CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF LIVING STANDARDS The Key Challenge for Canadian Public Policy: Generating Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth

Recent economic and fiscal projections produced by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards suggest that revenue growth over the next 23 years in most provinces and territories will be insufficient to maintain recent increases in health expenditures while holding other spending constant on a real per capita basis. Motivated by these fiscal challenges, we present a series of policy recommendations for Canada’s governments at all levels to foster greater economic growth. Higher GDP not only offers a means to raise government revenues, it also directly raises the well-being of Canadians. We consider options to boost economic growth in two broad ways. First, by boosting Canada’s productivity performance through policies promoting private and public investment, education, technological innovation and diffusion, and trade. Second, by tapping into Canada’s underutilized labour supply, particularly by assisting women, older workers, persons with disabilities, Aboriginal people, and immigrants in successfully participating in the workforce. The recommendations in this report are guided by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development’s green growth and inclusive growth frameworks and by the idea that government should take a more active role in supporting th