OTTAWA - A new analysis of Canada's recent economic collapse shows it can be traced almost entirely to the United States.
Dale Orr Economic Insight says the Canadian domestic economy largely stood still during the 2008-2009 slump that shaved $100 billion from where economic output would have been.
That is precisely the loss in the value of exports from where they would have been had the economy continued to chug along at a stable 2.7-per-cent rate of growth that preceded the downturn.
Economist Dale Orr says since most of those exports would have been bound for the U.S., the recession was mostly a "Made in the U.S.A." phenomenon.
Although Orr says all provinces fell into recession, the downturn impacted Ontario and Newfoundland the most.
The hit to Canada's most populous province was so severe that it elevated Saskatchewan into second place in terms of standard of living, past Ontario and behind Alberta.
Orr says the standard of living of residents of Saskatchewan, as measured in terms of per capital gross domestic product, rose to 104 per cent of the Canadian average, past Ontario, which fell to 103 per cent of the national average.
