Canada's New Policies May Revive Its Manufacturing Competitiveness, National Bank Says

12:30 PM EDT, 09/16/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Canada's recent policy shift, including tax reforms and regulatory, energy and defense measures, is creating a more supportive environment for the country's reindustrialization, National Bank of Canada siad in a Wednesday note. A stronger manufacturing base could bolster supply-chain and national security, reinforce Canada's role as a "middle power," and leverage its relatively clean electricity and higher environmental and labor standards, the bank wrote. Canada's manufacturing sector has lost considerable competitiveness, with its share of gross domestic product falling to just 8%, it added. The issue isn't only weaker output, but also the sector's composition, with low value-added industries accounting for more than two thirds of production, versus roughly half in other G7 economies. A growing productivity and investment gap has further eroded competitiveness, said the bank. Since 2000, manufacturing wages in Canada have grown faster than in the United States, while productivity growth has been less than a third as strong.