New foreign ownership regs could help boost Canada’s productivity: OECD

MONTREAL – Removing barriers to competition in industries like telecommunications and broadcasting could help to improve Canada’s productivity, according to a new OECD report.The latest Economic Survey of Canada, presented Monday in Montreal by OECD secretary-general Angel Gurría and Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau, underlines the slowdown in the country’s growth attributed to falling output in natural resource-based sectors, particularly energy. The survey projects GDP growth of 1.7% this year and 2.2% in 2017, as the economy shifts toward non-resource-based activity.The report contains data (pictured) showing Canada’s “mobile basket” and fixed broadband prices as considerably higher than those in other OECD member...