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IV. Conclusion
This paper has made the case that productivity is our economic destiny and that
Canada’s dismal productivity performance, both from a historical and international
perspective, therefore represents our biggest economic challenge. It then put forward
three specific policies to improve Canada’s productivity performance: foster the diffusion
of best-practice technologies; remove the provincial sales tax on purchases of machinery
and equipment; and promote interprovincial movement of workers by improving labour
market information, removing professional barriers to labour mobility, and establishing a
tax credit for interprovincial job search. The short-term costs of these policies would be
greatly outweighed by the long-term benefits.