Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services

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Rest of Canada
Ontario
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Chapter 1: The Need for Strong Fiscal Action
CHART 1.2 Slow Growth in the Tax Base: Per Cent Change in
Nominal GDP since 2000
Per Cent
Note: 2011 figures reflect data available for the first three quarters.
Source: National Accounts, Ontario Economic Accounts.
The recent recession was tougher on Ontario than on the rest of Canada. The province’s
growth faltered in 2007, slowing while the rest of the country continued a brisk expansion.
In 2008, Ontario’s real GDP fell during the winter (the first quarter) and, aside from a small
uptick that spring, continued to shrink until growth resumed in the summer of 2009 (the third
quarter) — five quarters of contraction over a period of six quarters. Elsewhere in Canada,
the recession did not begin until the final quarter of 2008 and then lasted only three quarters
in total. From peak to trough, Ontario lost 5.0 per cent of its GDP; the rest of the country lost
only 3.7 per cent. Since the low point in the second quarter of 2009, the Canadian economy
as a whole has recorded respectable real growth. But in the two years through the third
quarter of 2011, Ontario lagged the rest of the country, with 5.8 per cent growth compared
with 7.4 per cent elsewhere.
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