On Sat, 21 Feb 2026 20:16:39 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:
How Canadia Became Poorer Than Alabama
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-out-of-nowhere-canada-became-poorer-than-alabama-how-is-that-possible/
-------------------------------
"We imported millions of people from 3rd-world shitholes and now our country >> is turning into a giant 3rd-world shithole. How is that possible?"
https://ibb.co/4wW6rPfg
They annoyed me enough with not giving me enough of a sense of what
was in the article that I got around their protections. First by
finding the following article from the same site that covers the high
level discussion and then the detailed article listed at the bottom.
The upshot of both articles is that Alabama is competing for jobs on
an international basis and winning, at least in some circumstances.
Due both to a push by the government to attract new businesses and a
lower cost labor force. None of which is new or should be to anyone.
It's one of the reasons ICEs interaction with the Koreans brought over
to help with the Hyundai(I think that was the company) plant in
Georgia made the news. It's been going on for some years now with a
number of car manufacturers building plants in Alabama, Georgia and
South Carolina. No surprise something similar might happen with drug manufacturers like Eli Lily, the main company mentioned in the story
below.
I copied both articles for you below so you can read them here or on
the web sites. The web sites would also include charts with additional
data not included here.
Enjoy!
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-business-brief-how-canada-became-poorer-than-alabama/
Good morning. Today, weN++re eating humble pie for breakfast because, somehow, Canada flipped from being a rich G7 country to poorer than
Alabama N++ at least by one important metric. HowN++s that possible?
Annie Buckland works inside CoLab at the Hudson Alpha Research Park in Huntsville Alabama on February 6th, 2026.Charity Rachelle/Supplied
In focus
An overdue wake-up call
Hi, IN++m Tim Kiladze, a financial reporter and columnist, and for the
past few years, IN++ve been dying to know: Is Canada seriously poorer
than Alabama? In todayN++s edition, weN++ve got answers, both from talking
to economic experts and from travelling to the Deep South for an on-the-ground investigation.
The data point that spurred this panic started flying around economic
circles in 2023, largely thanks to some number crunching by economist
Trevor Tombe, who measured per capita GDP for every Canadian province
and every U.S. state. It took on a life of its own in 2024 when even
The Economist wrote about it, all at a time when Canadians had severe economic angst and were furious with Ottawa for runaway home prices
and soaring grocery costs.
It would have been understandable if CanadaN++s economy had fallen
farther behind the broader United States, which has been at the
forefront of the technological revolution. But Alabama?
The issue ultimately died down because Donald Trump was re-elected and
he distracted everyone with his trade war. Then there was a federal
election in Canada. But it was still important to know: Is it real?
Because if so, it has major implications for CanadaN++s standing on the global stage.
Open this photo in gallery:
Greenhouse assistant Lauren Holder inspects Miscanthus grass inside
the Kathy L Chan Green House at Hudson Alpha Research Part in Huntsville.Charity Rachelle/Supplied
To get to the bottom of it, two issues had to be studied. First, what
did per capita GDP, the measure used to judge our economic standing,
really account for? And two, it was time to see what Alabama was up
to.
Asking around about per capita GDP, it was quickly clear that its
usefulness is hotly contested. No single data point can measure a
countryN++s wellbeing. It can be a good starting point, but itN++s not the be-all and end-all. And it doesnN++t capture what the average person
receives from a countryN++s production.
But that canN++t be the end of the story, because when it comes to
Alabama, many Canadians would be floored by whatN++s happening there.
Huntsville, in the north, is a biotech and aerospace hub, and driving
around, you see just as many Subarus as you do pickup trucks. The
state has transformed into an auto-manufacturing powerhouse, now
producing nearly as many cars as Ontario. Alabama is also bigger than
you might think, home to five million people, about the same
population as Alberta, and its unemployment rate is now less than half
of CanadaN++s.
Open this photo in gallery:
Robert Sbrissa outisde his home in Hoover Alabama on Feb. 5,
2026.Charity Rachelle/Supplied
In Birmingham, I met Robert Sbrissa, who has seen the economic boom up
close. He and his family moved to the region from Montreal in 1996. Initially, they assumed theyN++d do a two-year bid; in August, itN++ll be
30 years in Alabama. N++The entrepreneurial spirit was like nothing I
had seen or experienced before,N++ he told me.
