"Canada has some pretty deep need for skilled tradespeople and health-care workers,” Holden explained. “If you have a two-year nursing diploma or two-year trade certificate, you’re going to get fewer points than somebody who has a master’s degree in liberal arts even if the earning potential of the skilled tradesperson is much higher.”

The Business Council of Alberta wants to fix the productivity problem through immigration instead of having businesses actually fixing their lack of reinvestment directly.

The causes of the low productivity of Canadian companies are well known and documented: they invest little, spend less on research and development than those in other rich countries, and have a low propensity to innovate. These behaviours tend to limit their productivity gains and, consequently, restrict the growth of the Canadian economy.

https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/april-2023/the-low-productivity-of-canadian-companies-threatens-our-living-standards/

Paywalled