(Montreal) The wealth gap between Quebec and the rest of Canada is narrowing, but the business environment as a whole is leveling off when we take into account 21 indicators chosen by the Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ ).
The CPQ awards a “C” to the province in its traditional Bulletin of the economic prosperity of Quebec, unveiled Thursday. The note is unchanged from the first edition of 2010 and from the pre-pandemic edition of 2019.
“The Bulletin clearly identifies the aspects on which we need to work more to improve our economic performance: early school leaving, the activity rate of older workers, the business environment and entrepreneurial intensity”, summarizes the President and CEO of direction of the CPQ, Karl Blackburn, in a press release.
The CPQ’s approach compares Quebec’s position with the Canadian average, with Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as with member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD ).
Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita at purchasing power parity remains lower in Quebec compared to the Canadian average and to OECD countries, notes the report which uses 2020 data.
The CPQ points out that the gap has been decreasing since 2010. Thus, the gap, which was 20% in 2011, has fallen to 12% in 2020.
Overall, Quebec does well for the number of people with a postsecondary education, but school dropout worries the employers’ association.
In Quebec, 8% of young people aged 20 to 24 do not have a high school diploma and do not attend school. This proportion is only 4.5% on average in Canada.
“School dropouts also jeopardize the economic strength of Quebec by depriving society of qualified workers,” warns the report.
In a context of labor scarcity, the CPQ believes that there is room for improvement for the economic integration of immigrants and for the participation of experienced workers in the labor market.
In Quebec, the activity rate of people aged 60 to 69 is 39%. This threshold is 46% in Ontario, 48% in Alberta and 45% in British Columbia.
The economic integration of immigrants has improved in both Canada and Quebec over the past decade, thanks to a greater share of immigrants with an economic profile and a context of labor scarcity. . Quebec remains behind the Canadian average in this regard, while the unemployment rate of the immigrant population established in Quebec for five to ten years is on average 1.63 times that of the native population for the four-year period between 2018 and 2021. .
Quebec does well in certain respects, including the effective tax rate on investment and research and development expenditures. The CPQ also notes improvements in the rate of obtaining an undergraduate university degree, the integration of immigrants into the labor market and the weight of the public debt in relation to the economy.