Breaking the Glass: Boosting Productivity in Atlantic Canada’s Manufacturing Sector

Productivity in Canadian manufacturing peaked in 1997, but by 2010, the number of medium-sized manufacturers in Canada (firms with 100-499 employees) fell by 51%. At the same time, our imports from China increased by 456%. Today, 94% of our manufacturing firms are in the small category (less than 100 employees) and the medium category continues to shrink.

In March 2024, the Bank of Canada sounded the alarm on Canada’s productivity and declared that it is time to act and “break the glass” to correct it.

At this session, Manufacturing Consortium Advisor, Matt Weller, will lead a discussion around productivity in the Canadian manufacturing sector. Some things we will touch on include;

• The meaning of productivity and Statistics Canada vs Finance vs Manufacturing interpretations and concerns
• Challenges that inhibit productivity – what do manufacturers see as barriers?
• What manufacturers have tried and seen success with and how that success is measured.
• Lessons learned by sectors outside of manufacturing and how they can be applied in manufacturing setting. (Canada’s productivity crisis is not exclusive to manufacturing, and our tech sector is now declining as an example of struggles elsewhere).