Under development: A research-practice partnership between leading scholars and the Canadian federal government to diagnose productivity frictions, rigorously evaluate solutions, and scale what works to catalyze economic growth.

Canada faces a persistent, multi-causal productivity shortfall; the economy’s performance lags peer countries, with weak productivity growth at its core. This collaboration is built to meet that challenge, convening Canada’s top productivity researchers and policy leaders in a national hub for evidence-informed innovation.

Canada has world-class research and committed policy actors, yet lacks a durable platform to translate academic research into scalable, context-sensitive policy action. The Canadian Productivity Observatory (CPO) provides it through an integrated policy innovation pipeline, linking rigorous research to real-world policy design and implementation. When short- and long-term evidence moves through a directed pipeline connecting stakeholders with diverse mandates—each invested in lifting Canadian productivity—, governments are better informed to act and tackle the structural levers of Canada’s long-term productivity. These foundations position the CPO to move evidence rapidly from analysis to implementation across three interconnected research clusters.

Research Clusters

1. Firm Productivity and Sectoral Dynamics. We tackle aggregate productivity from the bottom up, through firm-level performance in a global context.
2. Innovation, Knowledge, and Skills. We address Canada’s gaps in knowledge, workforce skills, and intangible, idea-based investments.
3. Competition and Market Power. We examine how concentrated markets dampen competitive pressures and productivity-enhancing investments.

Expected Outcomes