Canada’s standard of living has fallen dramatically behind the United States, with the per-person economic gap more than doubling over the past quarter-century, according to a new Fraser Institute study.

The study, titled Squandering the Canadian Century: Comparing Economic Performance in Canada and the United States, found inflation-adjusted GDP per person in the United States was $10,766 higher than in Canada in 1999.

By 2024, that gap had widened to $23,757.

Inflation-adjusted GDP per person grew from $58,842 to $83,286 in the United States during that period. In Canada, it increased from $48,076 to just $59,529.

“When comparing the economic performance of Canada relative to the U.S. since the beginning of the 21st century, it’s abundantly clear that Canadian policymakers have failed to create an environment where we can prosper,” said study co-author Jake Fuss.

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The decline was not limited to GDP. In 2010, median employment income in the United States was $6,126 higher than in Canada. By 2024, the difference had increased to $8,663.

Canada also lost ground in productivity and business investment. American labour productivity grew by 67.9 percent between 1999 and 2025, compared with just 26.7 percent in Canada.

Meanwhile, Canadian business investment fell from nearly 90 cents per worker for every dollar invested in the United States in 2007 to only 54 cents by 2024.

Canada’s private-sector share of employment also declined from 81.2 percent in 1999 to 78.5 percent in 2024 as government employment grew faster. The United States moved in the opposite direction, with private-sector employment increasing from 85.8 percent to 86.5 percent.

The report concludes Canada has fallen further behind its largest trading partner in every major category examined, including living standards, incomes, employment, investment and productivity.