A detailed analysis of productivity trends in the forest products sector in Quebec, 2000-2013

Such strong performance in the forest products sector in Quebec is quite impressive given that the forest products sector in Canada was hit by a perfect storm of structural and cyclical factors in the first decade of the twenty-first century. [...] While the economic crisis of the late-2000s affected many industries, it was particularly severe in the forest products sector because of the dramatic decline in housing starts, especially in the United States. [...] The appreciation of the dollar in the early- and mid-2000s would have reduced demand in the U. S. for Canadian forest products, and by definition, those in Quebec. [...] In particular, output prices influence productivity by changing the average quality of the firms in the sector and of the resources used. [...] The two main objectives of the report are, first, to deepen the understanding of productivity developments in Quebec’s forest products sector since 2000 and the factors explaining these developments and, second, to identify possible policies and actions for both the public and private sector to improve the province’s productivity performance.