The state has its flaws, no doubt. For all the newfound wealth, itN++s
still one of the poorest in the U.S. Its health care is also, on
average, among the worst in the U.S. But simply scoffing at those
stats will do Canadians no good, because places like Alabama are
competing for the same global capital now N++ and quite often, theyN++re winning it. In December, Huntsville won the beauty contest for a
US$6-billion Eli Lilly plant. ItN++s the kind of thing that could have
just as easily gone to Montreal, a pharmaceutical hub.
If Canada isnN++t careful, places such as the Deep South will continue
to steal jobs N++ and teach us lessons the hard way.
https://web.archive.org/web/20260221053839/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-out-of-nowhere-canada-became-poorer-than-alabama-how-is-that-possible/
This is the original article that goes into much more detail.
For an overdue wake-up call, The Globe travelled to the Deep South to understand how the state is breaking stereotypes and, at times,
looking richer than Canada
Tim Kiladze
Huntsville, alabama
The Globe and Mail
Published Yesterday
Tommy Battle, the five-term Mayor of Huntsville, Ala., at his office
in city hall.
Tommy Battle, the five-term Mayor of Huntsville, Ala., at his office
in city hall.
Charity Rachelle/The Globe and Mail
Comments
In December, Tommy BattleN++s dream came true. The five-term Mayor of Huntsville is Alabama to the bone, born in Birmingham and a graduate
of the state university in Tuscaloosa, but for the past 18 years heN++s
tried to distance his city from the stateN++s unsavoury stereotypes.
Huntsville, in the north, is the home of the Saturn rocket program
that took on the Soviet UnionN++s Sputnik. It houses the second-largest biotech research park in the United States. And it has attracted
high-end manufacturing investments such as Blue OriginN++s rocket engine plant.
But Alabama tropes are hard to shake: The state is backward and full
of bible thumpers and bigots N++ allegedly. When local companies try to
hire from afar, Mayor Battle says recruits often hear the same
responses when telling their spouses: N++N++Huntsville?N++ With one question mark. Then they say, N++Alabama???N++ With three question marks.N++
Translation: YouN++ve got to be kidding me.
But in December, Huntsville had the last laugh. Eli Lilly and Co. was
looking to build a US$6-billion manufacturing plant that would create
3,000 construction jobs and employ 450 engineers, scientists, lab
technicians and operations staff. After narrowing down the field of
300 bidders, the pharmaceutical giant named Huntsville a winner, one
of four new facilities in the U.S. ItN++s the stateN++s largest-ever
private industrial investment, and it personifies the tagline the
Mayor has preached: N++Huntsville: a smart place.N++
For eons, Canadians have viewed Alabama as a small state that, save
for a few pockets, is dirt poor. All anybody seems to know about
Alabama is that Montgomery and Birmingham were the centre of the civil
rights movement. In 1963, when Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his
N++Letter from a Birmingham Jail,N++ he called Birmingham N++probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States.N++
So, it was a shock when Canadian economist Trevor Tombe and the
International Monetary Fund ran the numbers in 2023 and 2024 and
concluded that Canada had, in fact, become poorer than Alabama.
To measure this, they calculated gross domestic product (GDP) per
capita. In simple terms, itN++s the size of the Canadian economy in a
given year divided by the population. The same was done for Alabama.
After adjusting for foreign exchange and some cost differences in both countries, the average for CanadaN++s 10 provinces was estimated at
US$55,000 in 2022, the same as Alabama. Shortly after, the IMF found
Canada had actually fallen behind the southern state. (Canada has
since edged ever-so-slightly higher than Alabama; the numbers are
volatile from year to year.)
The timing was terrible for the Canadian psyche. Home prices were on
an astronomical trajectory, inflation made everyday items such as
groceries far more expensive and there was deep resentment toward
Ottawa. Canadians could probably stomach having their living standards
slip relative to the broader U.S., the epicentre of the worldN++s tech revolution. But Alabama?
For an ego check, The Globe and Mail travelled to the Deep South to understand how this happened. Immediately, it was obvious Alabama is misunderstood. In Huntsville, there are as many Subaru Outbacks as
there are pickup trucks, and the geography in AlabamaN++s two largest metropolitan areas N++ Birmingham and Huntsville N++ looks nothing like
the historical imagery.
