Carmichael: How free trade with the U.S. made Canadian businesses lazy
Former prime minister Stephen Harper argued that deliberate policy choices after 2015 prevented Canada from becoming an energy superpower, but Canada’s economic challenges reflect a more complex mix of climate policy, housing, resource investment and structural changes in the oil industry, writes Kevin Carmichael. An Export Development Canada study highlights a longer-term decline in Canada’s economic complexity, with the country falling from 17th in 1995 to 35th in 2024, and suggests factors including dependence on commodities and overreliance on the U.S. market have limited the development of higher-value industries and exports. Carmichael argues that policymakers should move beyond simply negotiating trade agreements by designing trade policy around global supply chains and investing in the capabilities, services and products needed for Canadian businesses to compete internationally.
