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Advertisement 2AdvertisementThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content“We succeeded spectacularly. For the past seven years, Quebec’s per-capita economic growth has outpaced that of Ontario and the rest of Canada. It’s unprecedented.”Article contentBut economists say per capita GDP is a rough, imperfect measure that can give a distorted view.Article content“It’s a bit of an illusion,” said Concordia economist Moshe Lander.Article contentFor example, “not everybody in Quebec works. Retirees, people under the age of 18 — should we really be including them in the calculation of how much income we generate for the province when they are not income-generating people?”Article contentAlso, averages hide differences: “When we look at GDP per person, that’s an average — there could be huge variation between sectors, regions or demographics.”Article contentAnd per capita GDP measures income, not wealth, so it doesn’t reflect the value of people’s assets, such as savings, property or investments, Lander added.Article contentAdvertisement 3Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentIn addition, per capita GDP can be influenced by population fluctuations, he said. Quebec’s slower population growth compared with Ontario’s can make its economic performance appear stronger than it really is.Article contentQuebec has also chosen to compare itself to a province experiencing slow economic growth.Article contentIn a November 2024 report comparing the economies of Quebec and Ontario since 2000, the Fraser Institute, a free-market think tank, found Quebec is catching up to Ontario on metrics such as per capita GDP.Article contentBut it said that was mostly the result of Ontario’s poor performance both economically and fiscally.Article content“It is not so much that Quebec is doing substantially better than Ontario, but rather that Ontario has been a laggard with respect to economic growth for most of the 21st century.”Article contentThe study found Ontario and Quebec “lag behind the rest of Canada in productivity and growth-enhancing business investment.”Article contentAdvertisement 4Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentOntario and Quebec ranked fifth and sixth among provinces in per capita GDP in 2024, respectively, with Quebec ahead of only Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.Article contentSome critics challenge how Legault defines the province’s wealth gap.Article contentThe Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomiques, a progressive think tank, last year found Quebecers’ standard of living is roughly equal to Ontarians’ when adjusted for purchasing power.Article contentThe cost of key household expenses such as electricity, childcare and housing is generally lower for Quebec residents than for those in Ontario.Article contentThe IRIS study warned Legault’s focus on matching Ontario’s economy risks repeating costly mistakes from the past. In the 1960s, Quebec invested heavily in a public steel company created to compete with Ontario, only for the project to fail and drain significant resources.Advertisement 2This advertisement has not loaded yet. Advertisement 3Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content“History has shown that the obsession with catching up to Ontario can lead to considerable waste of resources,” the researchers said.Article contentThey argued simply trying to raise the province’s per capita GDP to catch up with Ontario overlooks what really matters to Quebecers.Article content“It is certainly necessary to have strong economic dynamism, but it is also essential to operate within ecological limits and, above all, to prioritize the well-being of the population.”Article contentLonger term, Quebec faces structural challenges to its quest for parity with Ontario, said Lander, the Concordia economist.Article contentHigh social spending and generous safety nets — widely supported societal choices to promote equality — may reduce incentives for Quebecers to work harder, he said.Article contentIn addition, Quebec’s productivity and business investments are held back by high taxes and increasingly stringent French language rules, Lander noted. Most recently, strict new regulations regarding commercial signage and francization of small companies came into effect.Article contentAdvertisement 5Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentThe Legault government’s push to limit immigration also risks driving skilled and entrepreneurial talent elsewhere. “The message that comes out of Quebec is: We don’t want you,” Lander said. Losing immigrants could limit the province’s workforce, innovation and long-term economic growth.Article contentOn economic development, Lander said the CAQ has shown it cannot reliably pick winners or ensure its investments generate strong returns, pointing to the hundreds of millions lost on the Northvolt battery plant as evidence.Article contentHe also pointed to Quebec’s “ticking time bomb”: its historically high deficit of $13.6-billion in 2025-26.Article contentThat raises questions about the durability of any economic gains.Article content“Because the government does not seem to be able to balance its budget, what they’re effectively saying is that future generations are going to have to pay — either in terms of tax increases or cuts to social programs that Quebecers take great pride in.”Article contentArticle contentAdvertisement 3This advertisement has not loaded yet. Featured Local Savings
