‘This is about making sure that we keep more of that value at home when it comes to processing, commercialization and scaling’
A new report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and PwC Canada says Canada's growth potential is being held back by gaps in financing, infrastructure and talent across five key industries.
Specifically, these industries are:
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artificial intelligence (AI)
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critical minerals
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energy
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defence
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agri-food.
The report, titled Beyond Potential: Turning Canada's advantages into growth and a better life for all, draws on interviews with 20 Canadian chief executives and business leaders.
Candace Laing, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, based in Ottawa, Ontario, says the country's challenge is one of execution rather than ambition.
"We know Canada has enormous advantages along with a common problem – we can be slow and we don't follow through enough to turn those advantages into results," says Laing.
Anita McOuat, national managing partner of clients and industries at PwC Canada, based in Toronto, Ontario, echoed that assessment in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"The big takeaway is that Canada is excellent at finding resources and creating IP. But now this is about making sure that we keep more of that value at home when it comes to processing, commercialization and scaling," says McOuat.
The energy sector's dependency problem
Energy illustrates the pattern most clearly. According to the Canada Energy Regulator, Canada exported $163 billion worth of crude oil, refined petroleum products and natural gas liquids to the U.S. in 2023, representing 21% of the country's total goods exported globally.
Crude oil alone accounted for $130 billion of that total, with 97% of Canada's crude oil exports going to the U.S. in 2023, while natural gas exports to the U.S. were valued at $13 billion that same year, with virtually all of it moving south.
That concentration has become more consequential amid escalating trade tensions. Previously, the U.S. invoked Section 338 of the U.S. Tariff Act in July 2026 to impose an additional 50% tariff on a range of Canadian-origin goods, including dairy, alcoholic beverages and motor vehicles, regardless of whether those goods qualify for preferential treatment under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Canada responded with its own surtaxes on U.S.-origin imports covering $27.6 billion in goods, effective Sept. 8, 2026.
Diversifying beyond that reliance is now urgent for reasons beyond long-term competitiveness. Separate PwC Canada research – New Markets, New Routes for Canadian Logistics – found that investment in transportation, logistics and processing capacity could unlock $146 billion in additional non-U.S. exports by 2035 – a scale of opportunity the report's authors see as central to closing the value-chain gaps identified across all five sectors, not energy alone.
What does this mean for HR and talent leaders?
For HR leaders, the report's findings translate directly into workforce strategy. Canadian employers have reported persistent difficulty hiring skilled talent across regions, a trend that compounds the financing and infrastructure gaps the report identifies, particularly in sectors racing to scale.
That's especially visible in AI, where Canadian employers have also faced an AI skills gap widening even as adoption accelerates, meaning scaling homegrown AI companies will require investment in workforce capability alongside venture capital. McOuat says the barriers are fixable and within Canada's control, adding the effort isn't about pulling back from the U.S. market.
"This is not about decreasing what we do with the U.S., but it's about expanding our ability to do more domestically and with the rest of the world," says McOuat.
On the manufacturing and defence front, some of that groundwork is already underway: Ottawa recently launched a manufacturing workforce alliance in response to tariff pressures, an initiative that overlaps directly with the report's call for stronger domestic industrial capabilities and specialized talent pipelines.
The recent U.S. tariffs escalation means limited immediate impact for Canadian companies, but it also means longer trade uncertainty, according to an expert.
