An Encore Presentation for Ontario Community Partners

Productivity in Canadian manufacturing peaked in 1997, but by 2010, the number of medium-sized manufacturers in Canada (firms with 100-499 employees) had plummeted by 51%. Today, a staggering 94% of our manufacturing firms fall into the small category (less than 100 employees), while the medium-sized category continues to shrink. This has startling implications for our economy, negatively impacts seemingly unrelated sectors, and is often felt as loss of employment and opportunity for local communities. 2025 promises to be a year of disruption in trade, economics, and politics. Now more than ever, Canada needs to re-think its approach to manufacturing.

To respond to this, EMC is excited to announce the launch of a new initiative to gain insights from our manufacturing sectors that have not been possible previously, empowering firms to better understand and manage their supply chains, identify domestic market opportunities, promote east-west trade, and improve competitiveness in the global market.

Matt Weller, EMC’s Senior Advisor, Supply Chain & Productivity will discuss Canada’s manufacturing sector, and the opportunities to and the work required to improve our declining productivity. Key topics to be addressed include:

• Manufacturing in Canada: An overview of the number and sizes of manufacturers by employment, and contribution to GDP.
• Understanding Productivity: Examining different interpretations from the perspective of Statistics Canada, Finance, and Manufacturing, and why it matters to local economies.
• Reversing the Trend: How did we get here, what are the vulnerabilities at the national and local levels, and what can we do to reverse the trend from the local levels up.
• Mapping our Manufacturing Ecosystem: EMC’s new initiative to connect manufacturers, increase visibility to domestic markets, and promote east-west trade.

Join us for this important conversation and the unveiling of a new initiative that could help reverse Canada’s productivity crisis—starting with the manufacturing sector.