Canadian Car Plants more Productive than US Plants

Canadian automotive plants maintain the title as the most productive within North America and are widening the gap in productivity between US and Canada. Will this be enough to keep car companies in Canada with the rising dollar?

Canadian Automotive plants (some of which are General Motors in Oshawa, Ford in Oakville and DaimlerChrysler in Brampton) have been increasing their annual output per worker by 3% last year. While the US plants only increased productivity by 1.5%. "The widening of Canada's productivity lead in auto assembly reflects a record $10 billion in machinery and equipment investment, mostly robotics and automation, over the past four years," says Bank of Nova Scotia economist, Carlos Gomes. This is crucial for the Canadian industry as the Canadian dollar reaches par with the US dollar as manufacturers consider future plans to locate their assembly plants. Without higher productivity in Canada, most manufacturers would prefer to move their facilities to the US. The rising dollar will continue to hit Canadian industries hard and they will need to continuously improve efficiencies to keep businesses here. The Government of Ontario's commitment to funding projects in the auto sector also seems to be paying off. With the latest round of funding coming out through a "green" plan which offers car makers benefits when building cars that are classified as environmentally friendly.