The economies of Canada and the United States are extremely similar because they are both developed countries, which have mixed economies and are each others largest trading partners. However, key differences in population makeup, geography, government policies, and productivity all result in different economies. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... A developed country is a country that has achieved (currently or historically) a high degree of industrialization, and which enjoys the higher standards of living which wealth and technology make possible. ... A mixed economy is an economy that contains both private and publically, or state owned (or controlled) enterprises. ...

Geography

Map of the Rocky Mountains.

Canada's harsh climate and low population density leads to high fuel consumption for transportation and heating. Historically, Canadians were worried because much of the country lacks natural river systems that could be easily used for transportation, but this fear has largely abated. Canada's terrain is also somewhat more rugged than the United States. The Rocky Mountains are more of an obstacle, and the mass of the Canadian Shield provides a formidable barrier to any links between Ontario and Manitoba. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... For individual mountains named Rocky Mountain, see Rocky Mountain (disambiguation). ... For individual mountains named Rocky Mountain, see Rocky Mountain (disambiguation). ... Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield— also called the Precambrian Shield, Laurentian Shield, Bouclier Canadien (French), or Laurentian Plateau— is a large shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American craton. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English (de facto) Government - Lieutenant-Governor David C. Onley - Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 106 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area... Motto: Gloriosus et Liber (Latin: Glorious and free) BC AB SK MB ON QC NB PE NS NL YT NT NU Capital Winnipeg Largest city Winnipeg Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor John Harvard - Premier Gary Doer (NDP) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 14 - Senate seats 6 Confederation...

Canada does have some distinct geographic advantages. The large river systems in the north are sources of cheap hydro-electric power. The main advantage is Canada's vast supplies of natural resources and fossil fuels. While the United States has large supplies of resources and fossil fuels, these are not enough to meet domestic demands and the country is forced to import many raw materials and fossil fuels, a great deal of which come from Canada. By contrast Canada is a net exporter of resources. This leads to an important difference as increases in the price of resources boost the Canadian economy while hurting the American. For example a rise in oil prices generally causes a fall in the Dow Jones and NASDAQ but an increase in the TSX. Hydroelectric dam diagram The waters of Llyn Stwlan, the upper reservoir of the Ffestiniog Pumped-Storage Scheme in north Wales, can just be glimpsed on the right. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... Linear graph of the DJIA from 1901 until today Logarithmic graph of the DJIA from 1901 until today The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DJI, also called the DJIA, Dow 30, or informally the Dow Jones or The Dow) is one of several stock market indices created by nineteenth-century... NASDAQ in Times Square, New York City. ... The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is Canadas largest stock exchange, and the division of the TSX Group that holds senior equities. ...

Government

Taxation

The average tax rate in Canada is higher than in the United States. In Canada total tax and non-tax revenue for every level of government equals about 37% of GDP, ^[1] compared to the U.S. rate of 27%.^[2] While this tax differential has fallen, this coupled with better opportunities in the US is still a leading cause of brain drain to the USA.^[3] “Taxes” redirects here. ... This article is about the emigration term. ...

A significant portion of this tax differential is due to spending differences between the two countries. While the US is running deficits of about 4% of GDP,^[4] Canada has consistently posted a budget surplus of around 1% of GDP.^[5] Considered in a revenue-neutral context, the differential is much smaller - Canada's total governmental spending was about 36% of GDP^[6] vs. 31% in the US.^[7] In addition, caution must be used when comparing taxes across countries, due to the different services each offers. Whereas the Canadian healthcare system is 70% government-funded, the US system is just under 50% government-funded (mostly via Medicare and Medicaid); adding the additional healthcare-spending burden to the above figures to obtain comparable numbers (+3% for Canada, +7% for the US) gives adjusted expenditures of 38–39% of GDP for each of the two nations. President Johnson signing the Medicare amendment. ... Medicaid is the US health insurance program for individuals and families with low incomes and resources. ...

