Montréal, March 16, 2023 – Without a fundamental reform of Quebec’s many business-support programs, it will not be able to meet the government’s objective of matching Ontario’s standard of living by 2036; worse yet, the province may well enter the same downward spiral that has afflicted the Canadian economy as a whole since 2015. This is the main conclusion of Productivité et prospérité au Québec – Bilan 2022, the latest edition of the annual overview of Quebec’s productivity and prosperity, released today by the Centre for Productivity and Prosperity – Walter J. Somers Foundation (CPP).
“Poor productivity has always been the Achilles’ heel of Quebec’s economy,” says Robert Gagné, CPP Director and co-author of the study. “Even though the province has made some headway in recent years, simply focusing new business-support policies on productivity will not be enough to maintain these gains. In the short term, Quebec is in danger of hitting a wall if it doesn’t bring in reforms. Basically, its strategy continues to aim at the wrong targets, and so will remain just as costly and ineffective as it has been for 25 years now.”
