Canada’s CUSMA problem is a productivity problem

Canada needs a domestic productivity agenda pursued with the same urgency now devoted to Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement negotiations.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. For decades, Canada has lagged behind its peer countries—especially the United States—in output per hour worked (labour productivity), contributing to a widening prosperity gap, write Parisa Mahboubi and Tingting Zhang.Photograph courtesy of Flickr/The White House

Opinion

BY PARISA MAHBOUBI, TINGTING ZHANG

July 22, 2026

When Canada went into its recent review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, debate centred on tariffs, market access, and potential job losses. Those concerns are well-founded. More than 70 per cent of

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