An Analysis of Productivity Trends in the Canadian Forest Products Sector, 2000-2012

• Main Author: Ricardo de Avillez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centre for the Study of Living Standards 2014-09-01
• Series: International Productivity Monitor
• Subjects: forest products sector; canada; labour productivity; economic trends; economy
• Online Access: http://www.csls.ca/ipm/27/27-rda.pdf

The 2000-2012 period was a difficult time for the Canadian forest products sector. Yet despite an unfavourable environment the sector experienced an above-average productivity performance, driven in particular by the wood product manufacturing subsector. While the forestry and logging subsector has also benefited from strong productivity gains, the productivity performance of the paper manufacturing subsector has been far from impressive, especially in the post-2008 period. This article provides a detailed analysis of output, input and productivity trends in the Canadian forest products sector. It also looks at the key drivers of productivity in the sector, investigating potential barriers to productivity growth and discussing policies that could enable faster growth. Given the increasing role of countries with low-labour costs in several forest product markets, maintaining robust productivity growth is an imperative for the Canadian forest products sector if it wants to remain competitive internationally. In this sense, the article recommends renewed focus on human and physical capital investment, as well as on R&D spending.