Canadian economic performance has been plagued by weak growth in private investment, productivity and output for more than a decade. The tariffs implemented by the U.S. administration have magnified Canada’s economic malaise and reinforced the need for a more robust economic pathway with reduced reliance on the U.S. Broad tax reform should be part of a strategy to build resilience and fuel growth.

What would a new direction look like? My recent research report for the CSA Public Policy Centre, “Building Resilience: The Next Phase of Economic Development and Growth in Canada,” identifies promoting domestic economic growth as the top priority, one that is entirely within our control. Domestic action would be supported by accelerating global trade diversification, renewing and respecting the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and speeding up adaptation to climate change and the low-carbon energy transition.

The report recommends promoting domestic economic growth primarily by eliminating internal barriers, pursuing a sustained increase in public and private investment and advancing broad tax reform to create better economic incentives and reduce tax administration. The federal government and various provincial governments are now focusing on strengthening investment and removing internal barriers. But broad tax reform has received little public attention even though it too can........

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