A Tepid Recovery

This report presents new estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being (IEWB) and its four domains (consumption flows, stocks of wealth, economic equality and economic security) for Canada and the provinces for the 1981-2014 period. We find that the IEWB grew at an average annual rate of 0.74 per cent per year over the period, notably below the 1.30 per cent growth of GDP per capita over the same time frame. Both the consumption and wealth domains steady advanced over the period, but their growth was offset by declines in the equality and economic security domains. Since 2008, reflecting the 2009 recession and the weak recovery, Canada’s IEWB has exhibited meager growth, advancing only 0.09 per cent per year. This reflects declines in all domains of the IEWB except consumption. Six of the ten provinces had lower levels for their respective IEWBs in 2014 than in 2008 (Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia).