Measuring Canada's economic health

Canadians are always interested in how our economic performance stacks up relative to other countries or to how we have fared in the past. The standard starting point is gross domestic product (GDP), the sum of all the goods and services we produce. Using this, we can calculate how much income is generated by the average Canadian and how that compares to other countries. As well, GDP per worker, or productivity, is the primary determinant of long run trends in our standard of living.