The taxes are applied differently as well. Canada's income tax system is more heavily biased against the highest income earners, thus while Canada's income tax rate is higher on average, the bottom fifty percent of the population is roughly taxed the same on income as in the United States. However, Canada has a national goods and services tax of 6% on all purchases, while the U.S. federal government does not, increasing the tax burden on Canadian low-income earners due to the regressive nature of a sales tax. However, Canadian GST does not tax food and other essentials and a GST rebate for low-income earners mitigates regressiveness.^[8] The Goods and Services Tax is a Value-added tax that exists in a number of countries. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        A regressive tax is a tax imposed so that the tax...

In addition to the 6% GST levied on most purchases, Canadians also pay a second sales tax at a rate that varies by province and ranges from 0% to 10%. In Ontario, for example, where the provincial sales tax (PST) is 8%, consumers must pay a total of 14% sales tax on top of the purchase price. There are some purchases which are PST exempt, such as children's clothing.

Canada has no inheritance tax while the United States still does, although many conservatives and economic liberals are pushing to have it abolished. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Social Programs

For its higher taxes Canada has a larger system of social programs than the United States. This includes having a national broadcaster in the CBC, a largely government-funded health care system, and having all major universities receive partial government funding. The United States, however, does have most of its major universities subsidized by state government. The US also has two national public broadcasters which receive partial government funding, PBS (television) and NPR (radio). The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. ... A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the... “PBS” redirects here. ... “NPR” redirects here. ...

The greatest difference in social programs is in health care. Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. Government spends as much on health care, 7% of GDP, as the Canadian government does,^[9] and total healthcare spending is much higher - 14.6% of GDP in the US vs. 10% in Canada.^[10] Canadians, however, receive comparable care and some figures such as life expectancy and infant mortality are better in Canada. Another advantage is that the Canadian health care system is said by some to be attractive to employers, as in Canada health care is mostly paid through employee income taxes, while in the United States most companies have to extend health benefits to full-time employees, something they do not have to do in Canada. Many employers, however, still offer employees additional medical coverage plans because many medical services are not covered by the government-run health insurance system. The main disadvantage of the Canadian system are the long lines and waiting periods that have appeared over the last 15 years, especially for minor and non-life threatening procedures. For this reason, some relatively wealthy Canadians go to the United States, India, or other nations^[11] to avoid waiting for medical treatment, joining " medical tourists" from many nations, including the US.^[12] Some Canadians who can afford it, undergo operations at private healthcare facilities at their own expense; most Canadians, unfortunately, are forced to endure extensive delays in both screenings (such as MRI scans) and in non-emergency operations for which a delay can be life-threatening. Additionally, a number of medical tests and screenings are not covered (or due to increasing costs, are no longer covered) by the Canadian health system, forcing patients to pay for these services out of their own pockets. Despite these problems, some people hold that Canada's healthcare performance is generally on par with, or better than, the US. World map of human life expectancy, 2005 Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average length of survival of a living thing. ... is the death of infants in the first year of life. ... Insurance is the business of providing protection against financial aspects of risk, such as those to property, life, health and legal liability. ... Medical tourism (also called medical travel or health tourism) is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe to the rapidly-growing practice of traveling to another country to obtain health care. ...

See also: Canadian and American health care systems compared Government and private health and public policy analysts have compared the health care systems of Canada and the United States. ...

Anti-trust

The United States has since the Sherman Anti-Trust Act been strongly opposed to monopolies. In Canada this has been far less of an issue, and Canada has never had rigorously enforced rules against monopolization, and in certain situations the government has even encouraged monopolies. However, the Canadian government is more willing to interfere in the operations of large, integrated firms where they appear to be acting against the public interest, offsetting in part one reason that American law prevents large-scale monopolization. The Sherman Antitrust Act was the first government action to limit trusts (A combination of firms or corporations who agree not to lower prices below a certain rate for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices throughout a business or an industry). ... This article is about economic monopoly. ...

Fiscal and Monetary Policy

Canada is generally forced to follow American monetary policy quite closely, any large difference in interest rates could quickly lead to large problems for the Canadian economy. The U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada both staunchly believe in fighting inflation while neither aggressively pursue policies of full employment. One difference that has emerged recently is that while Canada is still hewing closely to the balanced budgets policies of the 1990s the United States has moved into a heavy deficit, a policy both countries followed in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been suggested that monetary theory be merged into this article or section. ... An interest rate is the price a borrower pays for the use of money he does not own, and the return a lender receives for deferring his consumption, by lending to the borrower. ... The Federal Reserve System is headquartered in the Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. ... Headquarters Ottawa, Ontario ,Canada Established 1935 Governor David A. Dodge Central Bank of Canada Currency Canadian dollar ISO 4217 Code CAD Website www. ... In economics, full employment has more than one meaning. ... Look up budget in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A budget deficit occurs when an entity (often a government) spends more money than it takes in. ...

Political Turbulence

Over the last few decades the Canadian economy, and almost certainly Quebec's economy, may have been hurt by the threat of Quebec separatism. In an earlier era turbulence in the United States from the civil rights movement and Vietnam War may have hurt that country's economy. This also sometimes benefited Canadians as draft dodgers during the Vietnam War created a reverse brain drain that lasted for many years. Quebec The Quebec sovereignty movement is a movement calling for the attainment of sovereignty for Quebec, a province of the country of Canada. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Their actions were criminal offences and once they had left the country draft dodgers could not return or they would be arrested. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... This article is about the emigration term. ...

Market Size

One of the most important differences historically between Canada and the United States was the size of the two markets. When both nations had high tariffs the two countries did not have a unified market. Canada's smaller market led to higher prices and greater inefficiency.

A good example of this is the automobile industry, which can be clearly demarcated into two periods: before and after the free trade creating Auto Pact of 1969. Before Canada had its own production lines creating each of the models that would be sold in Canada. These branch plant factories would only make small production runs of each vehicle, requiring frequent, and expensive retoolings. The factories would also generally be smaller. Fewer varieties were available to Canadian consumers and prices were generally higher. However, these cars were almost all still made by American companies. After the Auto Pact, the industry was transformed as a unified North American market was created. The Canadian factories were rebuilt to be much larger, but to make only one model that would be sold in both countries creating large economies of scale. The prices of cars fell in Canada as wages and total employment in the automobile sector increased. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement more commonly known as the Auto Pact was an important trade agreement between Canada and the United States. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... The branch plant economy is a term used to describe the phenomonon of U.S. companies building factories (branch plants) in Canada, primarily to sell products in the Canadian market. ... The increase in output from Q to Q2 causes a decrease in the average cost of each unit from C to C1. ...

After the Second World War tariffs between the two countries gradually fell, with full free trade being established by the 1988 Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. Some industries are still protected, however. These are mostly perceived as sensitive areas such as cultural industries including publishing, television, and newspapers, which all of have stringent foreign ownership rules. Other areas such as the transport industry are also protected with Canadian control of the airlines and trains being viewed as in the national interest. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was a trade agreement signed by Canada and the United States on January 2, 1988. ...

This tends to create far more monopolies in Canada. For instance the air travel industry in Canada until recently was dominated by a single airline, Air Canada. Canada has long had to make a trade-off between monopolization and efficiency which the United States has not. The United States can support a number of airlines that are big enough to operate efficiently, and still have a competitive market. Canadians are forced to choose between small inefficient airlines that would be competitive, or monopolistic airlines that will generate its own inefficiency. Air Canada is Canadas largest airline and flag carrier. ...

Another example of this trade off is the book industry which has recently switched models. Until the 1990s Canada had many small and fairly inefficient book stores. Then Chapters entered the market and quickly created a near monopoly, eliminating the inefficiencies of smaller stores but potentially leading to a monopolistically set price and limited choice of books. This monopolizaton was aided by government policy in Canada that requires bookstores in Canada be Canadian owned. For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Chapters is a bookstore chain throughout Canada. ...

Banking

Canada and the United States have long had very different banking systems. The United States' was copied from England while Canada's was taken from Scotland. The United States traditionally has had a plethora of banks, some with very few branches. The U.S. system continues to support the creation of numerous small banks through both government-sponsored institutions like the Federal Home Loan Banks and similar non-government entities like Bankers' bank, that do not exist in markets like Canada. This has led to a more competitive but less stable system, with many thousands of banks having collapsed during U.S. history. Canada has always had far fewer banks per capita, but the banks have been larger and quickly expanded nationwide. Canadian banks have many branches and distributed assets and Canada has only had one major bank, the Home Bank, collapse in its history. The Glass-Steagall Act and other laws and regulations prevented U.S. banks from becoming too large. Changes allowed U.S. banks to grow and the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999. This concentration of banks in Canada relative to the U.S. has continued to this day. In 2002 in Canada the six largest banks controlled 90 percent of Canadian domestic banking assets, while the five largest U.S. banks controlled only 9.7 percent of their domestic assets. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... The Federal Home Loan Banks provide stable, on-demand, low-cost funding to American financial institutions for home mortgage loans, small business, rural, agricultural, and economic development lending. ... A bankers bank is a financial institution that provides financial services to community banks in the United States of America. ... The Home Bank of Canada was a Canadian bank that was incorporated 1903 in Montreal. ... Two separate United States laws are known as the Glass-Steagall Act. ... Two separate United States laws are known as the Glass-Steagall Act. ...

There are several subsidies in the U.S. system that do not exist in Canada. In terms of direct impact to consumers, mortgage interest is tax deductible in the U.S. (a market distortion designed to encourage home ownership), but is not in Canada. The U.S. also indirectly subsidizes mortgages through a plethora of government sponsored enterprises. The U.S. entities do much more than provide mortgage insurance, and use their own huge balance sheets to purchase mortgages. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation historically was mainly limited to providing mortgage insurance, although now facilitates funding of mortgages also through the Canada Mortgage Bond program, which has also grown to be quite large. The government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are a group of financial services corporations created by the United States Congress. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mortgage. ... Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is a Canadian government agency. ...

In real terms Canadian banks are much smaller. In 2003 the three largest banks in America had assets equal to the entire 67 banks (only 14 domestic) operating in Canada. The largest Canadian bank has 1300 branches while in the U.S. the four largest banks have over 2000 branches each.

Canada's banks have traditionally been fierce competitors internationally, though today America's largest banks have a more significant presence overseas. In part the history of this situation is rooted in Canada's smaller market. For Canadian banks international exchange was always a central concern. For American banks domestic banking was paramount. In the 1920s in the American economic centre of New York Canadian banks dominated the international banking sector due to greater expertise and focus. Thus Canadian banks came to have far wider spread networks. Much of the banking system in the West Indies is controlled by the Canadian banks. Canadian banks also have far more of a presence in the United States than American firms do in Canada. In part this is because American firms cannot buy Canadian banks, but Canadian banks have, at times, been able to buy American ones. Since the large Canadian banks already operated nationwide chains of a thousand or more branches, they find it relatively easy to integrate smaller chains of American banks into their systems. The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... “NY” redirects here. ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ...

In recent years this advantage has disappeared as American banks have also grown substantially in size and today have many branches, and the large American banks are now operating over 2000 branches each. In fact, the ten largest banks in North America today are all U.S.-based. Overseas, American banks have a larger presence than Canadian banks. Only Royal Bank of Canada's RBC Capital Markets division has a global scale that even approaches that of the U.S. investment banks. The Royal Bank of Canada (TSX: RY, NYSE: RY) is Canadas largest company. ... RBC Capital Markets is the corporate and investment banking division of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Depending on the jurisdiction, the division uses different broker dealer subsidiaries of RBC: Canada: RBC Dominion Securities Inc Europe: RBC Europe Limited US: RBC Capital Markets Corp and RBC Dain Rauscher Inc RBC Capital...

Until recently, Canadian banks had historically been far less strictly regulated than their American counterparts. Canadian banks had, until the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999, been freer to participate in the financial planning and insurance industries than their American counterparts. In the 1980s and 1990's, the large Canadian banks acquired almost all significant trust and brokerage companies in Canada. They also started their own mutual fund and insurance businesses. As a result, Canadian banks broadened out to become supermarkets of financial services, a trend that has started later in the U.S. market. The average U.S. bank is a domestic banking operation. The large Canadian banks are financial conglomerates, with large domestic Canadian banking operations. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, Pub. ... This article is about the year. ...

Bank regulation in the United States is highly fragmented compared to Canada which has only OSFI as the bank regulator (although credit unions are provincially regulated). In the U.S., a bank's primary regulator could be the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, or any one of 50 state regulatory bodies, depending on the charter of the bank. And within the Federal Reserve Board, there are 12 districts with 12 different regulatory staffing groups. The U.S. is also one of the most highly regulated banking environments in the world; however, many of the regulations are not safety and soundness related, but are instead focused on privacy, disclosure, fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, anti-usury lending, and promoting lending to lower-income segments. Even individual cities enact their own financial regulation laws (for example, for usury lending). Canadian banks had not faced laws against usury, or interest guarantees on deposits. Return on equity for Canadian banks were generally comparable to U.S. banks (with return on assets lower, but with Canadian banks using more leverage to compensate), though with recent changes in American law, the most profitable bank today is, by far, Citigroup. The other large American banks are also very profitable. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions or OSFI is an independent agency of the Government of Canada reporting to the Minister of Finance created to contribute to public confidence in the Canadian financial system. [1] It is the primary regulator of federally-regulated banks, insurance companies, and pension... A credit union is a co-operative financial institution that is owned, controlled and administered by its members. ... The Federal Reserve System is headquartered in the Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central bank of the United States. ... The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (or OCC) was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks and the federal branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States. ... The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), an agency in the U.S. Treasury Department, is the primary regulator of federal savings associations (sometimes referred to as federal thrifts). ... Look up usury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up usury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up usury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Return on Equity (ROE, Return on average common equity) measures the rate of return on the ownership interest (shareholders equity) of the common stock owners. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Citigroup Inc. ...

Credit unions in Canada are tax-paying entities, while they have been tax-exempt in the U.S. However, as restrictions on the size of credit unions in the U.S. have eased, the American Bankers Association has been lobbying to have credit unions taxed to level the playing field. The American Bankers Association (ABA) is a free-trade and professional association that promotes and advocates issues important to the banking industry in the United States. ...

Prices

As of 2003, a Big Mac cost almost one Quarter less in Canada.

In Canada prices have long tended to be higher. This is partly because of structural issues in Canada such as low population density and harsher weather, and partly due to Canada's tax system, which depends more heavily on sales taxes relative to income taxes than the US. This has contributed to problems such as cross-border shopping. Since the early 1990s this has not been the case, as the Canadian dollar had fallen low enough that it more than made up for price differences. Today prices are somewhat lower in Canada for at least one item: the Big Mac Index shows that in January 2006 a Big Mac cost $3.15 in the States and only $3.01 in Canada [2] (both figures in USD). As of September 20th, 2007 the Canadian dollar has risen to over 98 cents USD, this has benefited Canadian travellers and consumers. However, this is not favourable to Canadian manufacturers and exporters who do most of their business south of the border. Canada's trade reliance with America is decreasing, although Canada does more business with Home Depot USA than the entire country of Japan in one year. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 637 KB) A Big Mac, purchased in Canberra, Australia, August 2005. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 637 KB) A Big Mac, purchased in Canberra, Australia, August 2005. ... For other uses, see Big Mac (disambiguation). ... The quarter is 1/4th of a United States dollar or 25 cents. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... ISO 4217 Code CAD User(s) Canada Inflation 2% Source The World Factbook, 2006 est. ... McDonalds Big Mac purchased in Australia The Big Mac index is an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries. ... For other uses, see Big Mac (disambiguation). ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

