There are two main problems, in my view, and I wrote a paper on this before I was at U15, called “Engines of Growth”.
One is that industrial composition that is too tilted vis-à-vis consumption and not enough vis-à-vis production. Our economy relies too much on real estate and not enough on people who are producing things and services.
Second is the lack of scale. Per capita, we have three times fewer large firms in Canada than the U.S. so, by definition, SMEs will have a harder time. It's not their fault; it's just that they're smaller. Invest R and D in the economy.
We need, as a public policy objective, to scale our domestic companies so they can invest their dollars in the economy, in R and D, for example.