The 2012-2013 Global Competitiveness Index recently published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) is definite. Canada's lack of innovation is weakening its competitiveness and prosperity. Explanations.
9th in 2009, 10th in 2010, then 12th in 2011, Canada has once again this year lost rank to find itself at 14th in the Global Competitiveness Index. This consists of three sub-indices. In the field of innovation and sophistication the country gets the worst result, dropping from 15th to 21st rank from last year. No other country has experienced such a drop, according to the Conference Board of Canada. Regarding the basic requirements (institutions, infrastructure and macro-economic environment), the country ranked 14th, one place lower then in 2011. And in the record of education, training, labour market efficiency and technological development, it is at 6th place.
Exploiting its resources
According to Who Dimmed the Lights? Canada's Declining Global Competitiveness Ranking, a report published by the Conference Board, Canada must exploit and optimize its natural resources and its qualified workers.
Canada’s drop in the ranking reflects the malaise that the country is experiencing in terms of competitiveness, says Douglas Watt, Director of Organizational Effectiveness and Training at the Conference Board. This decline raises concerns about the ability of the country to take advantage of its relatively strong socio-economic bases. Since competing countries are increasing their competitiveness, Canada must improve to be able to keep pace and not put its prosperity in peril, according to the expert. He also calls for producing more value added goods and services, seeking business opportunities and penetrating new markets, both domestic and international.
The three best ranking countries of the World Economic Forum index are Switzerland, Singapore and Finland. Each of them is high performing in each of the three sub-fields of competitiveness.