Fuel prices have always been higher in Canada, even though Canada is a net exporter of energy. This is partly for the same reasons as above and partly because of taxes levied specifically on fuel. Unlike many oil producers, particularly those in the developing world, Canada does not heavily subsidize fuel, so prices are based on the world market price. Fuel imports in 2005 Fuel is any material that is capable of releasing energy when its chemical or physical structure is altered. ...

Productivity

Canadian workers are estimated to be 82% as productive per hour as their American counterparts.^[13] Because American workers also tend to work longer hours, the productivity gap per worker becomes even greater. The industries with the largest productivity advantages for the U.S. are the manufacturing (particularly electronics and computer), finance, and service sectors. Industries where Canada is actually more productive than the U.S. are the construction and natural resources sectors. Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, making by hand) is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale. ... This article is about the engineering discipline. ... This article is about the machine. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about a term used in economics. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The productivity gap had been even larger in the 1950s but the difference has been narrowing, aided by the elimination of the smaller market problem through free trade. The gap was still closing somewhat in the 1980s but at a much slower pace than in the 1960s. From 1961 to 1973 labour productivity rose annually by 3.3 percent in Canada and 1.7 percent in the United States. From 1973 to 1995 productivity growth was 1.1% in Canada and 0.8% in the United States.^[14] This does not cite any references or sources. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

The productivity gap began to widen again in the 1990s, particularly in the manufacturing sector. By 2000, this was called Canada's "Excellence Gap" by the Chief Economist of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.^[15] The United States has the second-highest productivity of the G8 countries, ^[16] while Canada's is 5th based on the 1997 estimate.^[17] For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Group of Eight redirects here. ...

Unemployment

Canada typically has a reported unemployment rate about 2% higher than the US rate. Currently, reported unemployment in the US is at 4.4 percent and at 6.1% in Canada, a 32-year low. Granted, the percentages are calculated differently with each respective country.

During the 1980s when this employment gap first emerged it was a controversial issue. Canada's higher income taxes and stronger welfare state, which inherently decreases the incentive to work^{[citation needed]}, were blamed. It has recently been claimed that about half of the difference is caused by the two countries measuring the unemployment rate differently. Craig Riddell, a University of British Columbia economist, found that the unemployment gap had averaged about 2% over the last several years. Riddell argues that 0.9% of the difference was caused by differing measurement systems.^[18] The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... The Welfare State of the United Kingdom was prefigured in the William Beveridge Report in 1942, which identified five Giant Evils in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease. ... The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Canadian public university with its main campus located at Point Grey in the unincorporated Electoral Area A, immediately west of Vancouver, British Columbia. ...

Other factors that people have claimed explain the remaining difference are the large number of seasonal workers in trades such as fishing and logging who are unemployed for a portion of the year. Canada's more restrictive labour laws, increased role of unions, universal healthcare, and greater unemployment benefits have also all been blamed for creating some of the difference. However, when unemployment insurance and welfare were sharply cut in many parts of Canada during the 1990s there was little gain relative to the Americans. Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish by hooking, trapping, or gathering. ... Logging is the process in which trees are cut down usually as part of a timber harvest which is good for the environment. ... Unemployment benefits are sums of money given to the unemployed by the government or a compulsory para-governmental insurance system. ... Welfare is financial assistance paid by taxpayers to groups of people who are unable to support themselves, and determined to be able to function more effectively with financial assistance. ...

