How much of “Canadian business” is Canadian owned? Particularly little reason to compete as a subsidiary…. There is little tech or pharma in Canada which is where innovation comes from. Selling stuff dug out of or farmed from the ground is stagnant. Anything new in Canada is small enough to be bought or acquihired almost by definition.

Check how little innovation comes from the US apart from a handful of cities: San Francisco, San Diego, Austin, Boston, Seattle. A few others are trying to kindle activity but they’re quite small compared to the major centres. There are innovative companies scattered about, but not the region as a whole. In Canada’s case, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal not only have the innovation they have a significant fraction of the population.

Edit: how much loss of productivity comes from the effect of “cultural laws” that restrict what can be done where and by whom? This affects hiring and it probably also affects the availability of capital to invest.