Canada Productivity  1981-2017 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast | News

Labour productivity of Canadian businesses fell 0.1 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2017, following a downwardly revised 1.3 percent increase in the previous period and worse than market expectations of 0.9 percent. It is the first drop following three consecutive quarters of growth. There was a recovery in hours worked, with business output rising faster. The real GDP of businesses rose 1.3 percent. Service-producing businesses (-0.3 percent) were the largest contributor to the decline in productivity in Q2, partially offset by a 0.6% increase in goods-producing businesses. Growth was widespread, except for agriculture and forestry sectors. Hours worked rose at the same pace in both goods-producing (+1.2 percent) and service-producing (+1.4 percent) businesses. They were up in every major industrial sector except agriculture and forestry (-1.3 percent), information and cultural industries (-0.8 percent) and utilities (-0.3 percent). Productivity in Canada averaged 89.04 Index Points from 1981 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 109.64 Index Points in the first quarter of 2017 and a record low of 69.08 Index Points in the third quarter of 1981.