VANCOUVER—Canada’s relative debt position is much worse than the federal government suggests when a larger group of advanced countries are included and total debt is measured, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.
“The federal government is very quick to point out that the country’s net debt relative to the size of the economy (GDP) is lowest in the G7, but our rank falls to 11th when the group of comparison countries is expanded to the 29 advanced countries—including many European countries and Australia—for which comparable data exists,” said Jason Clemens, executive vice president of the Fraser Institute and co-author of Caution Required When Comparing Canada’s Debt to that of Other Countries.
