Global competitiveness issues for Canada

Introduction

The central issue in becoming globally competitive is how to create the conditions for rapid and sustained productivity growth in a particular industry. The reason why we are discussing competitiveness of Canada is because it directly relates to our ability to live in a country with a decent economy in the future, which can support a lifestyle which we presently enjoy. There are many factors that influence productivity growth, to name a few: education, skill attainment and experience of workers as well as the capital equipment available to them. Public policies - including trade, fiscal, regulatory, education, healthcare, infrastructure, immigration and Labour market policies have a great influence on productivity. Research and development, and commercialization also play a role, in particular the extent to which new technology is adopted and diffused. Additionally, foreign direct investment is also important to productivity from the perspective of physical investments as well as the transfer of new technology, management strategies and workplace practices.

English: Foreign direct investment incoming in Jor...

English: Graphics depicting foreign direct investm...

Gold Bar and Investment Jewelry

In this paper, we would focus on Investment in Human capital and Physical capital as a tool to measure Canadian competitiveness. The measurement of impact of these productivity drivers on GDP per capita highlights their importance while influencing the nation's productivity (for details refer to Table 1 - Appendix A). The analysis will be done by benchmarking and comparison of measures to that of countries having similar or higher standard of living including member countries of Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Human Capital

Human Resources play an important role in a nation's productivity performance. The form and extent of an individual's involvement in the labour market is affected by their level of education, skills and training as well as incentives (or lack thereof) in the personal income tax system. Employers' access to skilled labour can be affected by...