Canada’s economic expansion is successful

Canada is a highly developed market economy. It is the 10th largest GDP (by nominal) in the world. The country's economy is dominated by the service industry which employs about three quarters of Canadians. Canada has the 4th highest total estimated value of natural resources. Canada is one of the world's top 10 trading nations, with a highly globalized economy. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the 9th largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization.

In 2018, Canadian trade in goods and services reached CA$1.5 trillion. Canada's exports totalled over CA$585 billion, while its imported goods were worth over CA$607 billion, of which approximately CA$391 billion originated from the United States, CA$216 billion from non-U.S. sources.

Canada’s economic expansion has been strong over the past two years. Growth in 2018 was 2% (preliminary estimate was 1.9%), Statistics Canada said Thursday.

The numbers suggest the economy may have been stronger than previously thought, potentially validating the Bank of Canada’s decision to continue raising interest rates at the time and its decision more recently to hold off on matching cuts to borrowing costs made by other major central banks including the Federal Reserve.

Not everything is going well for Canada, though. Business investment is well below initially estimated levels.