cars. It is not the only answer to our productivity problems, but a worker keeping more of the money he works for, who is not penalized for working longer hours, may see the benefits of being productive. If you plunder the fruits of his or her labor, he or she may just give less than a rat's ass about productivity.

[@peej91]

Young family here. Born and raised. We aim to leave. Cost to live here is at an all time high/standard of life is going closer to a 2nd world country

[@CallPaula4RealEstate]

3rd world people 3rd world country.

[@infofootage]

leaving to where? I'm planning to leave too.. not very very soon.. just preparing

[@peej91]

@@infofootage us as well. We have a couple places in mind. Seattle, Florida, and minnesota

[@parkerbohnn]

@@infofootage Portugal seems to be a favourite place to move to for retirees. If one has a lot of money retirees can move to Mexico to reap their near double digit interest rates and your money doubles every 7 or so years in an appreciating currency.

[@parkerbohnn]

@@peej91 If you have money Naples, Florida is a nice place. Our family and relatives will finally be making the move to Monte Carlo as my niece finished university this year.

[@Homer62001]

My wife and I chose to move out of the city, work part-time and earn less simply because of the excessive tax burden at every level. I’m tired of working for the government. I will earn less and pay less tax and have a lower level of consumption, but I’m fine with that trade-off.

[@ajourney50]

We are tired. Those of us who do work are tired of picking up the slack of others. My profession had a burn out rate of 5 years in the 90s, care to hazard a guess to what it is now? But let's be honest, when the government takes most of your pay, and everything is beyond your reach, would you make an effort?

[@Silent-Alert]

Why should I be more productive when I'm taxed to hell and every extra hour I work goes to government. I'm happy with less and more time to enjoy

[@boomerang0101]

Why? U r a commie?

[@InvisibleHotdog]

​@@boomerang0101 are you a bug?

[@boomerang0101]

@@InvisibleHotdogclown 🤡

[@seanothepop4638]

@@boomerang0101 Will you work hard no matter what the pay? I think so, you'd be a commie otherwise right? One I hire you to work for me for free, we can work on your attitude, but yeah get to work for me, for free. Not a commie are you?

[@justinlei4677]

in my opinion, the liberal government in the past few years has brought in far too many low-skilled foreigners into this country (through study permits, work permits, temporary visas, etc.). This rapid population inflow not only drained the per capita resources available to ordinary Canadians but also lowered the overall productivity of the country. The negative impacts of these irresponsible, short-sighted, and poorly managed government policies will take years to absorb and resolve.

[@Futurama10000]

this is 100% correct, additionally over-taxation and regulation has reduced incentives for entrepreneurship and capital investment

[@uday5412]

I wouldn’t be so kind to Canadians. It’s true that Canada does not have the economic prospects to attract the best professionals that India and China have to offer - and that’s not because of the immigrants. The culture in this country encourages a gambler’s mentality instead of human enterprise - just look at the housing market, for instance, which is non-productive investment that makes up an unhealthily large chunk of GDP. Canada is forecast to rank dead last in productivity among OECD countries, which include many countries from which immigrants come to Canada - all the way till 2060. Let that sink in. That’s a problem that’s been decades in the making, not one that immigrants caused overnight.

[@bdegrds]

Typical racist trope, people like you don't realize Canada only being 150 years old everyone who is not indigenous is an immigrant. The new immigrants that are currently coming in can be taught skills just the same as you or anyone else, there is no difference.

[@BathSaltBadger]

They had to do it, because during QE we quadrupled our M2 money supply from last the GFC and only doubled in GDP. In between that and birthrate going down, they had to inflow the foreigner workers. As more baby boomers are set to retire, there aren't enough people to replace them as well. Someone still has to pay for their retirement, unless you want taxes to double or tripple.

[@justinlei4677]

@@BathSaltBadger I totally understand and agree the importance of immigrant to the Canadian economy, not to mention the pension system. The problem was the poor management and alignment across different federal government offices. I don’t think those who came to Canada without proper job skills and without appropriate asset bring to the country can make positive impact to this country.

[@beautanner8409]

Wait... our standard of living WILL be at risk? For many of us, our standard of living has been eviscerated over the past 5-10 years. We've watched our futures vanish before us in real time.

