MaRS

Oh Canada!

During such tumultuous economic times, positive news is always welcome.  That’s why Canada’s move up four spots to number three on Forbes 4th Annual Best Countries for Business list is such great news.  Forbes analyzed the business climate in 127 countries focusing on degrees of trade and monetary freedom, property rights, innovation, technology, red tape, investor protection, corruption, tax burden and market performance.

Forbes notes, “this is not a tally of economies with high gross domestic product growth, or low unemployment. The goal is to quantify for entrepreneurs and investors the often-qualified information about dynamic economies and what they would consider desirable conditions for business.”

Denmark again took the top spot, followed by the USA at number two.  Here’s the top ten:

Best Countries for Business 2009:

1. Denmark
2. USA
3. Canada
4. Singapore
5. New Zealand
6. United Kingdom
7. Sweden
8. Australia
9. Hong Kong
10. Norway

How did Canada make its way up to number three?

Forbes notes that “trade and budget surpluses, tax relief from the current administration and conservative lending practices of its banks have left the U.S.’ northern neighbor in an enviable position amid global tumult.  Reignited demand for commodities in the face of U.S. inflation could help reverse export declines in this gold-and oil-sands-rich nation.”  Though our provincial and federal budgets seem to have rewritten their surpluses in the past few days, we are still in an enviable position on the world stage to rebound quickly from the economic downturn.

Forbes used analysis of various socioeconomic indicators sourced from the Heritage Foundation, the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, Transparency International, Freedom House, Deloitte Tax, the US Chamber of Commerce and the Central Intelligence Agency among others.