Canada entered the recent recession in a somewhat stronger position than its G7 peers, in large part because it dealt with its budget deficits in the mid-1990s. Thanks to its regulatory regime, no Canadian banks failed and no government subsidy was needed to prop up their balance sheets. As a result, the Canadian economy is emerging from the recession faster and relatively stronger than other countries’.

The Canadian economy has traditionally relied on its natural reserves and basic manufacturing. Since the mid-1990s, however, the country has been making systematic investments in building its knowledge economy. Canada today boasts a 48 per cent post-secondary attainment rate, the highest among the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, 62 per cent of residents have attended higher education and the provincial government has aggressive plans to increase this number to 70 per cent over the next five years.

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