LE PATRIMOINE COMPRÉHENSIF AU CANADA - MESURER CE QUI IMPORTE À LONG TERME

The report analyzes Canada's comprehensive wealth—comprising natural, human, social, and produced capital—finding that while Canada remains wealthy, its wealth growth (0.19% annually) has lagged significantly behind consumption growth (1.36% annually) between 1980 and 2013. The study highlights a 25% decline in the market value of natural capital and a lack of growth in human capital, suggesting that Canada's development model relies heavily on the depletion of natural resources and a concentrated produced capital base dominated by housing and oil and gas.

• Canada's comprehensive wealth per person grew by only 7% in absolute terms between 1980 and 2013, representing a low annualized growth rate of 0.19%.
• Individual average consumption grew by 54% (1.36% annually) between 1980 and 2013, creating a gap between consumption and wealth growth that threatens long-term economic sustainability.
• The market value of Canada's natural capital per person, including minerals, fossil fuels, timber, and agricultural land, declined by 25% from 1980 to 2013.
• Human capital, the largest component of comprehensive wealth (80%), showed 0% growth between 1980 and 2013, meaning the average worker's lifetime earning potential remained stagnant despite higher education levels.
• Produced capital grew by 73% per person, but this growth was highly concentrated, with approximately 70% driven by the housing and oil and gas sectors.
• While Canada has the highest level of comprehensive wealth per capita among G7 nations due to vast natural reserves, it has the lowest growth rate of comprehensive wealth in the G7.
• Non-monetary indicators show environmental degradation and climate shifts, including a general increase in national temperature and precipitation from 1948 to 2014, and a decline in annual average snow cover from 1972 to 2011.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2016). LE PATRIMOINE COMPRÉHENSIF AU CANADA - MESURER CE QUI IMPORTE À LONG TERME. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/comprehensive-wealth-highlights-fr.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. LE PATRIMOINE COMPRÉHENSIF AU CANADA - MESURER CE QUI IMPORTE À LONG TERME. 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/comprehensive-wealth-highlights-fr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=LE PATRIMOINE COMPRÉHENSIF AU CANADA - MESURER CE QUI IMPORTE À LONG TERME |date=December 2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/comprehensive-wealth-highlights-fr.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2016patrimoine, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{LE PATRIMOINE COMPRÉHENSIF AU CANADA - MESURER CE QUI IMPORTE À LONG TERME}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/comprehensive-wealth-highlights-fr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }