Labour force ageing and productivity performance in Canada

This paper studies the direct impact of labour force ageing on productivity growth in 10 Canadian provinces over the period 1981-2001, with an outlook to 2046. It shows that older workers are, on average, less productive than younger workers and that labour force ageing has a modest negative direct impact on productivity growth in Canada. The impact has increased since the middle of the 1990s, will peak in 2001-11, and tail off afterwards. During the peak period, productivity growth in Canada will be reduced by 0.13 to 0.23 percentage points per year, with Newfoundland being hit the hardest.