Comparing Canadian and U.S. Manufacturing

Canada and the United States share a manufacturing economy, even though their national borders prevent people from seeing this fact.

A recent study on how Canadian manufacturing compares to manufacturing in the U.S. provides interesting and useful insights. Macroeconomic factors play a major role in the performance of both the Canadian and U.S. manufacturing sector.

Note: While overall shipment volumes are keeping up with those in the United States, one area where Canada's factories may be lagging is in profits. From their low in 2002 to 2004, manufacturing profits increased 191% in the United States compared to only 19% in Canada. This may reflect the severe squeeze on prices from the stronger dollar.

The study "Is Canada's manufacturing lagging compared with the US?" is now available for free online.