Performance Of Canada S Manufacturing Sector

This study reviews the importance of the manufacturing sector to the Canadian economy. The first part analyzes the sector in seven sections, each of which outlines a different thread related to sectoral performance: the presence of manufacturing industries in the Canadian economy, labour productivity in Canada and in comparison with other countries, employment performance, destinations of manufacturing shipments, production costs, and capital investment by industrial group. The second & final part attempts to explain the similarities & differences found in the performance of individual industries described in part one. It reports on the use of advanced technologies, summarizes connectedness in manufacturing, discusses innovation and human capital issues, and notes major challenges faced by the sector.

From the Executive Summary: The purpose of this study is to measure and analyse the recent performance of Canadian manufacturing and to examine the extent to which the recent weakness of this key sector of the Canadian economy reflects cyclical factors in Canada and other industrialized countries as opposed to structural problems which are long-term in nature. The analysis proceeds first at an aggregate level in which the performance of the manufacturing sector as a whole is viewed relative to the performance of the overall economy. Then the manufacturing sector is divided into 32 separate industries in order to get a clearer view of Canada's areas of strength and weakness within manufacturing.

This paper examines the determinants of innovation and the role of innovation in productivity growth, shifts in market share, and survival in the Canadian manufacturing sector. It presents a model that examines the effect of innovation on plant performance and plant survival, using a unique data set that allows development of a detailed time profile of plant performance both before & after the introduction of an innovation. Both process innovation and product innovation are considered along with their linkages to labour productivity, survival rates, plant performance, and gain in market share. Relationships between innovation and research & development, technology competencies, and previous innovation & growth are also explored.

"Industrial R&D (IR&D) is the private sector's investment of time and resources in the development of new ideas, technologies, and processes to promote business performance and create better products. IR&D also contributes to meeting pressing social challenges, ranging from development of new medical treatments to mitigation of environmental impacts to changing the ways in which Canadians work together. The returns on investments in IR&D can be high for the firms undertaking it, the economy at large, and, in particular, the region in which the IR&D takes place. IR&D and innovation are not synonymous. IR&D consists of any scientific research or technology development undertaken by Canadian businesses. Innovation, on the other hand, is a broader concept that can be defined as 'new or better ways of doing valued things.' IR&D is a critical driver of innovation, which, in turn, plays an important role in catalyzing productivity gains across the economy, thereby stimulating wealth creation and improving living standards for all Canadians. The historically low rate of investment in IR&D in Canada compared to other countries is one of the key factors that also accounts for the consistently wide gap in productivity growth between Canada and the United States"--Executive summary.