Canadian Economy

General InformationHistory

Canada-US Free Trade AgreementIndustries

Unit 18

General Information• Canada is a leading industrial nation with a

highly developed economy, one of the world's wealthiest nations, and a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8).

Three Influential Factors

• Physical Geography• The United States• Government’s

Intervention

History• Pre WWII—The National Policy by Macdonald• 1950s & 1960s—the Golden Age, a time of high

employment, low inflation and growing income• 1970s—oil crisis & recession• 1980s—the National Energy Policy, economic

recession• 1990s—brief recovery & economic slump • Canada is a mixed market or social market

economy.

Canada-US Free Trade Agreement• This agreement was signed by President Reagan and

Prime Minister Mulroney on January 2, 1988 and, after implementing legislation was enacted in the United States and Canada, the Agreement entered into force on January 1, 1989.

• Its main purpose is to eliminate all tariffs on trade between the U.S. and Canada by January 1, 1998.

• A few years later, it was superseded by the North American Free Trade Agreement, which included Mexico as well.

Industries• Three main economic sectors

Primary industry—natural resources

Secondary industry—manufacturing

Tertiary industry—service

Agriculture • Unsuitable farming conditions

• Agricultural importance The prairie provinces—wheat, cereals, feedstock, cattle

(50%); subsidy policy

Eastern provinces of Quebec & Ontario—dairy farms (4/3), hog farms (2/3)

New Brunswick & Prince Edward—poultry, potato

British Columbia—fruits & vegetables

• Agricultural export & import

Natural Resources• Canada has considerable natural resources

spread across its varied regions.

British Columbia—the forestry industry

Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador—the oil industry

Northern Ontario—mines

The Atlantic provinces—the fishing industry

Manufacturing • Manufacturing products: paper,

technological equipment, food, clothing

• Technological successes

Nuclear technology—electricity

Hydroelectricity

Telecommunications

Space technology—Canadarm

Service

• Banking, health care, construction, communications, education, tourism, government

• Export

GATT—The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade关税及贸易总协定

Free Trade Agreement

Group of Eight• Leaders of the G8 group of industrial nations have ended

three days of meetings in the German Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm with a compromise on global warming and renewed pledges for Africa. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from the summit.

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States