In 2023, 98% of companies were defined as small, while medium\u2011sized firms accounted for another 1.5%. Just 0.3% were large employers, yet those firms employed more than a third of Canadians and were most likely to make large capital investments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rogers argued that stronger investment in machinery, equipment and intellectual property, including AI, is essential \u201cto make long\u2011term fundamental change, to raise growth on a more permanent basis, to increase production per employee, increase our living standard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiff Macklem, the Bank of Canada\u2019s governor, previously underlined that AI adoption among Canadian firms remains\u00a0limited, even as the technology offers\u00a0a potential way to raise the economy\u2019s speed limit\u00a0without reigniting inflation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Policy thinkers also pushed for a more targeted debate about who would capture AI\u2019s gains. \u201cWe can\u2019t just blindly chase productivity gains through AI adoption itself,\u201d said Vass Bednar of the Canadian Shield Institute. \u201cGains will accrue to the firms that own the intangible layer like data, intellectual property, models and computing access.\u201d<\/p>\n