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Global Development Matters
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Canada Canada

Next Country: Denmark

Overall score 2008: 5.4
Change since 2003: +0.2 (using 2008 methodology)

Canada ranks 11th overall in 2008. Canada’s main contributions to the development of poor countries come through its strong support of technological innovation and dissemination, its low barriers against developing country exports, and its policies that promote productive investment in poor countries. But Canada’s positive impact is reduced by its large share of tied foreign aid, its small contributions to international peacekeeping efforts and its poor environmental record from the standpoint of developing countries.

Canada Scores 2003-2008

2003: 2.6 2003: 6.7 2003: 5.7 2003: 5.8 2003: 3.9 2003: 5.4 2003: 6.4 2003: 5.2 2004: 3.3 2004: 6.9 2004: 5.7 2004: 5.9 2004: 3.8 2004: 5.6 2004: 6.3 2004: 5.4 2005: 3.5 2005: 7.2 2005: 5.9 2005: 5.4 2005: 5.0 2005: 5.4 2005: 6.4 2005: 5.6 2006: 3.9 2006: 6.9 2006: 5.9 2006: 5.4 2006: 5.2 2006: 5.2 2006: 6.4 2006: 5.6 2007: 4.4 2007: 7.1 2007: 6.0 2007: 5.7 2007: 4.9 2007: 5.4 2007: 6.2 2007: 5.7 2008: 3.8 2008: 6.5 2008: 6.3 2008: 5.5 2008: 4.7 2008: 5.4 2008: 5.9 2008: 5.4 Canada

CDI site with animation

 

Country Reports

2008 Results

Aid

What it measures

Aid quality is just as important as aid quantity, so the CDI measures gross aid as a share of GNI adjusted for various quality factors: it subtracts debt service, penalizes “tied” aid that makes recipients spend aid only on donor goods and services, rewards aid to poor but relatively uncorrupt recipients, and penalizes overloading poor governments with many small projects.

Canada Overall

  • Score: 3.8
  • Rank: 11

Canada Strengths

  • Large amount of private charitable giving attributable to tax policy (rank by share of GDP: 4)
  • Prevents project proliferation; large average project size (rank: 11)

Canada Weaknesses

  • Large share of tied or partially tied aid (31%; rank: 20)

Trade
What it measures

International trade has been a force for economic development for centuries. The CDI measures trade barriers in rich countries against exports from developing countries.

Canada Overall

  • Score: 6.5
  • Rank: 4

Canada Strengths

  • Low tariffs on agricultural products (13.3% of the value of imports; rank: 4)
  • Low agricultural subsidies (equivalent to 11.1% tariff; rank: 5)

Canada Weaknesses

  • High barriers against textiles (10.5% of the value of imports; rank: 21)
  • High barriers against apparel (13.6% of the value of imports; rank: 21)

Investment
What it measures

Rich-country investment in poorer countries can transfer technologies, upgrade management and create jobs. The CDI includes a checklist of policies that support healthy investment in developing countries.

Canada Overall

  • Score: 6.3
  • Rank: 1

Canada Strengths

  • Provides insurance against political risk for both domestic and foreign firms
  • Employs tax-sparing arrangements to prevent double taxation of corporate profits earned abroad
  • Particularly active in the G-8 Anti-Corruption and Transparency Action Plan and in the Kimberley Initiative on blood diamonds
  • Allows pension fund investments in emerging markets

Canada Weaknesses

  • Political risk insurance also given to inefficient, import-substituting projects

Migration
What it measures

The movement of people from poor to rich countries provides unskilled immigrants with jobs, income and knowledge. This increases the flow of money sent home by migrants abroad and the transfer of skills when the migrants return home.

Canada Overall

  • Score: 5.5
  • Rank: 10

Canada Strengths

  • Large number of immigrants from developing countries entering Canada (rank by share of population: 6)

Canada Weaknesses

  • Only a small increase during the 1990s in the number of unskilled immigrants from developing countries living in Canada (rank by share of population: 11)
  • Tuition for foreign students higher than for nationals

Environment

What it measures

Rich countries use a disproportionate amount of scarce resources, and poor countries are most vulnerable to global warming and ecological deterioration, so the CDI measures the impact of policies on the global climate, fisheries and biodiversity.

Canada Overall

  • Score: 4.7
  • Rank: 16

Canada Weaknesses

  • Low gas taxes ($0.26 per liter; rank: 21)
  • High fishing subsidies ($2.50 per person; rank: 15)
  • High greenhouse gas emissions rate per capita (22.8 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; rank: 21)

Security
What it measures

Since security is a prerequisite for development, the CDI rewards contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping operations and forcible humanitarian interventions, rewards military protection of global sea lanes, and penalizes arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments.

Canada Overall

  • Score: 5.4
  • Rank: 11

Canada Weaknesses

  • Small financial and personnel contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions over last decade (rank by share of GDP: 13)

Technology
What it measures

Rich countries contribute to development through the creation and dissemination of new technologies. The CDI captures this by measuring government support for R&D and penalizing strong intellectual property rights regimes that limit the dissemination of new technologies to poor countries.

Canada Overall

  • Score: 5.9
  • Rank: 5

Canada Strengths

  • No attempt to incorporate into bilateral free trade agreements “TRIPS-Plus” measures that would restrict the flow of innovations to developing countries
  • High tax subsidy rate to businesses for R&D (rank: 3)
  • Does not offer patent-like proprietary rights to developers of data compilations, including those assembled from data in the public domain