[@seanothepop4638]

I'd only disagree to say it's been going on far longer than 5-10 years. We're just smart enough to see and talk about it now. Otherwise Canada is still fucking stupid.

[@crankthetunes7989]

I work in the electrical construction industry and we are so handcuffed with safety that we are barely allowed to do anything! The company we are working for is a major auto manufacturer and almost everyday their is another 15 minute safety meeting. The manufacturer constantly comes up with changes to their safety rules and regulations without any thought about the practicality of said rules. I work for a construction company that has a tonne of money but they consistently give us old beat up tools and expect us to make lemonade out of lemons. Just peeing away time and money! I'm pretty sure anyone else who works in construction is not surprised by these numbers.

[@don4526]

Let me guess..... Toyota?

[@paulmcewen7384]

I have noticed the same thing from a major electrical contractor on a recent hospital project. Their guys were supplied with obsolete power tools, and only 1 in 10 Journeys had access to a tablet with the model on it. The Mechanical contractor had new tools and equipment, and every other Jman was working from a tablet with the 3D model, and they were well ahead on the project.

[@kevinheise7]

If you haven't noticed a decline in the standard of living, you're seriously disconnected. Or a boomer lol

[@kurtukh]

I get taxed to death in this country, why would I work overtime, so I can pay more taxes? (Hence why I’m moving to Texas) I worked in social system for years , I have first hand seen government waste, I have first hand seen the liars claiming they can’t work . I have never met someone on disability that actually needed it. Canada has a problem because if you try and have ambition and get ahead in life want to do well the government taxes you to death, than when you see where that tax money goes , (welfare bums, disability) all the liberal waste, they wasted billions has driving up inflation. Never mind the fact almost no one can buy a house anymore. Eatting out? Most young candians are broke can’t eat out anymore. Construction? I’ve worked in construction for 15 years since Covid I seems like no one wants to work anymore. We were paying guys 70,000$ a year to stand around and sweep the floor Liberals legalized weed making people even lazier , alcohol is everywhere now. Everyday I have a few guys call in sick. Not to mention hard drugs that liberals have made even easier to get. You use to get shamed to take government welfare, now people brag about how they make more on social welfare than going to work at a minimum wage job! Liberals have demoralized an entire generation, If government really wanted to help stop punishing workers that want to do better in life. Canada has to be the only country that is you get a gym membership want to better your life you get taxed, you don’t try in life get fat and the government gives you money to sit at home and be a bum.

[@MikeyPaper]

Very true statement

[@spyderativ2438]

They slap taxes on everything and claim Canadians get more back bunch of liars and bullshit liberals ndp. Can’t believe people still vote for them 😢😢. My Canada is broken.

[@JJs_playground]

Preach..

[@pjx607]

Liberals brought in too many "international students" and "temporary foreign" workers from India and now they are working in both low-wage and high-wage streams for below market rate. Obviously corporations are going to keep hiring them, it means more profit & money for stakeholders. There is no fix for this, the damage is already done. The "Canadian" dream is dead for young Canadian adults. The 40+ Canadians are lucky - they were able to buy a house, buy another house for investment, have kids, obtain seniority in their roles... the country is done.

[@jasonbarlow8161]

Pfff. The problem is we live in another era of "Robber Barons". Too few control too much and they will not be sharing or reinvesting. Being a wet soft crybaby about will not help. Be productive. Immigrants did not cause this.

[@dev4statingx90]

I operate cranes building high-rise. All our equipment is junk garbage from the 1980s

[@stampcollectordenier]

I’ve heard this story many times before. The majority of businesses that invest in Canada do so for the lower manufacturing labor cost.

[@BDee3126]

How to fix canada's productivity problem? Easy, join the United States and become the 51st State of America.

[@alanj9978]

God no. It's bad enough being governed by Ontario and Quebec.

[@BDee3126]

@@alanj9978 Well start getting use to a falling standard of living, and failing economy then.

[@alanj9978]

@@BDee3126 Been getting used to that for 9 years.

