- Sep 11, 2010
- 133
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- London
- NOC Code......
- 1111
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 12-Aug-09
- Doc's Request.
- 02-Oct-09
- File Transfer...
- 06-Oct-09
- Med's Request
- 18-08-10
- Med's Done....
- 09-09-10
- Interview........
- Waived
- Passport Req..
- 19-01-2011 - Passport sent on 22-01-2011
- VISA ISSUED...
- 11-04-2011
- LANDED..........
- 19th May 2011- Thanks to Almighty!
Sound economic policies and good governance have put Canada in a strong position.
Double-dip is the term rolling off media tongues in recent weeks. At a time when the world is close to clawing out of a deep recessionary ditch, Canada, the world's ninth-largest economy, has less to worry about than its G8 peers. Going by the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the country is well positioned to deal with international economic turmoil. The economy barely contracted then and GDP growth is higher now than it was prior to 2007 — at 3 per cent it is the highest it has been for six years. Employment figures are also at their best since 2006. Had it not been for umbilical ties with the United States — a country that accounts for half of all of Canada's imports and three quarters of exports, the economy wouldn't have cooled at all.
American politicians in fact constantly exemplify Canada as a benchmark with which to gauge policy and reform. Public sector debt is among the lowest in the developed world, the health-care system is lauded, poverty is scarce, and the country is generally the most inoffensive and best liked among the world's top dogs.
In the context of the root of contemporary recessions, the banking system should first be addressed. Banks in Canada are a different sort of animal; only a handful share the local market and competition between them is nowhere near the sort seen on Wall Street.
Regulation is far more stifling. A single regulator bars anticompetitive practices, hence mergers are nearly impossible. Then again the industry is well insulated from foreign competitors. Canadian banks are subject to strict capital requirements and leverage ceilings. Assets are capped at 20 times capital — a great deal less than what is seen in Europe and the US. On the consumer side, mortgaging for more than 80 per cent of the value of your home comes with a default insurance requirement. Banks are also obligated to insure their mortgage portfolios. As a result there was a relatively modest housing boom in Canada compared to its neighbour to the south. These days US property prices have sunk and the value of Canadian real estate is soaring. Knock-on effects include an emboldened construction industry and related services. Financial services are more expensive in Canada and there is hardly any innovation (or havoc).
Natural resources
Good governance has been supplemented by a timely global commodities boom. Canada happens to be well endowed with agricultural wealth and fossil fuels. High demand (a growing portion from China) for commodities has appreciated the Canadian dollar, which is now roughly equal to the greenback — a recovery from falling to under 80 cents during the recession. Being an exporting country however, a strong currency isn't necessarily a good thing and the impact has been felt by the manufacturing sector. Canada produces far more than its population of 30-odd million can consume (exports account for more than 30 per cent of GDP). It is uniquely a developed nation that doesn't need to import any of its energy needs and energy exports in fact equate to around 3 per cent of GDP. Oil and gas reserves exist in several provinces, including the world's second-largest reserves of oil in Athabasca oil sands, and these reserves are joined by vast mineral deposits of iron ore, copper and coal.
The agricultural sector is no slouch either — Canada is one of the world's biggest producers of grains. In most developed world government subsidies on agricultural activities tend to interfere heavily with market forces. It is in this area that the country has another endearing quality. A proponent of laissez-faire, the government uses only a fraction of the subsidy limit set by the World Trade Organisation (WTO); most of it going toward ‘green box' support — meaning funds are provided for R&D or emergency aid, so money isn't funnelled into inputs that influence the market.
If we are indeed in the embryonic stages of a second worldwide recessionary plunge, Canada is leaving little to chance. Benchmark interest rates were cut to 0.25 per cent during the recession to vitalise cash flows throughout the economy. The Bank of Canada now looks to ramp up these rates as a precautionary measure as economic growth has been normalised (a measure decided on well before the news of US credit downgrades and potential EU member defaults). Tax credits for first-time mortgagors have been curtailed — a policy which was implemented in 2008 to encourage the mortgage market (the same time during which the US was strewn with foreclosures and credit almost completely dried up).
Canada is sterilising itself from the pitfalls of the risky activities of larger economies. Perhaps it is because Canada learned early, suffering its own banking crisis in the 1980s. By the mid-nineties, the country's public sector debt was weighing down its economy, prompting the Wall Street Journal to label Canada "an honorary member of the third world" in 1995. The fiscal deficit is around 35 per cent of GDP today and falling; policymakers are on the road to balancing it in the next four years — a stark contrast to its American neighbour. It seems the biggest danger to Canada is the actions of other nations — an unfair prospect, but one that they are nevertheless, prepared for.
********************
Developing the Arctic for better prospects
Access to the Arctic is proving to be quite an asset for Canada's future. As a key policy of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada is mounting several initiatives to develop the Arctic. The problem is that five countries lay claim to polar territory — Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the US. International law is fairly impotent when it comes to high seas disputes (300 kilometres beyond a coastline belongs to that country, beyond that everything becomes hazy). New shipping routes are being formed as polar ice melts, though it will be years before ships can safely traverse the region. Efforts are however under way. Royal Dutch Shell recently got approval to drill in water north of Alaska and ArcelorMittal gained rights to develop iron ore reserves on Canada's Baffin Island.
— F.H.
*******
Just a blip?
Canada's economy may have contracted in the second quarter of this year, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said recently, with automobile production disrupted by Japan's earthquake and tsunami and deficits concerns in the US and Europe slowing the global recovery.
