Canada is known as a prosperous and strong nation valued for its stability, diversity and democratic institutions. With a vast land mass and abundance of natural resources, Canada has prospered to the point where a recent United Nations study lists it as the best place in the world to live. In fact, in another international survey of 118 cities around the world, three Canadian cities were ranked in the top ten for quality of living. Unlike the United States and other countries, in Canada there is no quota based immigration policy based on either nationality or occupation. For these reasons and others, Canada is the destination of choice for many of the world's immigrants.

The Canadian economy is among the world's soundest. Fully integrated into the global system, Canada is the eighth-largest trading nation among the industrialized market economies and an active partner in international investment.

Among the G-7 countries - the richest economies in the world - Canada's per capita purchasing power is second only to the United States. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) expects Canada to lead the industrialized nations in near-term economic growth. Inflation now stands below two percent and is expected to remain low.

In 1996, Canada's nominal GDP was $577.8 billion US, real GDP growth rate rose to 1.5%, and GDP per capita on a PPP basis was $22,333 US. Canada's inflation rate stands at 1.6%, and the unemployment rate is 9.7% (8.9% as of December 1997).

Canadians continue to break new ground with commuter turbo-prop and turbofan aircraft, a technology they introduced to the world. They have developed a unique aircraft that can scoop up 6.6 tonnes of water from a lake in 10 seconds and drop it on a forest fire with pinpoint accuracy. And they are in the forefront of developing high-tech navigational aids such as the microwave landing system.

Canadians lead the way in marine technology, producing freighters that unload themselves, icebreakers with Arctic navigation capability, a diving suit that is five time stronger than steel yet weightless in water, the world's only passenger submarines, and the world's most advanced one-person submarine.