[@rally_chronicles]

​@alanj9978 so tell me one area Canada is even remotely better than the USA. And don't say free health care cuz we pay more and get less. Go:

[@BDee3126]

@@alanj9978 Buckle up because the last 9 years sure looked like heaven compared to what's to come in the future.

[@dev4statingx90]

Try paying more. Theres no incentive to do anything between the cost of living and the insane taxes we pay.

[@rally_chronicles]

The communist plan

[@parkerbohnn]

The local Canadians leave the country as immigrants enter Canada from the third world and people are surprised productivity has fallen? I've got news for anyone who hasn't figured it out yet. The productivity rate will get progressively worse with each passing year in Canada.

[@Doctor_Bong]

Managers thinking that having us do extra things (mostly paperwork) that make their jobs easier. We spend more and more time on useless crap that does our clients absolutely no good whatsoever. Then have us do this paperwork on billable time, so it gets billed to the client. On paper, our billable hours look great. Our clients get billed higher, per requested service provided. This is what I call "Paper GDP" or more specifically, "Toilet Paper GDP"

[@Slickpete83]

*Who wants to be more productive at work when there is no wage inflation, better work as slow as you can get away with* lol..

[@markfinnerty3975]

A perfect example of why we are in this mess.^

[@user__100]

Canada uses Newcomers to pay pensions of old Europeans through tax

[@timjkinney3472]

Huh ... elaborate

[@msb3559]

@@timjkinney3472percentage of working population is on a decline, with a smaller taxpayer base, you won’t be able to pay for the social services consumed by retirees. And in general, if you have a smaller number of people producing stuff and a large number of non working people consuming stuff, you’ll quickly break the back of your working population.

[@central3425]

@@timjkinney3472 The CPP contributions by current workers supports the CPP paid to retirees, this is how pensions work. OAS Old Age Security is also funded through taxes.

[@lak1294]

Loved the barely concealed rage simmering beneath your guest's comments. He called it perfectly. All these negative issues were 100% caused under the watch of the Trudeau government. While he was busily bloating the civil service and immigration levels, giving all his attention to soft, feel-good issues like diversity and equity (and I speak as a person of colour) and sowing the seeds of the housing crisis, he was also disincentivizing business and the private sector, vilifying entrepreneurs, and jacking up taxes everywhere, including the latest capital gains tax that will further drive investors and productive people out of Canada. Trudeau should resign and the Liberals should be turfed out in the next federal election. DO NOT vote NDP and even more extreme leftist policies if you want to turn around Canada's stinking productivity (worst among the G8) and make our country great again for investment and business opportunities.

[@supermash1]

Legalizing pot was a big priority for Trudeau. The guy is as stupid as a bag of hammers. "The budget will balance itself". That this moron became PM of Canada is truly stunning.

[@UnsaltedCashew38]

Canadian tax system dis-incentivizes success. As a small business, any revenue over $500k, the tax rate DOUBLES! Any passive income in corp? 50% tax rate!! Giving yourself a dividend or salary has the same tax rate! It's gotten pretty f'n stupid how they have re-structured taxes over last 8 years. Also any passive income over $50k reduces your small business deduction...at $100k, you get $0!!

[@specialiseesi6746]

Please don´t make anything "great again".

[@Frank-ni4me]

Taxes and immigrating unskilled workers are two major issues.

[@windfall35]

The numbers are far worse than they appear when you factor in that the country has been absorbing record-setting new immigrant populations which should have all by itself driven productivity up organically….

[@mattalexander3764]

PRODUCTIVITY?? NOT EVERYONE CAN LAUNDER FENTANYL MONEY LIKE TD, THE AUTHORS OF THIS REPORT!

[@solongsucka]

maybe you should learn then? thats the whole point. they are productive and you arent.

[@john_doe_not_found]

On construction: Municipal regulations, assessments, and other hurdles often leave projects in limbo for years. During this time the builder has to remain solvent while waiting for the red tape to be sorted. All levels of government are responsible for this mess. From zoning laws to environmental assessments to native land claims to just slow and labyrinthine bureaucracy, there is much to be done here to make this sector profitable and productive. Not just housing, roads, rail, pipelines, hydro, transmission, tonnes of necessary projects are held up by government morass. On manufacturing.. Canada is being outcompeted by Mexico and other nations, because Canada refuses to play to it's strengths. We have all sorts of untapped rivers that could be producing hydro cheaply. We have all sorts of mineral wealth that could be mined and smelted and processed here. With abundant minerals, oil and low cost electricity, Canada could be a manufacturing hub.. but we're not, because we have a bureaucratic mess that prevents it all from happening.