Canada was also hit by wet conditions in Saskatchewan and forest fires in Alberta during the quarter, which affected activity in the energy industry.
Fourteen of 22 industries reported lower profits in the second quarter.
— Bloomberg News
http://gulfnews.com/gn-focus/canada/sitting-pretty-1.862573
Cheers...
Double-dip is the term rolling off media tongues in recent weeks. At a time when the world is close to clawing out of a deep recessionary ditch, Canada, the world's ninth-largest economy, has less to worry about than its G8 peers. Going by the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the country is well positioned to deal with international economic turmoil. The economy barely contracted then and GDP growth is higher now than it was prior to 2007 — at 3 per cent it is the highest it has been for six years. Employment figures are also at their best since 2006. Had it not been for umbilical ties with the United States — a country that accounts for half of all of Canada's imports and three quarters of exports, the economy wouldn't have cooled at all.
American politicians in fact constantly exemplify Canada as a benchmark with which to gauge policy and reform. Public sector debt is among the lowest in the developed world, the health-care system is lauded, poverty is scarce, and the country is generally the most inoffensive and best liked among the world's top dogs.
In the context of the root of contemporary recessions, the banking system should first be addressed. Banks in Canada are a different sort of animal; only a handful share the local market and competition between them is nowhere near the sort seen on Wall Street.
Regulation is far more stifling. A single regulator bars anticompetitive practices, hence mergers are nearly impossible. Then again the industry is well insulated from foreign competitors. Canadian banks are subject to strict capital requirements and leverage ceilings. Assets are capped at 20 times capital — a great deal less than what is seen in Europe and the US. On the consumer side, mortgaging for more than 80 per cent of the value of your home comes with a default insurance requirement. Banks are also obligated to insure their mortgage portfolios. As a result there was a relatively modest housing boom in Canada compared to its neighbour to the south. These days US property prices have sunk and the value of Canadian real estate is soaring. Knock-on effects include an emboldened construction industry and related services. Financial services are more expensive in Canada and there is hardly any innovation (or havoc).
Natural resources
Good governance has been supplemented by a timely global commodities boom. Canada happens to be well endowed with agricultural wealth and fossil fuels. High demand (a growing portion from China) for commodities has appreciated the Canadian dollar, which is now roughly equal to the greenback — a recovery from falling to under 80 cents during the recession. Being an exporting country however, a strong currency isn't necessarily a good thing and the impact has been felt by the manufacturing sector. Canada produces far more than its population of 30-odd million can consume (exports account for more than 30 per cent of GDP). It is uniquely a developed nation that doesn't need to import any of its energy needs and energy exports in fact equate to around 3 per cent of GDP. Oil and gas reserves exist in several provinces, including the world's second-largest reserves of oil in Athabasca oil sands, and these reserves are joined by vast mineral deposits of iron ore, copper and coal.
The agricultural sector is no slouch either — Canada is one of the world's biggest producers of grains. In most developed world government subsidies on agricultural activities tend to interfere heavily with market forces. It is in this area that the country has another endearing quality. A proponent of laissez-faire, the government uses only a fraction of the subsidy limit set by the World Trade Organisation (WTO); most of it going toward ‘green box' support — meaning funds are provided for R&D or emergency aid, so money isn't funnelled into inputs that influence the market.
If we are indeed in the embryonic stages of a second worldwide recessionary plunge, Canada is leaving little to chance. Benchmark interest rates were cut to 0.25 per cent during the recession to vitalise cash flows throughout the economy. The Bank of Canada now looks to ramp up these rates as a precautionary measure as economic growth has been normalised (a measure decided on well before the news of US credit downgrades and potential EU member defaults). Tax credits for first-time mortgagors have been curtailed — a policy which was implemented in 2008 to encourage the mortgage market (the same time during which the US was strewn with foreclosures and credit almost completely dried up).
Canada is sterilising itself from the pitfalls of the risky activities of larger economies. Perhaps it is because Canada learned early, suffering its own banking crisis in the 1980s. By the mid-nineties, the country's public sector debt was weighing down its economy, prompting the Wall Street Journal to label Canada "an honorary member of the third world" in 1995. The fiscal deficit is around 35 per cent of GDP today and falling; policymakers are on the road to balancing it in the next four years — a stark contrast to its American neighbour. It seems the biggest danger to Canada is the actions of other nations — an unfair prospect, but one that they are nevertheless, prepared for.
********************
Developing the Arctic for better prospects
Access to the Arctic is proving to be quite an asset for Canada's future. As a key policy of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada is mounting several initiatives to develop the Arctic. The problem is that five countries lay claim to polar territory — Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the US. International law is fairly impotent when it comes to high seas disputes (300 kilometres beyond a coastline belongs to that country, beyond that everything becomes hazy). New shipping routes are being formed as polar ice melts, though it will be years before ships can safely traverse the region. Efforts are however under way. Royal Dutch Shell recently got approval to drill in water north of Alaska and ArcelorMittal gained rights to develop iron ore reserves on Canada's Baffin Island.
— F.H.
*******
Just a blip?
Canada's economy may have contracted in the second quarter of this year, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said recently, with automobile production disrupted by Japan's earthquake and tsunami and deficits concerns in the US and Europe slowing the global recovery.
Canada was also hit by wet conditions in Saskatchewan and forest fires in Alberta during the quarter, which affected activity in the energy industry.
Fourteen of 22 industries reported lower profits in the second quarter.
— Bloomberg News
http://gulfnews.com/gn-focus/canada/sitting-pretty-1.862573
Cheers...
