Immigration drives “massive” decline in productivity

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Earlier this year, the National Bank of Canada released startling research showing how Canada is caught in a “population trap” of falling productivity and living standards.

Canada population surge

The research argued that Canada’s “demographic ambitions are too high relative to the stock of capital available in the country. According to our calculations, Canada’s capital stock per capita collapsed close to 1.5% in 2023″:

Canada capital shallowing
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“This means that our population is growing so fast that we do not have enough savings to stabilize our capital-labour ratio and achieve an increase in GDP per capita”.

Canada living standards

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.