[@andreaspilar8335]

Housing investment = non productive asset = shit productivity. Why has productivity gotten worse due to ridiculous amounts of ppl to invest in real estate. America does not have much of this issue because housing investment is far less than Canada. Duh

[@epictetus3406]

People invest in real estate because there is so few else to invest in here nevermind starting a business which is nearly impossible because it's a quasi socialist state.

[@alaalrashaeideh1154]

@@epictetus3406 u can start business !!! But people are lazy to do that !!! They want easy money via RE

[@InvisibleHotdog]

America does have that issue, private equity is gobbling up housing

[@davew5980]

I would blame government regulation and changing building codes on construction slowdown. 40 years ago construction companies where far less interfered with in completing projects.

[@Jasmine-k9m2b]

1 million more Indian Uber drivers will solve this

[@TrevorWebb-ck2yv]

They are importing people with fake credentials

[@ridwaanrid1888]

Most of them are doctors and engineers, didn't have the opportunity to contribute with false hope and dreams

[@TrevorWebb-ck2yv]

@@ridwaanrid1888 No employer or professional bodies here will acknowledge their credentials. So this notion of importing "doctors and engineers" is a fallacy.

[@DanKac182]

This socialism comes to real, government removes all incentives for people to work. It's just matter of time for the country become empty

[@armenstaubach9276]

So well said Mr Orlando

[@CallPaula4RealEstate]

Lack of productivity has affected productivity. Duh happening since the 80’s from what I can tell.

[@endlessorbaggins8223]

6:10 "Whatever you do, don't make any more harm" Trudeau: Hold my beer!

[@cherifbar]

The product of nine years of liberalism.

[@Scribemo]

My company has been letting roles go unfilled, and productivity tools have been restricted: no money. But also, here, you have responsibilities from all these unfilled roles. Oh! Also, your bonus targets increase every year. Also, waste time driving into the office because it’s “good for culture” even though inevitably, at-work conversations end up complaining about how we’re stuck at the office, not at home where we’re more productive. At home, all prices are up. We have children, and somehow have to juggle all of that with no help after daycare and school-grandparents aren’t retired yet and probably won’t ever be able to. Challenging to feel engaged and productive when our money just goes to bills. Corporations keep taking and taking more and more profits, crappy raises and opportunities for advancement unless you leave the company.

[@nicolasbenson009]

It's sad how difficult things have become in this recessive economy. I was wondering how to utilize some money I had. I used some of it for e-commerce business, but that sank. I'm thinking of how to protect my $380K-worth stock portfolio from decline, but haven't figured which way to go.

[@sharonwinson-m8g]

Very difficult indeed, but when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. You have to learn and handle finances properly. you should hire a CFP to help you diversify your assets to include ETFs/index funds/mutual funds and stocks of companies with consistent cash flows. Don't go for penny stocks.

[@PaulKatrina.]

Opting for a brokerage Adviser is currently the optimal approach for navigating the market, particularly for those nearing retirement. I've been consulting with a coach for a while, and my portfolio has surged by 200% since 2022

[@Hectorkante]

I could really use the expertise of this advisors.

[@PaulKatrina.]

Finding financial advisors like Melissa Terri Swayne who can assist you shape your portfolio would be a very creative option. There will be difficult times ahead, and prudent personal money management will be essential to navigating them.

[@JohnSmith060]

Thanks a lot for this recommendation. I just looked her up on google, and I have sent her an email. I hope she gets back to me soon.

[@thewealthymarketer]

Employers can’t afford to cover the risk of the income tax liability that comes with building and sustaining a workforce.

[@stevehunter7402]

Stop letting people in

[@Planet_Xplorer]

Why? Coz they are working harder than you?

[@46byv6rub]

Thank you, Trudeau voters!

