Editing Canada (section)

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Canada}}
[[File:Canadian bills2.jpg|upright|left|thumb|alt=A set of specimen banknotes, with $5 (blue) on top, followed by $10 (purple), $20 (green), $50 (red), and $100 (brown)|Current [[Banknotes of the Canadian dollar|Canadian banknotes]], depicting (top to bottom) [[Wilfrid Laurier]], [[John A. Macdonald]], [[Monarchy of Canada|Queen of Canada (Elizabeth II)]], [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]], and [[Robert Borden]]]]

Canada is one of the world's [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|wealthiest nations]], with a high per-capita income. It is a member of the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD) and the [[G8]], and is one of the world's top ten trading nations.<ref>{{cite web |publisher= World Trade Organization|url=http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres08_e/pr520_e.htm|title=Latest release |date=April 17, 2008 |accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> Canada is a [[mixed economy]], ranking above the US and most western European nations on the [[Heritage Foundation]]'s index of economic freedom.<ref>{{cite web |year=2009 | publisher = Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal| title = Index of Economic Freedom | url = http://www.heritage.org/Index/ | accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> The largest foreign importers of Canadian goods are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.<ref name="import-export">{{cite web|url=http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/gblec02a-eng.htm|title=Imports, exports and trade balance of goods on a balance-of-payments basis, by country or country grouping |date=November 16, 2009|publisher=Statistics Canada|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>

In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to a more industrial and urban one. Like other [[First World]] nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the [[Tertiary sector of the economy|service industry]], which employs about three quarters of Canadians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/econ40-eng.htm|publisher=Statistics Canada|title=Employment by Industry|date=January 8, 2009 |accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> Canada is unusual among [[developed countries]] in the importance of its [[primary sector of the economy|primary sector]], in which the logging and [[petroleum industry|petroleum industries]] are two of the most important.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Easterbrook|first=WT|date=March 1995|title=Recent Contributions to Economic History: Canada|journal=Journal of Economic History|volume=19|page=98}}</ref>

Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.<ref name="energy">{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Charles E|title=World energy resources|publisher=Springer|year=2002|pages=323, 378–389|isbn=3540426345}}</ref> Atlantic Canada has vast [[Offshore drilling|offshore]] deposits of [[natural gas]], and Alberta has large oil and gas resources. The immense [[Athabasca oil sands]] give Canada the world's second-largest [[oil reserves]], behind [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Clarke, Tony; Campbell, Bruce; Laxer, Gordon |publisher= Parkland Institute |url=http://parklandinstitute.ca/downloads/reports/FuellingFortressAmericareport.pdf |title=US oil addiction could make us sick |date=March 10, 2006|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>

Canada is one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products; the Canadian Prairies are one of the most important producers of wheat, canola, and other grains.<ref name="britton">{{cite book|last=Britton|first=John NH|title=Canada and the Global Economy: The Geography of Structural and Technological Change|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=1996|pages=26–27, 155–163|isbn=0773513566}}</ref> Canada is the largest producer of [[zinc]] and [[uranium]], and is a global source of many other natural resources, such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead.<ref name="energy"/> Many towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and [[aeronautics]] representing particularly important industries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-516-x/sectionv/4057758-eng.htm#V332_350|title=Vl-12|last=Leacy|first=FH (ed.)|year=1983|publisher=Statistics Canada|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>

[[File:Nafta.jpg|thumb|Representatives of the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States sign the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] in 1992]]

Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The [[Automotive Products Trade Agreement]] of 1965 opened the borders to trade in the auto manufacturing industry. In the 1970s, concerns over energy self-sufficiency and foreign ownership in the manufacturing sectors prompted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government to enact the [[National Energy Program]] (NEP) and the [[Investment Canada|Foreign Investment Review Agency]] (FIRA).<ref>{{cite book|last=Morck|first=Randall|coauthors=Tian, Gloria; Yeung, Bernard|title=Governance, multinationals, and growth|editor=Eden, Lorraine; Dobson, Wendy|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|year=2005|page=50|chapter=Who owns whom? Economic nationalism and family controlled pyramidal groups in Canada|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=q4gt2xhqpSIC&pg=PA50|isbn=1843769093}}</ref>

