Australians enjoy higher labour productivity growth—and living standards—than Canadians due largely to improvements in their mining and energy sector

VANCOUVER—Australians have enjoyed higher labour productivity growth—a key driver of higher living standards—than Canadians over the last 25 years due largely to greater improvements in the mining and energy sector, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. “The evidence is clear—Australian workers have improved their productivity at a higher rate than Canadian workers over the last 25 years, giving rise to a widening gap in living standards between the two countries,” said Stephen Kirchner, senior fellow with the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Canadian-Australian Business Sector Productivity Gap: A Sectoral Analysis.