Getting Canada back to business: Addressing regulatory barriers and impediments to competitiveness

Canadians are heading to the polls. In a five-part special edition of Pulse on Policy, we’re keeping you informed of the top priorities for business throughout the campaign. Each week, we will highlight a key theme from Inflection Point, our plan for a competitive, productive and prosperous Canada.

This week, we’re diving into how we can get Canada back to business.

Canada’s economic future depends on our ability to compete globally. To get there, we must create the right conditions for investment, job creation and innovation. That means modernizing our regulatory frameworks, simplifying the policy environment and building a tax system that rewards ambition and growth.

When it comes to competitiveness and productivity, we are falling behind our peers. Canada has fallen from the 6th most productive economy global to 18th. If we don’t act now, we risk losing out on billions in investment, slower wage growth and declining economic prosperity. And amid an ongoing trade war with our closest trading partner, the urgency to improve our productivity has never been higher.

Despite these challenges, Canadians remain optimistic about our economic potential. Nearly 70% of Canadians believe in a business-friendly government, and 46% want a balanced approach that reduces unnecessary spending while continuing to invest in growth. However, business leaders don’t believe that government is creating the conditions for their success.

To restore competitiveness, governments must reduce regulatory burdens, provide tax and investment certainty and support sustainable growth. By cutting inefficiencies and ensuring policies encourage – and not hinder – economic expansion, we can drive investment, strengthen our fiscal foundation and build a more prosperous future.

Five key recommendations for growth and competitiveness

• Streamline regulatory approvals through a “one project, one approval” model coordinated across jurisdictions.
• Simplify business taxes to attract investment and spur innovation.
• Prioritize economic growth over spending cuts by expanding the tax base through productivity.
• Withdraw or revise regulations that hinder responsible development – including the Oil & Gas Emissions Cap, Clean Electricity Regulations and changes to the Competition Act.
• Advance carbon contracts for difference (CCfDs) and ensure access to clean economy investment tax credits to keep capital in Canada.

A competitive Canada is about more than just business – it’s about building an economy that supports jobs, strengthens wages and ensures long-term prosperity. Our economic policy must be designed to encourage business investment, attract capital and provide the certainty needed for long-term success.

About Inflection Point

Inflection Point is a plan for a competitive, productive and prosperous Canada. On behalf of our business community, we share 82 evidence-based public policy recommendations, across five pillars, backed and supported by both our business community and Canadians. Through extensive consultation with our membership, the business community and Canadians through roundtables, surveys and national opinion polling, the recommendations are for all political parties, elected officials and civil servants to consider how both the business community and governments have integral role in working together to address the challenges facing Canada.