In the 1980s, Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]]'s Progressive Conservatives abolished the NEP and changed the name of FIRA to "[[Investment Canada]]" in order to encourage foreign investment.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hale|first=Geoffrey|title=The Dog That Hasn't Barked: The Political Economy of Contemporary Debates on Canadian Foreign Investment Policies|journal=Canadian Journal of Political Science|date=October 2008|volume=41|issue=03|pages=719–747|doi=10.1017/S0008423908080785}}</ref> The [[Canada&nbsp;– United States Free Trade Agreement]] (FTA) of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries, while the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA) expanded the free-trade zone to include [[Mexico]] in the 1990s.<ref name="britton"/> In the mid-1990s, the Liberal government under [[Jean Chrétien]] began to post annual budgetary surpluses and steadily paid down the national debt.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/07/13/f-jean-chretien.html|title=Jean Chrétien|date=July 13, 2009|publisher=CBC|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> The [[global financial crisis of 2008]] caused a [[recession of 2008|recession]], which could increase the country's unemployment rate to 10 percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=1383376|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5nDiwjKnX|archivedate=2010-02-01|title=Jobless rate to peak at 10%: TD|last=Sturgeon|first=Jamie|date=March 13, 2009|publisher=National Post|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> In 2008, Canada's imported goods were worth over $442.9&nbsp;billion, of which $280.8&nbsp;billion was from the United States, $11.7&nbsp;billion from Japan, and $11.3&nbsp;billion from the United Kingdom.<ref name="import-export" /> The country’s 2009 [[trade deficit]] totaled C$4.8&nbsp;billion, compared with a C$46.9&nbsp;billion surplus in 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/canada-has-first-yearly-trade-deficit-since-1975/article1462607/ |title=Canada has first yearly trade deficit since 1975|newspaper= The Globe and Mail|date=February 10, 2010|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>

As of October 2009, Canada's national [[unemployment]] rate was 8.6 percent. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 5.8 percent in Manitoba to a high of 17 percent in Newfoundland and Labrador.<ref>{{cite web |publisher= Statistics Canada |url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/subjects-sujets/labour-travail/lfs-epa/lfs-epa-eng.htm|title=Latest release from Labour Force Survey |date=November 6, 2009|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> Between October 2008, and October 2010, the Canadian labour market lost 162,000 full-time jobs and a total of 224,000 permanent jobs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/the-economists/the-real-state-of-canadas-jobs-market/article1757129/|title=The real state of Canada's jobs market |date=October 15, 2010|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|accessdate=2010-12-12|first=Armine|last=Yalnizyan}}</ref> [[Canadian public debt|Canada's federal debt]] is estimated to be $566.7&nbsp;billion for 2010–11, up from $463.7&nbsp;billion in 2008–09.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100304/budget_2010_100304/20100304?hub=TorontoNewHome|title=Budget fights deficit with freeze on future spending|publisher=[[CTV News]]|date=March 4, 2010|accessdate=2011-05-21}}</ref> Canada’s net [[foreign debt]] rose by $41-billion to $194-billion in the first quarter of 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100617/dq100617b-eng.htm|title=Canada's international investment position|publisher=Statistics Canada|work=The Daily|date=June 17, 2010|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>

===Science and technology===
[[File:STS-116 Payload (NASA S116-E-05364).jpg|thumb|alt=A shuttle in space, with Earth in the background. A mechanical arm labeled "Canada" rises from the shuttle|The [[Canadarm]] in action on the [[Space Shuttle Discovery]] during [[STS-116]]]]

Canada is an [[Developed country|industrial nation]] with a highly developed science and technology sector. Nearly 1.88 percent of Canada's GDP is allocated to research & development (R&D).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/88-221-x/2008002/part-partie1-eng.htm|title=Gross domestic expenditures on research and development|publisher=Statistics Canada|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> The country has ten [[List of Nobel laureates by country|Nobel laureates]] in physics, chemistry and medicine.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canadian Nobel Prize in Science Laureates|url=http://resources.educ.queensu.ca/science/main/profdev/pdjsi1.htm|publisher=Queen's University|accessdate=2011-06-02}}</ref> Canada ranks twelfth in the world for Internet usage with 28.0&nbsp;million users, 84.3 percent of the total population.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats14.htm#north|title=Internet Usage and Population in North America|publisher=Internetworldstats|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>

The [[Canadian Space Agency]] conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, and develops rockets and satellites. In 1984, [[Marc Garneau]] became Canada's first astronaut, serving as payload specialist of [[STS-41-G]]. Canada was ranked third among 20 top countries in space sciences.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=408577&c=1|title=Top countries in space sciences|newspaper=Times Higher Education|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> Canada is a participant in the [[International Space Station]] and one of the world's pioneers in space [[robotics]] with the [[Canadarm]], [[Canadarm2]] and [[Dextre]]. Since the 1960s, Canada Aerospace Industries have designed and built 10 satellites, including [[Radarsat-1]], [[Radarsat-2]] and [[Microvariability and Oscillations of STars telescope|MOST]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2010/11/c9200.html|title=The Canadian Aerospace Industry praises the federal government for recognizing Space as a strategic capability for Canada|publisher=Newswire |accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> Canada also produced one of the most successful [[sounding rocket]]s, the [[Black Brant (rocket)|Black Brant]]; over 1000 have been launched since they were initially produced in 1961.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bristol.ca/BlackBrant.html|title=Black Brant Sounding Rockets|publisher=Magellan Aerospace|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> Universities across Canada are working on the first domestic [[Lander (spacecraft)|landing spacecraft]]: the [[Northern Light (spacecraft)|Northern Light]], designed to search for life on Mars and investigate Martian electromagnetic radiation environment and atmospheric properties. If the Northern Light is successful, Canada will be the third country to land on another planet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Canada-on-Mars-1022306.htm|title=Canada on Mars?|publisher=Marketwire|accessdate=2009-07-27}}</ref>