[@WildDisease72]

Even tech companies being less productive and theyre supposed to use tech... 😆

[@JN-xs3bi]

One thing would be government policies that reward hard work rather than penalizing it.

[@bhadreshchabhadiya8415]

Canada is neighbor of USA. How many semiconductor industries in Canada? Our leaders are not putting efforts to develop semiconductor ecosystem

[@gror7849]

We have a journalist for Finance Minister and a Prime-Minister who admitted monetary and economic policy is not his thing. What did we expect?

[@jamietung8233]

This is what happens went a lot of the population invests their money in second/third houses, rental income, and house flipping instead of Canadian businesses in the stock market. Also, agriculture is in trouble because of all of the wildfires.

[@elliotsilverstone8808]

Look I’m trying my best to get work done. Please stop complaining about my productivity!!

[@Roguerebel297]

Why should I do anything more?? I’ve already outputted more finished builds than these dime a dozen oversaturated desk clowns will ever contribute ever. And I barely make my bills. Construction means boots on the ground and you can’t do it all from behind a desk or a clipboard

[@paulmcewen7384]

Training for building trades could be greatly improved from what it is now. Pre-apprenticeship programs for young people to start out in a trade in their first year without being completely useless or a liability for the first six months are helpful. Productivity per Journeyman could be improved by business investment in modern tools and use of digital technology (construction drawings on tablet computers, 3D models of projects, commonplace on large projects, spotty on mid size ones) I have seen large contractors on major projects supply their journeyman workers with obsolete tools. Over the span of a multi year project this can have a noticeable effect. The large and mid size project safety culture has evolved into it's own industry that reduces production and morale with a maze of rules, regulation, and paperwork that has dubious effectiveness at preventing injuries and accidents.

[@zomgoose]

We need to the Liberals are focused on pumping housing even higher instead of productive business. They're also increasing government which is non-productive. Young people have zero incentive to work hard because there's no reward. They're staying at home because they can't afford to live. The Fertility Rate is in the toilet because everything is about short-term bandaid fixes like increasing mortgages to 30 years with $1.5M CMHC insurance. Immigration is not a fix for want of these problems. 50 years of ever-increasing immigration and the problems are worse than ever. Canada is rapidly becoming Canazuela.

[@SportNut1]

Just say it. The low productivity in construction is caused by union

[@Fuhnance]

It's wild to see Economists shitting on political policies like this. That's when you know it's bad.

[@harshmehta7125]

For one manager role Canadian company was paying me 75k cad without benefits while US company was paying me 130k with all benefits! My question was why Canada didn't care about talent which boost productivity and innovation but only cares about cheap labour for asking 8-9 years of Exp for Same role which us is asking for 5-6 years.Number of years matter more than work you delivered in Canada

[@DanKac182]

I have a decent salary but I don't care anymore to learn anything else to have a higher salary. I don't want to have a majority partner (government) getting most of my salary without working.

[@baba_agba]

People that WFH work less, people are not excited to work because bills are always ahead of pay. Debt level is demoralizing. In summary, Canadians are tired of working.

[@WesWoychyshyn]

Canadians want a federal election now!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@JJs_playground]

Can we allow people that want to work in construction instead of Uber drivers or Tim Horton's employees.

[@monrow1961]

There's no benefit to working overtime, you just get taxed more, fix that.

[@seanothepop4638]

FUCKING THIs, right this is a good step! Not the whole solution but bet money on being a big part of it.

[@scottgordon5246]

Tax cuts = more return for employment = more motivation to work harder and be more efficient.... easy solved the issue.

[@Michael-pg7rv]

We have got to be one of the most unproductive countries in the world when it comes to construction.

[@qwertyytrewq973]

Reduce tax, give freedom for businesses!

[@dootdoot1867]

Oil, gas, refinement, mining, logging, manufacturing investment.

[@DanielH874]

I don't want to be productive. No incentive. Taxes are too high. No value for that effort. Government is corrupt and wasteful with tax dollars. If I work overtime or take a second job too much of my money is stolen. Better to just live below your means and reduce your consumption. More time to enjoy life. That is the last thing government or big business wants to hear but it's the truth for a lot of a Canadians. The problem is a lot of others don't have that option. They need to work second and third jobs just to keep a roof over their head yet our government won't give them a break and has no problems taking more from that cohort. They want to push more people into this camp, so they can exploit a larger group into a lower standard of living. Nothing but tax slaves to fund failed social policies.

