Under the leadership of Trevor Tombe, the initiative includes more than 30 team members, the federal government, and universities in four provinces.
The University of Calgary will lead a national effort to strengthen Canada's economic productivity and enhance the country's long-term resilience and prosperity through a 15-year investment from the Government of Canada.
Recognizing the urgent need to address Canada's declining productivity relative to our major trading partners, UCalgary's School of Public Policy hosted Canada's Productivity Summit in Fall 2024 and followed it up with a series of sessions in cities across the country over the last year.
Now, through a $6-million investment from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), UCalgary economics professor Dr. Trevor Tombe, PhD, will direct 30 researchers across 15 organizations in a new national research partnership in an expanded Canada's Productivity Initiative to develop policy recommendations to boost productivity nationally.
The 15-year grant is the first bestowed by SSHRC through its new Policy Innovation Partnership Grants program. The program was developed to fund long-term research programs that have a sustained focus and flexibility to tackle enduring policy challenges. Canada's Productivity Initiative will leverage high-impact research in the social sciences and humanities to develop and enact transformative economic policy.
"Boosting Canada's productivity requires bold ideas, strong partnerships and research that drives real-world impact. This investment brings together leading experts from across the country and will generate the evidence and insight needed to shape smarter economic policy for the long term," says Melanie Joly, minister of industry and minister responsible for Canada economic development for Quebec regions.
"The Government of Canada is proud to support this innovative, collaborative work that strengthens Canada's competitiveness and builds a more prosperous future for all Canadians."
Following the national summit in Calgary in fall 2024, Canada's Productivity Initiative held follow-up events across Canada to address specific aspects of productivity. Sessions were in Ottawa (tax, competition policy), Halifax (interprovincial trade), Vancouver (infrastructure, transportation), Montreal (talent, immigration), Saskatoon (agriculture, natural resources), and will conclude in Toronto (innovation, technology) on Feb. 12, 2026.
"This investment recognizes the University of Calgary as the leading national research institution on addressing the challenges of Canada's flagging productivity," says UCalgary President and Vice-Chancellor Ed McCauley.
UCalgary President and Vice-Chancellor Ed McCauley
"We didn't wait to be asked to take this on, we put our considerable research excellence on the table and began asking the tough questions that will lead to solutions," McCauley says.
"I'm thrilled the School of Public Policy has been tasked by the federal government to get this important work done."
Under the leadership of Tombe, director of economic and fiscal policy at the School of Public Policy and professor of economics in the Faculty of Arts, this partnership brings together more than 30 team members, six federal government partners and university partners in four provinces.
Through working groups, embedded researcher programs and joint conferences, Canada's Productivity Initiative will support lasting collaboration between researchers and policymakers, producing knowledge and evidence that can be applied to long-term decision-making.
"Productivity has been an issue for Canada for a long time and it's getting worse. We can't just talk about it," says Martha Hall Findlay, director, School of Public Policy and James S. and Barbara A. Palmer Chair in Public Policy.
"We are focused on the actionable things we can finally do to turn our productivity challenges around," she says. "For the School of Public Policy, this is an incredible opportunity to build on the great work we did in the last year, now with others across the country."
Adds Tombe: "Productivity is at the heart of nearly every economic challenge Canada faces today from affordability and trade competitiveness to the sustainability of our public finances."
With the inaugural competition launched in September 2025, SSHRC's Policy Innovation Partnership Grants is a pilot program designed to support partnerships between post-secondary institutions and at least one federal government department and establish long-term research programs focusing on areas of importance to Canada's future.
Canada's Productivity Initiative includes federal government partners (Bank of Canada; Finance Canada; Global Affairs Canada; Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada; and Statistics Canada), university partners (HEC Montréal; Memorial University; Western University; McMaster University; and the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto) and non-governmental partners (Centre for the Study of Living Standards, Alberta Centre for Labour Market Research, and Canadian AI Adoption Initiative).
