For the past three years in ‘Performance and Potential’, the Board has published a ‘report card’ on Canada’s performance relative to six comparator countries on 40 quality-of-life indicators. This year’s scorecard has been greatly expanded – both in the number of countries we use as a benchmark, as well as in the number of indicators. We have also modified the ranking system.
Document Highlights
Canada has a very high quality of life. It is one of the top 12 OECD countries in each of six benchmarking categories: Economy; Innovation; Environment; Education and Skills; Health; and Society.
Canada is not a ‘gold-medal performer’ in any of these categories. We rank silver in three categories (Economy, Education and Skills, Health) and bronze in the other three categories (Innovation, Environment, Society).
The three powerhouses of their geographic regions (the United States, Japan, and Germany) have a checkered record. For example, the United States is not among the top 12 performers in Environment, Health, and Society categories. Japan and Germany also do not rank among the top 12 in all categories.
The benefits of benchmarking against the best performers are clear – we can learn what is possible and choose the best of what they do. It is no small challenge to emulate their record, because it requires us to change our approaches at a time when we are doing very well.
Our benchmarking shows that some countries, such as Ireland, have dramatically improved their performance. At the same time, other countries, such as Japan, have had serious setbacks. The unequivocal lesson is that past performance is no guarantee of future success.
There are no reviews yet.