[@manfestiondaily]

Maybe because of the idiotic policies from our govt and no actual real investment in business sectors

[@falsejaguar]

25% of the workforce is government. Meaning an automatic 25% reduction in output. Imagine Trudeau or PP working at McDonalds counter doing one of their dumb speeches to Karens.

[@Fehr270]

The government might have allowed in too many temporary workers but Canadian businesses took advantage of it instead of investing in their businesses or offering fair wages they went all in on how little they can pay someone. How do we raise the morals of business owners?

[@seanothepop4638]

It sucks to do business in Canada befor this anyway, so it's like a breath of fresh exploitative air, finally businesses are making money, it's just corrupt and has nothing to do with the actual job, and getting paid to hire immigrants so they can stay. Immigrants should have a good life in Canada without having to pay an employer to pose them as employees, but when businesses are failing because of Canada's own policies affecting businesses, AND consumers (if Canada makes it hard for me to have money, and it is, it's also going to be hard for me to spend it in your business) you're either out of business and broke, or making money without worry about consumers. NO owner would do this the "moral way" because Canada isn't moral with what it's exposing immigrants too, which is a bad life, already established befor.

[@bretthagey7916]

$45 NSF charges dont help us much, fella.

[@central3425]

Taxes are bad, people re disincentived to work. Also, no talk about the productivity problem with remote work?

[@gavinlottering]

Stop being so pathetic Canada.

[@ticalculator830]

lol have you met a Canadian they are lethargic people.

[@kurtukh]

It’s liberals and NDP supporters they are so unbelievably lazy and entitled

[@dev4statingx90]

It's our nature

[@seanothepop4638]

Sorry we're uber cucked. Love watching ourselves getting fucked economically. OH BABY

[@Xaremathraas]

Let’s be real - it’s all cause of work-from-home 😂

[@Scribemo]

😂 hope that’s sarcasm. The return to the office made me much less productivity. So much traffic, so little time to do what I need.

[@central3425]

@@Scribemo no he is right, productivity took a major hit due to remote work

[@chrisblender5191]

Whole range of problems and then goes on to name all Liberal policies😂

[@bigpurplepops]

That graph has a different sample size for the declining section and uses the "Annual Average % Change" between right before and right the start of global economic strife. It's a horribly scewed comparison. Comparing a 5-year period of pandemic and war to the country's peak decades seems intentional...

[@assassincreed1238]

Canada needs to join the USA otherwise we’ll be fucked 😢

[@central3425]

Thats never going to happen

[@assassincreed1238]

@@central3425 Canadians are getting squeezed and we’re basically indentured servants

[@Spp235.]

One of the issues is that the very modest aspirations of our entrepreneurs…Most only aspire to grow a business and sell out to US acquirers. The US business only consolidate and wind down these companies. So no incentive to invest for the longer term. Am guessing that Entrepreneurs become simply burned-out by all the over-regulation and tax complexity that exists in Canada.

[@seanothepop4638]

Good use of the word "Entrepenure" for this. Any ogliopoly here is doing amazing, and they will even if they don't have a single customer because for every one customer "missing" from that ogliopoly the government subsidizes with taxes anyway, so if no one was paying rogers or bell for their services, our government told them to sit back, the tax payer will compensate every alleged missed penny. We didn't agree to that, liberal parties and conservative parties still did that over the Canadian people, who voted for them.

[@ani_ds12]

If I ask for a pay raise, the govt takes half of it, and I get half the job security

[@brockroth]

Stop calling it Canada. Its not Canada anymore.

[@hchalz]

The simply solution to productivity issue, is not to produce anything. Canada can easily make a lot of money by importing new immigrants and then sell them crazy expensive housing.

[@seanothepop4638]

We did that! The immigrants can't afford it either! As we'll see. I hate that they're being scammed though, like everyone else, in Canada, as it's a scam.

[@asinh1100]

Rich and corporate pay 15 pc tax .. common joe pays 35 pc

[@aleshpotocnik8060]

I need the best doctor in the world too for my office. I pay one dollar a month . Awesome!

