Implications of Canada’s restrictive FDI policies on employment and productivity

The merits of foreign direct investment (FDI) have been well documented, thus explaining the openness of many countries to foreign capital. There is, however, some debate on the importance of FDI into key basic business services sectors such as financial services, air transportation services, and telecom services, which remain protected in many countries, including Canada. These restrictions, together with the presence of a review mechanism for foreign investment, has resulted in Canada being ranked above average in terms of restrictiveness by the OECD. We estimate that a leveling down of Canadian FDI restrictions to average OECD levels would raise Canadian labor productivity by a very large 0.79%. It would also either raise employment by 137,400 jobs or raise annual earnings for each Canadian worker by CA$648, or $9.6 billion economy-wide. These results therefore highlight the merits of FDI to local economies.