Open this photo in gallery:
Mr. Battle has spent his tenure trying to distance his city from the stateN++s unsavoury stereotypes and instead highlight its growth in
recent decades.Charity Rachelle/The Globe and Mail
N++Most people think of Alabama as flat pasture land with cotton
fields,N++ says Daniel Hughes, a real estate executive who took his Montgomery-based company, BSR Real Estate Investment Trust, public on
the Toronto Stock Exchange. Huntsville and Birmingham, though, are
nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Looking out
from Mayor BattleN++s seventh-floor office in city hall, the landscape
could easily be Vermont.
Alabama is also home to five million people N++ the same population as Alberta N++ and its economy is booming. The stateN++s unemployment rate is now just 2.7 per cent, versus 6.5 per cent in Canada, and its major
employers include Airbus SE and giant defence contractor Northrop
Grumman Corp. The state has also morphed into an auto manufacturing powerhouse with plants from Mercedes-Benz AG, Toyota Motor Corp.,
Hyundai Motor Co. and more. In 2024, Alabama made nearly as many
vehicles as Ontario.
TENN.
Memphis
Huntsville
S.C.
Atlanta
Birmingham
ALABAMA
MISS.
GA.
Montgomery
U.S.
U.S.
200 km
the glObe and maIl, source: openstreetmap
Of course, there is much more to an economy N++ and to quality of life N++ than industrial prowess. Alabama still has some serious flaws. For
people living in poverty, there is almost no floor, and access to
quality education remains a pipe dream for many.
There are also limits to how much can actually be gleaned from per
capita GDP. It is not the Holy Grail. To start, one key variable is population, and CanadaN++s has exploded over the past four years. That
alone skews the numbers.
But being on the ground in Alabama, it was obvious that Canadians need
a wake-up call. They tend to view the economy through a historical
lens N++ this is a G7 country that has long punched above its weight.
Yet capital is global now and competition for it is fierce. If Canada
isnN++t careful, places such as the Deep South will continue to steal
jobs. The Eli Lilly plant awarded in December could have just as
easily gone to Montreal, a pharmaceutical hub.
In other words, it might be time to eat some humble pie. N++People have
a lot to learn from Alabama,N++ Mr. Hughes says.
How Alabama transformed
Researchers Haley Hale and Annie Buckland conduct lab work at the
HudsonAlpha Institute for biotechnology in Huntsville. Charity
Rachelle/The Globe and Mail
AlabamaN++s sea change started in 1993. Historically, the state had an agricultural economy fuelled by slavery in the Black Belt, a stretch
of rich, dark soil that was ideal for growing cotton. Over time,
Alabama diversified with forestry products, textile and apparel manufacturing, and steel N++ Birmingham had iron ore, coal and
limestone, which are perfect ingredients. But eventually the
mechanization of farming, foreign competition for steelmakers and a
rising U.S. dollar became troublesome.
By the early 1980s, Alabama had the second-highest unemployment rate
in the country. At a 1985 seminar in Birmingham, Sheila Tschinkel, the director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a central
bank regional office, laid it all out. Companies, she said, were
scared away by N++the relatively low educational level of AlabamaN++s work force and its lack of flexibility, the stateN++s remoteness from
national markets and deficiencies in infrastructure that make
outsiders reluctant to move to many sections of the state.N++ It was a trifecta of doom.
Mercedes-Benz was the saviour. In the early 1990s, the automaker was struggling with high costs at its German plants and competition from
Japanese luxury brands such as Lexus, so it decided to launch a luxury
SUV plant in the U.S. The automaker made states bid against each
other, and Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina all ponied up
big tax incentives. The cherry on top: All three are right-to-work
states, which means unions canN++t charge individuals mandatory dues.
Open this photo in gallery:
Workers install a sign near near Tuscaloosa, Ala., announcing a future
North American Mercedes-Benz plant, in September, 1993. The German
auto makerN++s investment in the state kickstarted a wave of companies looking to build their production facilities in Alabama.John C. Hillery/REUTERS
In the end, Vance, a city just outside Birmingham, won the beauty
contest. Sometimes itN++s the little things that matter. Reports at the
time said Alabama simply showed more zeal N++ plus the Germans liked the woods and rolling hills around Birmingham, which reminded them of the countryside around Stuttgart.
That single investment turned into the tip of a very long spear. A few
years later, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. opened a plant in Lincoln, then
Hyundai built its own near Montgomery. Mazda Motor Corp. and Toyota
are now also in Huntsville, where they share a manufacturing facility.