[@MCBC_5]

Not productivity alone rather we have a competitiveness problem. That drives businesses and individuals who are competitive either to not invest in Canada or leave Canada which in turn pushes down productivity. The solution is to improve competitiveness mainly lowering taxes, opening up economy (aviation, telecom, services, mining etc..) and relying less on housing which is a major dampener in productivity and the most inefficient use of capital. BTW you dont need to be an economist to understand this, which makes the economist in the show unproductive lol

[@seanothepop4638]

Good, obvious, solution. Did you know so many people brought that up, even over the decades? I know I heard this in my early 20s, mid 50s now. You can see the problem but the solution is deliberately not being implemented. This is corruption. You should instead ask why such an obvious solution was not implemented half a century ago.

[@seanothepop4638]

And as you've said, easy to understand, it's corruption. We know what you're saying is good, no one missed that, for ages.

[@peterpike8887]

Trudough!

[@RuthSmith-b8d]

Davis Larry Garcia Shirley Rodriguez Thomas

[@maranorth]

Corporate taxes have been going down for decades. So how come lower taxes haven’t achieved what this expert says & incentivized businesses? You know what has happened instead… Massive corporations, massive monopolies that are bigger than governments were created. And govt then gives subsidies to auto, steel, mining, O&G and electric battery companies…. Why do these companies need lower taxes? They got BILLIONS in subsidies already. The issue is massive corp. achieving insane profits, paying their CEOs millions, while screwing over their workers. That has been the result of “trickle down economics”.

[@seanothepop4638]

Yeah like they tout what the solution is NOW but looking back we tried those and we see why they didn't work. This video is completely devoid of "the past" conceptually, it really is.

[@GeorLiza-w9f]

Perez Brian Williams Michael Lopez Mary

[@perryg5500]

Productivity is a problem as our Canadian work ethic has fallen to rock bottom. Everyone wants to make a ton of money and only work thirty hours a week just like most government entities.

[@Ndrw0912]

Reduce tax on small businesses, reduce the barriers for small businesses

[@TimothyGonzalez-h8w]

Walker Linda Lee William Martin Scott

[@ryguy5859]

On the plus side, tanking productivity and building lowers carbon emissions 🙃 all other huge polluting superpowers will surely follow suit. Our reputation as a country is as strong as ever 🙂‍↔️

[@seanothepop4638]

.....Is that plus side for sure? Not saying it's not, just askin!

[@andyzaremba3408]

This is dumb. Do you expect businesses that require people to invest in robotics? Not happening any time soon. Not to mention, when businesses try solutions to minimize workers, they get slammed for taking away jobs from Canadians. You’ve offered no solutions in this interview.

[@seanothepop4638]

Oh you need a solution? Universal basic income geared to inflation. If its not a compassionate solution it's just as automated as the eventual.

[@ad03dh]

Trudeau Canada

[@augustoliver2779]

Focusing solely on productivity will lead to unhappiness among Canadians, just as it has for their counterparts in the US. Don’t fall for the notion that Canadian workers are insufficient or that you need to produce more for less. Instead, prioritize quality of life and balance. Avoid following the path taken by the US.

[@matrixripp09]

weak have fun living on streets

[@endlessorbaggins8223]

Being less productive does not equal to being insufficient. Like it was said at the beginning of the video it sums up of how many hours it takes to generate 1$ income. A worker doing working 60 hours to paint a home with a brush is working really hard, doing overtime, etc but he is not productive. A worker using a roller and being able to paint the same house in 40 hours is more productive. Increasing productivity means bringing more $ for less efforts which means that companies can offer better wages and thus the standard of living increase. So yes we need to focus on productivity. Solely... not. I agree with you. We also need to decrease taxes and have governements that better manages spendings. And probably a lot of other things.

[@seanothepop4638]

That's the thing, we are overworked, we thought that would be the solution for a tanking economy and it's not. It's not working 8 hrs and getting too little pay, it's working 12-16 hours and getting less than little 8 hrs worth of pay. It's becoming that bad. It's not our ethics, we're homeless or starving if we do what you suggest, sorry.