{"id":590568,"date":"2026-04-08T16:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T16:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/590568\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T16:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T16:28:09","slug":"ontario-falling-behind-u-s-neighbours-in-gdp-per-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/590568\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario falling behind U.S. neighbours in GDP per person"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report suggests that Ontarians are falling behind their American neighbours when it comes to living standards.<\/p>\n

The study<\/a> conducted by right-wing think-tank the Fraser Institute finds Ontario ranks near the bottom of the Great Lakes region when it comes to GDP per person, a metric researchers use to evaluate economic prosperity. <\/p>\n

The study suggests the gap with nearby U.S. states has widened significantly over the past two decades.<\/p>\n

In fact, it said that from 2001 to 2024 the regional average GDP per person grew by 22.5 per cent while Ontario\u2019s only grew by 12.7 per cent. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithin North America\u2019s Great Lakes region, Ontario is clearly an economic laggard and its living standards are falling behind those of its neighbours,\u201d Jake Fuss, the institute\u2019s director of fiscal studies and a co-author of the report, said in a news release. <\/p>\n

Ontario near bottom of region<\/p>\n

In 2024, Ontario\u2019s GDP per person stood at $74,143, a number researchers marked as the \u201csecond-lowest\u201d among jurisdictions studied, ahead of only Quebec.<\/p>\n

By comparison, New York recorded $134,470 per person, while the regional average reached $94,523. That\u2019s roughly 27.5 per cent higher than Ontario.<\/p>\n

\"\"Fraser Institute Figure 1: GDP per Capita for Selected States and Provinces, 2024 (in CA$) – (Fraser Institute graph). <\/p>\n

The report examined nine jurisdictions across the Great Lakes region, including several major U.S. states such as Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, New York, and Pennsylvania among others.<\/p>\n

Researchers say they used GDP per capita as a measure for living standards, noting it reflects \u201coverall per-person economic production\u201d and is closely tied to \u201cjob creation and wage growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGDP growth helps drive job creation and wage growth and is therefore frequently used as a straightforward, if imperfect, measure of prosperity,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

Gap has widened over time<\/p>\n

The study also found the gap between Ontario and its regional peers has grown over time.<\/p>\n

As a result, the difference in prosperity has expanded significantly.<\/p>\n

In 2001, the regional average GDP per person was 23.7 per cent higher than Ontario\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"\"Toronto people \/ residents Commuters cross an intersection through traffic outside of Toronto’s Union Station on Tuesday, August 26, 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Chris Young <\/p>\n

By 2024, that gap had grown to 34.5 per cent which marks a 10.8 percentage increase.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means that the standard of living in Ontario is falling behind that of neighbouring U.S. states,\u201d officials noted in a media release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The report argues that weaker economic growth has broader implications beyond headline figures.<\/p>\n

Ontario\u2019s slower growth \u201chas translated into less job creation, slower wage growth, and more pressure on public finances than would be the case in the presence of more robust growth,\u201d the study notes.<\/p>\n

Researchers caution that GDP per capita does not capture everything such as income distribution but say it remains one of the most comprehensive indicators of overall prosperity.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo single metric captures the whole picture. However, the most comprehensive measure of overall prosperity is real GDP per capita,\u201d the report read. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for Ontarians generally\u2014and policymakers specifically\u2014to understand that the province is falling behind its neighbouring jurisdictions,\u201d Fuss concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe province\u2019s relatively poor economic performance in recent years has real consequences for the economic well-being of Ontarians.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new report suggests that Ontarians are falling behind their American neighbours when it comes to living standards.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[712,45,49,48,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-590568","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}