Chart of the Week: Canada GDP - Decade in review  

The federal government has diagnosed the right problem (weak investment and productivity), but now needs to work with provinces and territories to fix it. 2026 is the year of execution.

Our Chart of the Week shows economic growth in Canada has been fueled by the consumer and government (for the most part) over the past 10 years, enabled in part by high debt burdens and low interest rates.

Lagging way behind is investment. It’s exports too, but it’s hard to export more without investment in trade infrastructure and new production facilities.

The 10-year time frame in this chart doesn’t fully capture the investment story. Investment still remains well below the 2014 peak, prior to the sharp pullback in energy investment.

Now all eyes are on Canada’s ability to execute on big projects again. Doing so would lead to a much needed rotation to investment-led growth.