Part of the difference can also be found in different immigration fact patterns. According to the Canadian government, Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world. [3] The higher rate of immigration, combined with the 37% unemployment rate [4] of landed immigrants in Canada causes upward pressure on Canada's unemployment rate relative to other countries.

Balance of trade

While the United States has in recent years had a large trade deficit Canada has recently maintained a trade surplus. The Canadian surplus is almost entirely due to trade with the United States. Canada has trade deficits with Europe and Asia, just as the Americans do. In 2005 Canada exported about $110 billion worth of goods more than they imported to the U.S. With the rest of the world Canada had a trade deficit of $54 billion creating an overall surplus of some $67 billion. [5] Balance of trade figures are the sum of the money gained by a given economy by selling exports, minus the cost of buying imports. ... Balance of trade figures are the sum of the money gained by a given economy by selling exports, minus the cost of buying imports. ...

Income

Although wealth is more highly concentrated in the U.S., the median (50th percentile) worker has essentially the same purchasing power in each nation. In terms of purchasing power parity, the most recent statistics from the IMF has Canada (US $35,494) lower than that in the United States (US $43,444). [6] In probability theory and statistics, a median is a type of average that is described as the number dividing the higher half of a sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. ... Gross domestic product (by purchasing power parity) in 2006 The Purchasing power parity (PPP) theory was developed by Gustav Cassel in 1920. ... “IMF” redirects here. ...

In the late 1990s, the GDP gap widened. In this period, GDP increased by 4% annually in the United States, and 3% in Canada. Earlier, it had been narrowing between 1961 and 1995. However, it was closing at a much faster rate in the 1960s than the early 1990s. From 1961 to 1973, real GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% in Canada and 4.0% in the United States. From 1973 to 1995 it was 2.6% in Canada and 2.3% in the USA. [7] Canada was not hit as hard by the economic downturn in 2001, however, so cumulative growth in real GDP has been almost exactly the same amount in each country over the last 15 years. For the band, see 1990s (band). ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ...

Standard of living

Standard of living is perhaps the hardest measurement to make since a wide array of factors have to be taken into account. The United Nations Human Development Index has traditionally listed Canada (in sixth place) higher than the United States (ranked eighth). Other independent groups, such as the Economist, rank some Canadian cities as better places to live than some American ones. In their 2005 ranking, four of the top 10 livable cities were Canadian (Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Montreal) with Vancouver taking the number one spot, while the highest ranked American cities were Cleveland and Pittsburgh, tied at 26th place.^[19] The standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people and the way these services and goods are distributed within a population. ... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London, UK. It has been in continuous publication since September 1843. ... The well-being or quality of life of a population is an important concern in economics and political science. ...

Canada ranks higher than the U.S. in statistics such as life expectancy (80.22 years in Canada versus 77.85 in the U.S.) and infant mortality (4.75 Canadian deaths per 1000 versus 6.50 in the States). Both countries rank highly with 97% literacy rates. The United States has more major consumer goods per capita than Canada. For instance, while Canada had only 297 computers per 1000 people in 1996, the United States had 403. World map of human life expectancy, 2005 Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average length of survival of a living thing. ... is the death of infants in the first year of life. ... This article is about the ability to read and write. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...

Average income is higher in the United States, though the gap is much less when measuring median income. In the United States, African-Americans and Hispanics have a lower standard of living than the rest of the population; in Canada, Aboriginal peoples and Black Canadians are disproportionately likely to live in poverty, although these disadvantaged groups represent 25% of the US population and only 6% of Canada's. In both countries, recent immigrants tend to have lower earnings than more established residents. Canada's French-Canadians also used to be a poorer group, but since the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s this has been partially remedied. Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... Hispanic flag, not widely used. ... Aboriginal people in Canada are Indigenous Peoples recognized in the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982, sections 25 and 35, respectively, as Indians (First Nations), Métis, and Inuit. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Quiet Revolution (French: Révolution tranquille) was the 1960s period of rapid change in Quebec, Canada. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

