Statistics // Highlights from "Labour Productivity and Hours Worked, 2021"

May 20, 2022 — Statistics Canada has released preliminary labour productivity accounts for 2021.

Definition: Labour productivity represents the amount of real value added generated per hour worked.

Nova Scotia’s business sector labour productivity fell by 3.9% in 2021.
- National productivity was down 5.8%% with declines in all provinces except Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
- Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline in labour productivity.
Nova Scotia’s business sector labour productivity was $44.0 in real value added per hour worked in 2021.
- National business sector labour productivity was $58.4 in real value added per hour worked
As economic conditions normalized in 2021 after the pandemic-related distortions of 2020, Nova Scotia’s labour productivity still remained elevated from their pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Nova Scotia’s labour productivity in 2021 was 6.8% higher than it was in 2019.
Nova Scotia’s hours worked in 2021 were 3.3% lower than in 2019.
- National hours worked were down 3.5%. No province reported higher hours worked in 2021 than in 2019.
Compared with 2019, business sector real value added was up for the Maritime provinces (3.2% in Nova Scotia) as well as in British Columbia.
- National real value added from the business sector remained 1.9% below pre-pandemic levels in 2021.
Compared with pre-pandemic levels from 2019, the largest increases in productivity were observed in support for agriculture/forestry (which also had the largest decline in hours worked), followed by construction

LEARN MORE: To find more information from this dataset, click here.

Statistics // Highlights from “Labour Productivity and Hours Worked, 2021”