Auto suppliers have piled in, too. Michigan remains the top auto
producer in Canada and the U.S., with two million vehicles
manufactured in 2024, but Alabama is now in the top five, producing
1.2 million vehicles annually, close to the 1.3 million that Ontario
churns out.
The irony of all this is that AlabamaN++s success was almost too good.
The incentives started to strain the stateN++s finances.
Whenever a new opportunity emerged, Alabama would layer discounts on
property and sales taxes as well as large capital investment tax
credits on top of a competitive corporate tax rate. The state also
wasnN++t shy to add in some cash grants. In other words, Alabama would
throw the kitchen sink at new investments, and companies could use the benefits up front, before any revenue was generated.
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg
Canfield and Alabama Governor Kay Ivey hold a press conference with executives from Toyota and Mazda to announce plans to build a
joint-venture plant in Huntsville, in January, 2018. Albert Cesare/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP
An employee works on the Toyota engine assembly line in Huntsville,
where Mazda and Toyota share a manufacturing facility. Carlos
Barria/Reuters
Because of this structure, Alabama often had to borrow money to fund
the program. N++We werenN++t being great stewards to the taxpayers,N++ says Greg Canfield, the stateN++s former commerce secretary, who was tasked
with fixing the problem. He has since developed something of a cult
following in the state for revamping it while also keeping the
investment dollars coming.
To fix the program, Mr. Canfield simplified it all, offering smaller
tax credits for capital investments and adding in some time limits. Crucially, the incentives could only be accessed once companies built
their facilities and hired employees, and there were clawbacks if
companies didnN++t keep their promises.
It was a risk, but Alabama didnN++t feel as desperate anymore. N++We felt like we could win most of the time based on having available sites,
available work force, good business climate, low taxes and speed to market,N++ Mr. Canfield explains from the office of Burr & Forman LLP in Birmingham, where he is now a managing director of economic
development. The last point was key. When companies invested in
Alabama, they could receive permits and begin construction quickly.
Red tape was for suckers.
Open this photo in gallery:
A prototype of a Mercedes-Benz Electric SUV is displayed at the
automakerN++s battery pack plant in Bibb County, Ala., in March,
2022.Reuters
Another signature achievement of his: putting together a marketing
campaign for the state. N++Whenever I had travelled around the world,
nobody knew where Alabama was,N++ he says. N++If theyN++d heard of it, it wasnN++t a positive image.N++ He hired a branding agency and launched a campaign called N++Made in Alabama.N++ Reminiscing, he pulls up the old
slide deck on his iPad, grinning like a proud father.
At the local level, Huntsville deployed a similar approach. When Mayor
Battle won his first election, in 2008, N++we had great entry-level
jobs. Hospitality, landscaping, etc.,N++ he says. N++And we had great jobs
on the top end, which was, you know, your rocket scientist, your
technical person, your doctorate people who worked out at Redstone
Arsenal. That middle ground was where our work force was lacking.N++
Huntsville targeted its incentives toward this sector. Its first big
win, in 2014, was a new plant for Remington Outdoor Co., the rifle
maker. (Some stereotypes donN++t die.) Soon afterward, Polaris Inc.
arrived, opening a plant to produce its auto-cycle, the Slingshot, and
an off-road utility vehicle, the Ranger. Then GE Aviation arrived, and
then after that, Aerojet Rocketdyne, which now produces solid rocket
motors in Huntsville.
HudsonAlpha is now home to 40 biotech companies, and has been
recognized in the pharmaceutical industry for the role it plays in
workforce training and research. Charity Rachelle/The Globe and Mail
The city also leaned into its expertise. After the Second World War,
the U.S. government brought over German engineers whoN++d developed
aircraft, rockets and missiles for the Nazis. This group eventually
settled in Huntsville and worked out of Redstone Arsenal. (Despite
their pasts, the U.S. decided it was more important to win the budding
Cold War with the Soviets.) The scientists, led by Wernher von Braun,
went on to develop the Saturn rockets used for AmericaN++s missions to
the moon. ItN++s why Huntsville is now known as Rocket City.
All this innovation seeped into the cityN++s mindset. In 2004, two benefactors, the late Lonnie McMillian, a telecommunications
executive, and Jim Hudson, a businessman whoN++d founded Research
Genetics, a company that helped map the human genome, used their money
to seed a life sciences ecosystem. To lead it, they hired the former
director of Stanford UniversityN++s Human Genome Center.
The guiding hope was that one day the campus would attract world-class organizations. HudsonAlpha is now home to 40 biotech companies, and
its home run came in December, when Eli Lilly came to town.
The dark side of the boom
Canadian Robert Sbrissa moved to Alabama with his family three decades
ago. Though Birmingham is now a vibrant city emerging from a
tumultuous past, Mr. Sbrissa acknowledges that a wealth disparity is
visible, including in the school system. Charity Rachelle/The Globe
and Mail
Robert Sbrissa has seen the boom up close. Originally from Montreal,
he and his wife, Monica, moved to Birmingham in 1996 with two young
kids. The financial software company he worked for was based in the
U.S., and it asked him to move down. The family mulled it over, then
bit. N++It was a day in March that snowed about 15 inches in Montreal
and I said, N++LetN++s give it a shot.N++N++ The couple assumed theyN++d do a two-year stint. This August, itN++ll be 30 years in Alabama.
Over dinner at the golf and country club in Greystone, the affluent neighbourhood where his family now lives, Mr. Sbrissa says their
experience is a common one. N++You get people who move here for work N++
and not a lot of people leave.N++
First, the U.S. simply pays more for many senior white-collar jobs,
and top personal tax rates in Alabama can be around 40 per cent.
Today, theyN++re 53.5 per cent in Ontario. The size of the U.S. economy
is also breathtaking N++ and companies make decisions faster. ItN++s a
dream for someone in sales. N++The entrepreneurial spirit was like
nothing I had seen or experienced before,N++ he says.
Open this photo in gallery:
Mr. Sbrissa walks through the golf course in Greystone, the affluent neighbourhood where his family now lives.Charity Rachelle/Supplied
Daily life was also a joy. Neighbours really are friendly in the
South; the kids went to public schools equivalent to top private
schools in Canada; and because the family could afford it, the health
care is fantastic. Mr. Sbrissa recently got a magnetic resonance
imaging scan within days.
As for Birmingham itself, thereN++s the beauty of the rolling hills,
which deliver stunning fall foliage. And the cityN++s becoming a foodie
hub. A new restaurant, Bayonet, was named one of AmericaN++s 50 best restaurants by The New York Times last fall. And despite the bible
thumping, Birmingham has a sizable LGBTQ+ community and scored the
same as Boston on the Human Rights CampaignN++s Municipal Equality
Index.
There is a N++but.N++ The metro area, Mr. Sbrissa says, has noticeable
income divisions. The public high school his son went to had a
football field that installed the same turf as Gillette Stadium, the
home of the New England Patriots. N++You go 25 miles down the road and
these kids donN++t have books,N++ he says.
A teacher prepares for class at James Rushton Early Learning Center in Woodlawn. For decades, the dire state of the WoodlandN++s schools has
stunted the community's ability to recover and grow. The subsidized
learning center is part of a community initiative for better education opportunities, and part of the broader efforts to rebuild the
neighbourhood. Charity Rachelle/The Globe and Mail
The way schools are funded is part of the problem. A good chunk of the
money comes from town property taxes, In Greystone, the average list
price for a home is currently US$1.5-million. In Woodlawn, which is
close to the downtown core, itN++s US$230,000. Alabama also has low
property tax rates that average just 0.4 per cent annually, the
second-lowest in the country. When they are multiplied by house
prices, poorer areas have much less money to pay for quality teachers.
ItN++s baked-in inequality that exists across much of the U.S.
Structural issues such as these leave a long tail of destruction,
something Mashonda Taylor, chief executive officer of a community organization called Woodlawn United, is trying to combat. Woodlawn
used to be a thriving middle-class community, but people fled after
the Civil Rights Era and after the steel business in town petered out.
To rebuild, Woodlawn is using a multipronged approach: adding
mixed-income housing; emphasizing public safety and green spaces;
beefing up education opportunities, such as a subsidized early
learning centre; and helping residents land stable, well-paying jobs.
But the dire state of the communityN++s schools makes a rebirth that
much more complicated. She sees residents in their 20s who struggle to
break the cycle of poverty. N++They didnN++t learn how to read. Or do
basic math,N++ she says. N++So, you canN++t get a higher-quality job.N++
Open this photo in gallery:
Woodlawn United President and CEO Mashonda Taylor. The organization,
founded in 2010, takes a multi-pronged approach to breaking the neighbourhoodN++s cycle of poverty.Charity Rachelle/Supplied
ItN++s often even worse in rural areas, which make up 42 per cent of the stateN++s population. Within the Appalachian Region, 26 per cent of
adults read below third-grade level, and 40 per cent of adults
struggle to solve math problems that require more than one step,
according to the Appalachian Learning Initiative.
As for health care, in 2025 the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation that
conducts independent research, ranked Alabama 42nd out of the 50
states for its overall health system performance. In rural areas,
hospitals are having trouble simply staying open.
There are many ways to slice and dice the data to show how Alabama is
far behind Canada when it comes to overall health, but one statistic
sums it up. For all the investment dollars that Alabama has brought
in, the stateN++s life expectancy is still just 74 years, the
fourth-lowest in the U.S. In Canada, itN++s 82 years, one of the highest worldwide.
The perils of per capita GDP
Pedestrians cross a busy street in Vancouver. One component in the per
capita calculation is population, and CanadaN++s has exploded in the
past few years, much faster than the U.S. growth rate on a percentage
basis. Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters
All these nuances N++ the income disparity, the life expectancy, the
kids who canN++t read N++ epitomize why Jim Stanford, a veteran economist,
is so mystified by the recent obsession with per capita GDP. The
metric, he says, doesnN++t capture what the average person receives from
a countryN++s production.
He breaks down the formula to explain his point. There are multiple
ways to calculate GDP, but he likes to use the income approach, which
adds up everything earned in the economy N++ wages, profits and
investment income. Mr. Stanford says only about half of GDP is paid to workers; much of the rest comes from corporate profits and investment
income, and they mostly flow to the wealthy as shareholders.
To his mind, Ireland illustrates this problem best. By the IMFN++s calculations, Ireland has the third-highest per capita GDP in the
world, around US$150,000. Mr. Stanford says that is divorced from
reality. N++IN++ve slung a Guinness or two in an Irish pub. Great country. Friendly people. Not rich,N++ he says. IrelandN++s figure is skewed
because many global companies book their international profits there,
owing to the countryN++s low corporate tax rate.
As for the second component in the GDP per capita calculation N++
population N++ CanadaN++s soared by two million people in 2023 and 2024. ThatN++s much faster than the equivalent U.S. growth rate on a
percentage basis. It takes time for all these newcomers to start
materially boosting GDP and offset their drag on the per capita
number.
What, then, are Canadians to make of all this?
To start, per capita GDP isnN++t the be-all and end-all. In Alabama,
tens of billions of dollars of direct investment have poured in over
the past decade, but the stateN++s minimum wage is still just US$7.25.
Not every worker benefits. In fact, Alabama recently ranked as the third-worst state for financial hardship, according to official U.S. government data, with 41 per cent saying they had a somewhat difficult
or very difficult time making ends meet.
Per capita GDP also doesnN++t reflect social values. Canada has a high
rate of unionization, which many people love. Meanwhile, Alabama has a
total abortion ban except in dire health scenarios.
But there are things to learn from the South. Mr. Canfield, the former commerce secretary, canN++t emphasize it enough: For businesses, speed
to market matters. Companies that put capital at risk want to earn
back those investment dollars as quickly as possible.
In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney has floated the possibility of a
new pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Ocean, but just this week,
Enbridge Inc. said it wonN++t touch the project because it canN++t sink
more money into something that may never see the light of day.
AlabamaN++s evolution also poses a somewhat existential question for Canadians: In a competitive, global market, why should companies
invest in the Great White North?
Last fall, there was an uproar in Ontario because Stellantis NV, the automaker, said it would shut a plant in Brampton, Ont. The timing,
tied to U.S. President Donald TrumpN++s tariff regime, dominated
headlines. But what got lost is that Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, is
now a very expensive place to live, with an average detached home
price of $1.05-million. The union that represents Stellantis workers
has to fight for higher wages, and that makes the plant less
profitable for the company.
The Stellantis vehicle assembly plant in Brampton, Ont., in October,
2025. Stellantis announced plans to close the facility and move
production of its Jeep Compass to Illinois, causing uproar in Ontario.
Nathan Danette/The Canadian Press; Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Think about it from a CEON++s vantage point: If workers in Canada are
more expensive, they should provide value over and above what a
newly-trained N++ and cheaper N++ work force in Alabama can offer,
especially considering there is now also an entire auto parts supplier network in Alabama and a major port nearby in Savannah, Ga., thatN++s
bigger than any in Canada.
