Many Canadians see motor vehicle ownership and operation as a necessity of modern life. For example, usages rates (the ratio of drivers to population) are very high, averaging over 90 percent for most driving age groups.

This report is a first attempt at quantifying labour-market performance and the characteristics that affect it across Canadian provinces and US states. It includes comprehensive measures of how well labour markets across Canada and the US have performed over the last five years and critical characteristics such as unionization rates and public-sector employment rates, which affect performance.

This 7th global economic freedom report, by James Gwartney and Robert Lawson, ranks 123 nations for 2001, the most recent year for which data are available. The report also updates data in earlier reports in instances where data have been revised. The key ingredients of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and protection of the person and property. Economic freedom liberates individuals and families from government dependence and gives them charge of their own future.Empirical research shows this spurs economic growth by unleashing dynamism. It also leads to democracy and other freedoms as people are unfettered from government dependence.