The OECD is weighing in on the controversy surrounding whether Canada is suffering from an economic condition known as Dutch Disease, and its qualified answer is yes.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development warns in a report released Wednesday that the run-up in commodity prices is leading to an uneven economy in Canada.

And it says the country needs to do more to develop non-resource aspects of the economy so as to maintain high levels of employment and an equitable distribution of wealth across regions.

Resource-rich provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland have prospered, while others have fallen behind, in part because a commodity boom has strengthened the Canadian dollar.

A similar problem occurred in the Netherlands after its North Sea oil fields created a new source of resource wealth, hence the term Dutch Disease.

“I don’t think you can really deny it,” said Peter Jarrett, one of the report’s author, in an interview. Read more …