Directory:Canada

Canada is the second-largest country in area in the world, with a variety of landforms and an abundance of diverse natural resources. Canada is a nation that values and respects the contributions and individuality of many different cultures.

Government

Canada is a democratic constitutional monarchy. Every act of government is passed in the name of the Queen, but the authority for every act flows from the Canadian people.

Economy

Canada has come a long way from the industrial revolution sparked by the railway and the telegraph in the early 1800s. Over the years, a steady tide of technological progress has profoundly reshaped our economy, making possible the combustion engine, the assembly line, computer networks and professional consultants. Today, economic progress rides an electronic expressway of automation, information and instant communication. Advances in technology, the increased globalization of markets and the emergence of liberal trading regimes are fundamentally changing the way Canadians conduct their business. Long removed from an economy based almost exclusively on natural resources, Canada is rapidly moving toward a knowledge-based economy built on innovation and technology. The new economy is also a ‘smarter’ economy: Canada’s knowledge-intensive industries are generating advances in our ability to produce high-tech machinery and equipment, and encouraging industrial innovation as a result.

Canadian businesses are ‘getting connected’ more than ever before, exploiting advances in communications technology to reach out into the global marketplace in search of buyers for their products. Though we have always been a nation looking outward for markets, Canadian trade continues to grow beyond our borders. Indeed, with a small domestic market, the steady expansion of multilateral trade is critical to the structure of our economy and the continued prosperity of our nation.