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Canadian Business Cycles

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Canadian Business Cycles
Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically, the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across the World 's longest unfortified border. Canada faces the political challenges of meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care, and education, social services, and economic competitiveness, as well as responding to the particular concerns of predominantly francophone Quebec. In addition, Canada also aims to develop its diverse energy resources while maintaining its commitment to the environment.
Canada is a well-developed country that resembles the United States in its market oriented economic system. This system is characterized by the private ownership of resources and the use of markets and prices to coordinate and direct economic activity. It is an industrial society in the trillion-dollar class, and is currently The United States most important trading partner. Since World War II, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US. Canada enjoys a substantial trade surplus with the US, which absorbs about three-fourths of Canadian exports each year. Canada is the US 's largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, gas, uranium, and electric power. Given its great natural resources, skilled labor force, and modern capital plant, Canada enjoyed solid economic growth from 1993 through 2007.
The proceeds from the global economic crisis, dropped into a sharp recession in the final months of 2008 and Ottawa posted its first fiscal deficit in 2009 after 12 years of surplus. Canada 's major banks, however, emerged from the



Cited: Statistics Canada. “Economy inputs and outputs” March 2009. 5 May 2011 Canadian Business. “Outlook 2007: Canada, by Province. January 2007”. 5 May 2011< http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/14236--outlook-2007-canada-by-province> Index Mundi. “Canada Public Debt” June 2010. 5 May 2011< http://www.indexmundi.com/canada/public_debt.html> IBTIMES. “Canada employment picks up steam in April”. April 2011. 5 May 2011< http://www.indexmundi.com/canada/public_debt.html>

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