Policy Priorities to Improve Living Standards in Canada

Productivity, innovation adoption and standard of living are intrinsically linked. Due to lagging productivity, Canada’s standard of living has dramatically declined, particularly in the last two decades — a trend felt by individuals, communities and businesses across the country.

The fourth lecture of The Canadian Standard of Living, Productivity and Innovation series will be presented by Stephen Tapp, CEO and chief economist of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards. He will identify policy priorities and how new variables should inform Canada’s strategy to enhance national productivity, economic growth, and prosperity.

This hybrid event will offer practical insights, networking opportunities and actionable ideas for improving Canada’s productivity and prosperity. Attendees will benefit from Stephen’s expert perspective during the one-hour lecture, followed by a discussion with Alison Loat and closing remarks from Savvas Chamberlain.

In-person attendees are invited to arrive at 5:00 p.m. for networking and refreshments. The lecture will begin promptly at 5:45 p.m. for online and in-person attendees.

The Canadian Standard of Living, Productivity and Innovation lecture series, sponsored by Savvas Chamberlain and presented by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), brings together CEOs, financiers, manufacturers, policy makers and influencers, empowering them to champion the adoption of innovation — a critical step in reversing Canada’s productivity decline.

Each lecture will feature a keynote presentation from a distinguished global or Canadian speaker, followed by a forward-looking discussion focused on practical pathways for change, highlighting how individual, institutional and policy choices can shape Canada’s long-term economic performance and prosperity.

Stephen Tapp is the CEO and chief economist of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards. He previously served as chief economist and senior vice president of research, data and analytics at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, where he launched and managed the Business Data Lab.

Stephen is also the president of the Canadian Association for Business Economics and a member of the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council. He has 25 years of diverse experience at many of Canada’s top economic organizations, including Export Development Canada as the deputy chief economist, the Bank of Canada, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer and Finance Canada; with think tanks such as the Institute for Research on Public Policy and the C. D. Howe Institute; and in academia.

His research was awarded the Doug Purvis Memorial Prize for Canadian economic policy and has been published in academic journals, including the Canadian Journal of Economics and Canadian Public Policy. He has a Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from Queen’s University and an honours B.A. in economics with distinction from the University of Western Ontario.

Savvas Chamberlain, C.M.,FRSC, is a renowned physicist, inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist whose work helped shape Canada’s digital imaging industry. A distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo, he pioneered advances in MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor) and CCD (charge-coupled device) technology and invented key silicon image sensors that established Canada’s leadership in digital imaging. He founded and led DALSA Corporation and is founder and CEO of EXEL Research Inc. He is a member of the Order of Canada and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Alison Loat is a CIGI board member and a senior managing director at a Canadian public pension plan, where she leads the fund’s climate change program.

Previously the senior managing director of Focusing Capital on the Long Term (FCLT) Global and a manager at McKinsey & Company, Alison co-founded the Samara Centre for Democracy. She is the co-author of the bestseller Tragedy in the Commons and has 20 years of board experience in public, private and non-profit organizations.

She received both the Queen’s Gold and Diamond Jubilee Medals for her service to Canada and holds degrees from Queen’s University and the Harvard Kennedy School.

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