Canada

Economic and political outline

Economic indicators | Foreign Trade in figures | Sources of economic information | Political outline

Economic indicators

GDP growth was 3.3% in 2004, 2.9% in 2005 and 2.5% in 2007 thanks to private spending and residential investment which is about 4%. The IMF foresees a slowing down of GDP growth of less than 1.8% for 2008.
The Bank of Canada (BoC) has a prime interest rate of about 4%.
For the first time in 33 years, unemployment is under 6%.

GDP Indicators	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
GDP (billions USD)	993.94	1,135.45	1,275.28	1,406.43e	1,527.76e
GDP (constant prices, annual % change)	3.1	3.1	2.8	2.5e	2.3e
GDP per capita (USD)	31,112.00	35,199.00	39,141.33	42,738.21e	45,883.96e
General government balance (in % of GDP)	0.8	1.6	1.0	0.9e	0.9e
Inflation rate (%)	1.8	2.2	2.0	2.2e	1.9e
Unemployment rate (% of the labor force)	7.2	6.8	6.3	6.1	6.2
Current Account (billions USD)	22.37	23.07	20.79	25.60e	17.91e
Current Account (in % of GDP)	2.3	2.0	1.6	1.8e	1.2e

Source: IMF - World Economic Outlook Database

Note: (e) Estimated data

Socio-demographic indicators	2006	2007	2008
Unemployment rate (%)	6.3	6.1	6.2

Source:

Main sectors of industry

The agricultural sector employs about 3% of the population. Canada is one of the largest exporters of agricultural products in the world, in particular of wheat. It produces 10% of the world's GMO harvests. Fishing is an important sector. Canada is a main producer of minerals, with nickel, zinc and uranium. It has large reserves of oil and natural gas. Canada has 6 strong sectors of primary industry: renewable energy, forestry, hydrogen and fuel cells , mines, metals and minerals, fishing, oil and gas . The tertiary sector now represents 66% of GDP, while the manufacturing sector represents 31%. The most dynamic sectors are: telecommunications, tourism, financial services, Internet (almost 65% of households use Internet regularly) and aeronautics.

Breakdown of economic activity by sector	Agriculture	Industry	Services
Value added (annual % change)	6.8	3.9	2.8
Value added (in % of GDP)	2.2	31.4	66.4
Employment by sector (in % of total employment)	2.7	22.0	75.3

Source: World Bank - World Development Indicators - last available data.

Monetary indicators	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Average annual exchange rate for 1 USD	1.57	1.40	1.30	1.21	1.13

Source: World Bank - World Development Indicators

Foreign trade in figures

Canada is ranked 10th among exporting countries and 9th among importing countries.
Exports correspond to about one third of GDP. The United States account for about 85% of Canadian exports. Canada is the USA's largest foreign energy supplier, including oil, gas, uranium and electric power. Its other trading partners are Japan, Germany, China, the United Kingdom and France.

Foreign trade indicators	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Imports of goods (millions USD)	227,410	244,891	279,880	320,517	356,539
Exports of goods (millions USD)	263,908	285,068	330,106	374,308	404,320
Imports of services (millions USD)	45,069	52,227	58,914	64,956	72,494
Exports of services (millions USD)	40,481	43,778	49,111	53,647	57,487
Imports of goods and services (annual % change)	1.5	4.1	8.1	n.c.	n.c.
Exports of goods and services (annual % change)	1.0	-2.1	5.0	n.c.	n.c.
Imports of goods and services (in % of GDP)	37.5	34.5	34.4	n.c.	n.c.
Exports of goods and services (in % of GDP)	41.9	38.4	38.6	n.c.	n.c.
Trade Balance (millions USD)	36,498	40,177	50,226	53,791	47,780
Trade Balance (including service) (millions USD)	31,910	31,728	40,422	42,482	32,774
Current Account (millions USD)	12,604	10,315	21,157	26,555	21,441
Current Account (in % of GDP)	1.7	1.2	2.2	2.4	1.7
Foreign trade (in % of GDP)	79.5	72.9	73.1	n.c.	n.c.

Source: World Bank - World Development Indicators

Main partner countries

Main customers (% of exports)	2006
United States	81.6%
United Kingdom	2.3%
Japan	2.1%
China	1.7%
Mexico	1.0%

Main suppliers (% of imports)	2006
United States	54.9%
China	8.7%
Mexico	4.0%
Japan	3.9%
Germany	2.8%

Source: 2006

Main products

Main exports (% of exports)	2006
Mineral fuels, mineral oils	20.0%
Vehicles other than railway or tramway	16.7%
Machinery and mechanical appliances	7.7%
Electrical machinery and equipment	4.8%

Main imports (% of imports)	2006
Vehicles other than railway or tramway	17.1%
Machinery and mechanical appliances	16.0%
Electrical machinery and equipment	9.8%
Mineral fuels, mineral oils	9.5%
Plastics	3.1%

Source: 2006

To see more products: More imports (Intracen Data)
More exports (Intracen Data)

Sources of economic information

Ministries: Treasury Board of Canada Department of Finance Canada Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT)Industry Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAC)
Statistical Office: Statistics Canada
Central Bank: Bank of Canada
Stock Exchange: Montreal Stock Exchange
Canadian Stock Review
TSX Group - Toronto Stock Exchange
Online newspapers: Ottawa business journal
Canadian Content
Le Devoir
On-line Canadian newspapers
Les Affaires
Canoe - Portal for information on news and entertainment
Search Engines: Altavista Canada
Yahoo! Canada
AOL Canada
Canada 411
CAN Links
Francité
La Page Montréal
La Toile du Québec
Maple Square
Sympatico (Lycos)
The Canadianeh
Trouvez
Economic portals: Économie sociale du Québec (Quebec social economy)
Aboriginal Canada Portal
Libraries of the UQAM
Canoe - Portal for information on news and entertainment

Political outline

Executive Power: Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State. She appoints the Governor General of the country for 5 years. The Governor General appoints the Prime Minister as well as the Ministry (however, this is chosen by the Prime Minister). The Prime Minister is the head of the government. He holds the executive power. The leader of the majority party or coalition in the House of Commons is automatically chosen to be Prime Minister. The Prime Minister and his Ministry stay in power as long as they have the support of the majority in the House of Commons.
Legislative Power: The legislative power in Canada is composed of a two-chamber federal parliament made up of: the Senate (upper house) whose members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister; the House of Commons (lower house), whose members are elected by universal suffrage. The Governor General calls a general election when the Prime Minister advises him to do so. Most legislative practices are derived from the British Parliament.
Main political parties: The four main parties in Canada are: the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC), the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois.
Current political leaders: Governor General: Michaelle JEAN (since September 2005)
Prime Minister: Stephen HARPER (since February 2006) – Conservative Party
Next election dates: House of Commons: January 2011