We've obviously seen some very unusual swings in the data on productivity in Canada. Initially, productivity seemed to surge during the COVID pandemic, but that was a composition effect resulting from the loss of so many lower-wage, lower-productivity jobs during the pandemic. Then productivity came back down as industries like hospitality and retail reopened and people went back to work in those sectors.
We still haven't fully adapted to the shocks of the pandemic. I believe there are some measurement issues involved in the swings as well. Other industrial countries have also reported big swings in productivity measurements. Hopefully, we're starting to see a normalization of productivity growth, which should be carrying on at 1% or more each year, thanks to technology, skills and other factors.
In my judgment, however, I do think that productivity is an important to issue in the longer run. We need more policies that try to better value labour and equip workers with more capital equipment and skills, so they can do their jobs to the utmost. I think poor business investment and innovation performance in Canada has been part of our problem.