Business investment in Canada barely enough to offset depreciation since 2018

Bad news!

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• Canada’s stagnant productivity performance over the past decade is tied to weak investment in non-residential assets such as factories, plants, machinery, equipment, and intellectual property.
• While there is some understanding of the country’s weak national performance in attracting investment, the performance of individual provinces is less well known and is important for an understanding of the current tensions within the country.
• Between 2018 and 2025, three provinces experienced an average annual decline in the overall value of their non-residential assets, meaning that the current levels of investment were insufficient to offset the depreciation (i.e., wear and tear) of existing assets.
• Alberta (-1.05%), Newfoundland & Labrador (-0.67 percent), and Saskatchewan (-0.44 percent) all recorded average annual real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) declines in the value of the stock of non-residential assets like plants, machinery, equipment, and intellectual property. Put simply, the stock of these assets was worth less in 2025 than it was in 2018 (inflation-adjusted).
• Over the same period, the nation as a whole recorded markedly weak growth in the stock of non-residential assets (0.99 percent), on an average annual basis.

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Business investment in Canada barely enough to offset depreciation since 2018 with actual declines in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador