If you are so inclined there is a very detailed analysis of the Canadian economy and recommendations for improvment from the OECD. You can read it here. If you have access, you can read Jeffrey Simpson’s assessment here. The report brings up the age old criticism of Canada’s regional EI system (what’s new) but it also heavily criticizes Canada’s agriculture subsidy system which is far more lucrative to western farmers than the EI program is to Atl. Canada. It also would like to see Alberta make changes that are unlikely to happen.
I don’t think Canadian governments put too much stock in OECD reports. In the early 1990s, the OECD said one of the the biggest challenges to Canada’s economic growth would be its lack of successful regional development efforts. Since then, federal and provincial spending on economic development as a percentage of government spending has dropped precipitously.