The United States measures poverty, while Canada does not. Although Statistics Canada measures something called the Low-Income Cutoffs, the statistical agency repeatedly states that this is not a poverty measure (it is an income dispersion measure like the Gini coefficient). In the United States the poverty line is set at triple the "minimum adequate food budget." When a common measure is used, such as that of the Luxembourg Income Study, the United States has relatively higher rates. The LIS reports that Canada has a poverty rate of 15.4% and the United States 18.7%. [8] In both countries lower incomes are found in those most affected by poverty include single-parent families and single elderly people. Statistics Canada (French: Statistique Canada) is the Canadian federal government department commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. ... Graphical representation of the Gini coefficient The Gini coefficient is a measure of inequality of income distribution or inequality of wealth distribution. ... The Luxembourg Income Study, asbl (LIS) is a non-profit project which produces a cross-national database of micro-economic income data for social science research. ...

Many statistics comparing the standard of living of Canada versus that of the United States do not take into account illegal immigration in the United States. It may be said the cost of absorbing lower skilled, poorer workers in the US skews comparison studies downward for the United States^[20] (see also Economic impact of illegal immigrants in the United States). However, immigration has also had a negative impact on per capita income in Canada. In recent years, what otherwise would have been a reduction in the low-income cutoff, was more than offset by the impact of immigration. According to a 2003 study by Statistics Canada "The rise in the low-income rates in the three major Canadian cities, and in Ontario and B.C. during the 1990s in particular, was largely concentrated among the immigrant population. Basically, low-income rates have been falling over the past two decades among the Canadian born, and rising among immigrants."^[21] A more recent January 2007 study by Statistics Canada explains that the low-income rates of new immigrants has deteriorated by yet another significant amount from 2000 to 2004^[22] (see also Economic impact of immigration to Canada). THIS IS FALSE INFORMATION The Economic impact of illegal immigrants in the United States depends on whether taxes paid by illegal immigrants and their contributions to the economy make up for the government services which they use. ... The economic impact of immigration to Canada is a much-debated topic in Canada. ...

Income

Median household income levels in the U.S. and Canada are roughly the same.

ISO 4217 Code CHF User(s) Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Campione dItalia Inflation 1. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... EUR is an initialism that may mean: Euro, the currency; Esposizione Universale Roma, a neighbourhood of Rome built for the World Fair Esposizione universale (1942). Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands) This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... ISO 4217 Code CAD User(s) Canada Inflation 2% Source The World Factbook, 2006 est. ... The New Zealand dollar (ISO 4217: NZD, sometimes NZ$ and often informally known as the Kiwi dollar) is the official currency of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. ... GBP may be: short for Game Boy Player the ISO currency code for the British Pound Sterling. ... This article is about the country. ... GBP may be: short for Game Boy Player the ISO currency code for the British Pound Sterling. ... ISO 4217 Code AUD User(s) Australia, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island Inflation 2. ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area  Ranked 41st  - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 240 miles (385 km)  - % water 0. ... ISO 4217 Code ILS User(s) Israel, Palestinian Authority Inflation 1. ... ISO 4217 Code HKD User(s) Hong Kong Inflation 2. ... ISO 4217 Code SGD User(s) Singapore, Brunei Inflation 1% Source The World Factbook, 2006 est. ...

Homeownership

While homeownership rates in both countries are very high compared to worldwide (or even developed countries), the United States has a slightly higher level of homeownership at 68.9% [9] versus 67% for Canada [10]. It should be noted that this number has converged in recent years.

References

Statistics Canada (French: Statistique Canada) is the Canadian federal government department commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. ... Statistics Canada (French: Statistique Canada) is the Canadian federal government department commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. ... Statistics Canada (French: Statistique Canada) is the Canadian federal government department commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. ...

See also

• Canadian and American politics compared
• Economy of Canada
• Economy of the United States