Commentary
Canada’s economy has grown, but too many Canadians no longer feel more prosperous. Productivity has stalled, business investment has weakened, housing affordability has deteriorated, and confidence in upward mobility has declined. The empty storefronts appearing in shopping malls across the country are not the cause of this decline, but they are among its most visible symptoms.
For generations, Canada’s prosperity rested on a confident middle class. Families earned good incomes, bought homes, raised children, and supported the businesses that anchored communities across the country. Today, globalization, automation, and artificial intelligence are reshaping the economy at extraordinary speed, while Canada is struggling to generate the investment and productivity needed to maintain rising living standards….