Fraser Institute News Release: Alberta freest Canadian province, ranks 12th among all North American states and provinces; most other provinces in bottom half of ranking

VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 5, 2024 /CNW/ - Alberta is, once again, the Canadian province with the highest level of economic freedom, while most other provinces rank in the bottom half in the annual Economic Freedom of North America report, published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, public policy think-tank.

Individuals have more economic freedom when they are allowed to make more of their own economic decisions such as what to buy, where to work and how to start and run a business. And research shows that economic freedom is fundamental to prosperity.

The report ranks the provinces and states individually for each country (Canada, the U.S. and Mexico). In addition, there is a fourth measure comparing and ranking all states and provinces, across all three countries. All of the rankings measure government spending, taxation, regulations and labour market restrictions using data from 2022 (the latest year of available comparable data).

"Higher taxes, higher levels of government spending and overly burdensome regulations continue to depress economic freedom across much of Canada, which makes it harder for individuals and businesses to thrive and create jobs," said Matthew Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and co-author of this year's report.

In the ranking covering all three countries, which includes both federal and provincial government policies, Alberta is once again the highest-ranking Canadian province. It tied four U.S. states at 12^th, having improved its ranking from 41^st last year.

The next freest province is British Columbia, which ranks 43^rd out of 93, followed by Ontario (47^th), Saskatchewan (50^th), Manitoba (53^rd) and Quebec (54^th).

The four Atlantic provinces— New Brunswick (57^th), Prince Edward Island (58^th), Nova Scotia (59^th) and Newfoundland and Labrador (60^th)—have the lowest levels of economic freedom among all provinces and U.S. states, only outranking the Mexican states and Puerto Rico. New Hampshire, once again, earned the overall top spot amongst all provinces and states in the rankings this year.

"The link between economic freedom and prosperity is clear: people who live in provinces or states that have comparatively lower taxation, lower government, sound regulatory regimes and more flexible labor markets tend, on average, to live happier, healthier and wealthier lives," Mitchell said. For instance, according to the latest report, total income in the freest jurisdictions grew 29 per cent after adjusting for inflation over the last decade, while in the least-free jurisdictions, total inflation-adjusted income fell 13 per cent.

The Economic Freedom of North America report (co-authored by Dean Stansel, José Torra and Ángel Carrión-Tavárez) is an offshoot of the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World index, the result of more than a quarter century of work by more than 60 scholars including three Nobel laureates.

Detailed tables for each country and subnational jurisdiction can be found at www.freetheworld.org.

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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org

SOURCE The Fraser Institute

MEDIA CONTACT: Matthew Mitchell, Fraser Institute; To arrange an interview, please contact: Drue MacPherson, 604-688-0221 ext. 721, [email protected]