Turning investors – and prosperity – away at the door
Confidence in Canada as a destination for business spending is in steep decline. Given the importance of business investment and entrepreneurship to prosperity, the federal government should be concerned. But by all accounts, they’re not.
The latest evidence of government disinterest comes in the form of last month’s federal budget.
According to Statistics Canada, every category of business investment has declined (except residential housing) since peaking in the final quarter of 2014. Total business investment, excluding residential structures, (adjusted for inflation) is down 16.8 percent. That includes declines in non-residential structures (down 23.3 percent), machinery and equipment (down 6.6 percent) and intellectual property (down 13.8 percent).
And StatsCan’s survey of the investment intentions of private businesses shows further declines in 2018 are expected – the fourth straight year of decline.