Comprehensive Wealth in Canada 2018 – Measuring What Matters in the Long Term

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development argues for the use of comprehensive wealth measures—incorporating produced, natural, human, financial, and social capital—alongside GDP to better assess Canada's long-term prosperity and sustainability.

• Comprehensive wealth is composed of five types of capital: produced capital (buildings, machinery, and infrastructure), natural capital (forests, lakes, minerals, fossil fuels, and land), human capital (lifetime earning potential of the workforce), financial capital (stocks, bonds, and bank deposits), and social capital (civic engagement and trust/cooperation).
• Analysis of Statistics Canada data from 1980 to 2015 indicates several risks to the sustainability of Canadian prosperity that are not apparent in GDP performance, including unprecedented household debt, a decrease in average lifetime earning potential from $498,000 in 1980 to $496,000 in 2015, and a reliance on foreign lenders for nearly 75% of investment flows after 2012.
• Canada's wealth portfolio faces specific vulnerabilities, including an 86 per cent decline in the market value of the oil sands, a concentration of business investment in only housing and oil and gas extraction infrastructure, and susceptibility to the impacts of climate change.

APA

McLaughlin,, R. S. V. C. (2018). Comprehensive Wealth in Canada 2018 – Measuring What Matters in the Long Term. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/comprehensive-wealth-canada-2018-measuring-what-matters-long-term

Chicago

McLaughlin,, Robert Smith,Scott Vaughan,Kieran Clarke,David. Comprehensive Wealth in Canada 2018 – Measuring What Matters in the Long Term. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2018. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/comprehensive-wealth-canada-2018-measuring-what-matters-long-term.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=McLaughlin, |first1=Robert Smith,Scott Vaughan,Kieran Clarke,David |title=Comprehensive Wealth in Canada 2018 – Measuring What Matters in the Long Term |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=26 October 2018 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/comprehensive-wealth-canada-2018-measuring-what-matters-long-term |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mclaughlin2018comprehensive, author = {McLaughlin,, Robert Smith,Scott Vaughan,Kieran Clarke,David}, title = {{Comprehensive Wealth in Canada 2018 – Measuring What Matters in the Long Term}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/comprehensive-wealth-canada-2018-measuring-what-matters-long-term}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }