The Conference Board of Canada has published a new briefing entitled “Who Dimmed the Lights? Canada’s Declining Global Competitiveness Ranking” that examines Canada’s current competitiveness in light of the recent World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013, which ranked Canada 14th globally. Canada dropped two positions this year in the WEF’s report, with some of the critical commentary in the report including:
“Canada falls two positions to 14th place in this year’s rankings. Although Canada continues to benefit from highly efficient markets (with its goods, labor, and financial markets ranked 13th, 4th, and 11th, respectively), well-functioning and transparent institutions (11th), and excellent infrastructure (13th), it is being dragged down by a less favorable assessment of the quality of its research institutions and the government’s role in promoting innovation through procurement practices. In a similar fashion, although Canada has been successful in nurturing its human resources compared with other advanced economies (it is ranked 7th for health and primary education and 15th for higher education and training), the data suggest a slight downward trend of its performance in higher education (ranking 8th place on higher education and training two years ago), driven by lower university enrollment rates and a decline in the extent to which staff is being trained at the workplace.”
Top 10 “most problematic factors for doing business in Canada” in the WEF’s report were: an inefficient government bureaucracy, insufficient capital to innovate, inadequate access to funding, inadequately educated workforce, tax rates, tax regulations, restrictive labor practices, inadequate infrastructure, a poor work ethic and policy instability.
From the Conference Board:
“This briefing provides a Canadian perspective on the findings of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2012–2013. It provides an overview of Canada’s standing in the Global Competitiveness Index rankings, examines the underpinnings of Canada’s competitiveness, and draws attention to a number of obstacles that prevent Canada from becoming a more competitive and productive country. In particular it highlights how Canada continues to underutilize its strengths (e.g., institutions, infrastructure, higher education, and labour force) for innovation and performance success.”
For a copy of the Conference Board’s new briefing see: Who Dimmed the Lights? Declining Global Competitiveness Ranking.
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