{"id":905581,"date":"2026-09-22T17:32:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T17:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/905581\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T17:32:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T17:32:27","slug":"industry-roadblocks-are-stifling-canadas-economic-potential-report-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/905581\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry roadblocks are stifling Canada\u2019s economic potential, report says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Crude oil tankers dock at the Trans Mountain Westridge Marine Terminal, where crude oil is loaded onto tankers, in Burnaby, B.C., in 2024. Canada’s energy sector is one of five industries discussed in a new report.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Amid Canada\u2019s aspirations to be a global economic power, a new report from PwC Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce says barriers in key industries are preventing the country from reaching its full potential. <\/p>\n

The report said the country has fallen short of fully achieving sustained economic leadership, competitive companies or globally scaled industries. That\u2019s in spite of advantages such as natural resources, research institutions, an educated work force, political stability and privileged access to global markets. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe big take-away is that Canada is excellent at finding resources and creating IP. But now this is about making sure that we keep more of that value at home when it comes to processing, commercialization and scaling,\u201d Anita McOuat, a national managing partner of clients and industries at PwC Canada, said in an interview. <\/p>\n

She added that barriers identified in the report are fixable and within Canada\u2019s control to address. <\/p>\n

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The report, released Tuesday, took input from business leaders and stakeholders in key industries including artificial intelligence<\/a>, mining<\/a> and critical minerals, energy<\/a>, defence<\/a> and agriculture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the artificial intelligence sector, the authors said that while Canada was an early leader, there are financing gaps for companies in the growth stage.<\/p>\n

While Canada has robust geological resources, the report said relatively few projects move quickly \u2013 with new production sometimes taking 10 to 15 years.<\/p>\n

The report said the cost and time associated with constructing mines and processing facilities are obstacles to private investment. <\/p>\n

Despite Canada\u2019s position as a major energy producer, the report highlights that 85 per cent of exports go to the United States and new infrastructure is needed for access to different markets. <\/p>\n

The report said that unless Canada reforms its defence procurement system and develops domestic capabilities, increases in spending could accelerate foreign purchases with fewer benefits to domestic firms. <\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s government is increasing efforts to boost defence spending and investment in the sector. <\/p>\n

For agriculture, the authors said there are opportunities in processing, ingredients technology and more. <\/p>\n

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Across Canada\u2019s economy, the report points to common barriers like slow regulatory permitting processes, limited capital for growth, costly infrastructure bottlenecks and more. <\/p>\n

McOuat said the removal of structural barriers could allow businesses to better deploy capital. <\/p>\n

However, the report says the next decade presents an opportunity for change as global demand for energy, critical minerals, food, defence and technology align with Canada\u2019s strategic advantages. <\/p>\n

The report comes as trade tensions between Canada and the United States have intensified recently, prompting efforts to diversify the Canadian economy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not about decreasing what we do with the U.S., but it\u2019s about expanding our ability to do more domestically and with the rest of the world,\u201d McOuat said. <\/p>\n

For Canada\u2019s economy to reach its potential, the report\u2019s authors said a new model of public-private collaboration may be required, with a more business-oriented public sector. <\/p>\n

The report said Canada is capable of producing \u201cmore global champions,\u201d but market forces haven\u2019t been sufficient in driving outcomes. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf structural barriers such as growth-stage capital gaps, slow procurement, fragmented policy support and limited domestic demand signals cannot be addressed quickly, governments may need to play a more active role in fostering globally competitive Canadian firms.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Crude oil tankers dock at the Trans Mountain Westridge Marine Terminal, where crude…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-905581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905581","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=905581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}