Project profile: Canada’s productivity initiative
At a glance
2026-2040
Project timeline
$6,000,000
Awarded
14
Partners involved
34
Participants involved
$2,789,565
Anticipated cash and in-kind contributions during the first 5 years
Summary and objectives
This partnership is a first-of-its-kind national research initiative. It will establish a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to understanding and addressing Canada’s productivity challenge by combining academic research with sustained policy engagement. Hosted at the University of Calgary, the partnership will receive $6 million over 15 years. It will be directed by Trevor Tombe, professor of economics at the University of Calgary, and director of economic and fiscal policy at the School of Public Policy.
Uniting partners from the university, government and non-governmental sectors in a long-term collaboration, Tombe and his team will generate actionable evidence, train a new generation of productivity scholars and embed knowledge into decision-making. Students and postdoctoral fellows will play a central role across all activities and will be supported by mentors, government internships, and more.
The partnership will advance four interconnected themes:
- economic foundations (public finance, trade, labour markets);
- institutional infrastructure (federalism, human capital, urban issues);
- innovation and business dynamism (market structure, capital markets, innovate-led growth); and
- artificial intelligence.
Each theme is designed to deliver practical tools, datasets and analysis to guide reform.
By combining world-class research with policy co-creation guided by partners, this partnership will improve Canada’s productivity performance and build lasting national capacity to design and implement reforms essential to inclusive prosperity.
Academic partners
University of Calgary, McMaster University, Western University, HEC Montréal, Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and Memorial University. Additional research team members are from McGill University, Carleton University, University of Alberta, University of Waterloo, as well as others.
Federal partners
Innovation, Science and Economic Development; Finance Canada; the Bank of Canada; Global Affairs Canada; Statistics Canada; and Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada are engaged from the outset of the project through working groups, embedded researcher programs, and joint conferences.
Non-governmental partners
The Centre for the Study of Living Standards; the Alberta Centre for Labour Market Research; and the Canadian AI Adoption Initiative.
Project outcomes
Peer-reviewed publications, open-access datasets, interactive dashboards, policy briefs aligned with policy cycles, annual national conferences, etc.
Trevor Tombe: Growing Productivity Means More Opportunities for Everyone
Project director Trevor Tombe speaks at The Walrus Talks at Home: Growing Canadian Productivity on October 7, 2025.