The snowblower not only improved the lives of city dwellers by making car travel easier in winter, it also had a major and unexpected impact on Canadian economic activity, facilitating winter road transport between Montréal, New York and Toronto.
When we think of innovation, we think of people like Sicard and Bombardier, who start from scratch, invent new products or processes, and create companies that soon become drivers of the economy. These innovators help increase our productivity. In recent decades, advanced economies have experienced a sharp decline in productivity growth.