Canada’s business investment per worker slides to half the US level over two decades

Provincial divide

Provincial results varied widely. In 2014, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan, Canada’s three main oil-producing provinces, posted business investment per worker well above the US figure of $23,263, at $56,401, $53,779 and $48,715 respectively.

Every other province sat below both the US level and the national average of $20,310, with Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s two largest provinces, below roughly half the US figure.

By 2024, that picture had reversed. Only Saskatchewan, at $33,386, still topped the US figure of $30,555. Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador had each fallen to roughly half their 2014 levels, landing at $27,294 and $24,241. Five provinces recorded outright declines in investment per worker from 2014 to 2024: Newfoundland and Labrador dropped 54.9%, Alberta fell 51.6%, Saskatchewan declined 31.5%, Manitoba slid 27.9% and Nova Scotia eased back 13.3%.

Gains elsewhere were more modest. New Brunswick posted the strongest provincial increase at 24.3%, followed by Quebec at 21.9%, Ontario at 14.3%, Prince Edward Island at 13.4% and British Columbia at 6.4%, all well below the 31.3% growth rate recorded in the US over the same period.

Behind the numbers

The study points to the 2014 oil price collapse as a major factor behind Canada’s decline, noting that oil and gas investment failed to recover in Canada as it did in the US once prices stabilized.