To CanadaN++s credit, it isnN++t exactly standing still. One of Prime Minister CarneyN++s first moves last year was to establish a Major
Projects Office to streamline regulatory reviews for projects that
Ottawa deems to be in the national interest. Bye-bye red tape.
But the federal government canN++t solve every problem. Over the years,
there has been report after report on how to make CanadaN++s economy
more vibrant. Boost interprovincial trade. Tap CanadaN++s highly
educated work force to fuel the innovation sector. Recruit skilled immigrants. Canadians have the answers, and yet, somehow, nothing
really changes.
Why is that? In 2007, one of these reports was commissioned by Stephen HarperN++s government, and the authors, led by Red Wilson, came to this conclusion: N++Canadians do not perceive that there is an imminent
crisis.N++ Canadians certainly donN++t want the country to fall behind as more nimble and aggressive competitors rise, the authors added, buty
they N++do not appear to have a view about what needs to be done to
avoid this outcome.N++ If Ottawa commissioned yet another report today,
its conclusion could easily be the same.
So, yes, Canadians should take it all with a grain of salt. Alabama
has its flaws. Per capita GDP does, too. But there is a glaring lesson
in the Deep South: If Canadians remain complacent, the rest of the
world will eat our lunch.
How Canadia Became Poorer Than Alabama
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-out-of-nowhere-canada-bec >ame-poorer-than-alabama-how-is-that-possible/
-------------------------------
"We imported millions of people from 3rd-world shitholes and now our
country is turning into a giant 3rd-world shithole. How is that
possible?"
https://ibb.co/4wW6rPfg
BTR1701 wrote:
How Canadia Became Poorer Than Alabama
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-out-of-nowhere-canada-bec >> ame-poorer-than-alabama-how-is-that-possible/
-------------------------------
"We imported millions of people from 3rd-world shitholes and now our
country is turning into a giant 3rd-world shithole. How is that
possible?"
https://ibb.co/4wW6rPfg
I wonder why Canadians outlive Alabamians by 7 years?
Must be all the poverty.
Life Expectancy Comparison: Canada vs. Alabama
Overall Life Expectancy
Region Life Expectancy at Birth (Years)
Canada Approximately 82.0
Alabama Approximately 75.2
Key Points
Canada has a higher life expectancy compared to Alabama. The average
life expectancy in Canada is around 82 years, while in Alabama, it is
about 75 years.
Life expectancy can be influenced by various factors, including
healthcare access, lifestyle, and socioeconomic conditions.
Alabama ranks among the states with the lowest life expectancy in the
U.S., often due to higher rates of chronic diseases and lower
healthcare access.
Conclusion
In summary, Canadians generally live longer than residents of Alabama, reflecting differences in health systems, lifestyle choices, and economic conditions.
BTR1701 wrote:
How Canadia Became Poorer Than AlabamaI wonder why Canadians outlive Alabamians by 7 years?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-out-of-nowhere-canada-bec >> ame-poorer-than-alabama-how-is-that-possible/
-------------------------------
"We imported millions of people from 3rd-world shitholes and now our
country is turning into a giant 3rd-world shithole. How is that
possible?"
https://ibb.co/4wW6rPfg
Must be all the poverty.
Canada has a higher life expectancy compared to Alabama.
On Feb 21, 2026 at 5:41:46 PM PST, "JTEM" <jtem01@gmail.com> wrote:
BTR1701 wrote:
How Canadia Became Poorer Than AlabamaI wonder why Canadians outlive Alabamians by 7 years?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-out-of-nowhere-canada-bec >>> ame-poorer-than-alabama-how-is-that-possible/
-------------------------------
"We imported millions of people from 3rd-world shitholes and now our
country is turning into a giant 3rd-world shithole. How is that
possible?"
https://ibb.co/4wW6rPfg
Must be all the poverty.
Canada has a higher life expectancy compared to Alabama.
Canada's life expectancy is dropping fast, considering how many of them are killing themselves. In 2025, 5.1% of total Canadian deaths were people who offed themselves with the MAID program. That's one out of every 20 Canadians who died. And it's still rising, especially now that the Canadian government has teams of telemarketers cold-calling people who are sick and pitching them on how wonderful it would be if they'd just kill themselves.
Not reality.
The perils of per capita GDP: No, Canada is not poorer than Alabama
Despite lower economic growth per person, most Canadians earn more, live longer and fare better than Americans.
April 21, 2025
A line graph showing Canada's GDP per person sliding compared to that of
the United States from a peak of 93.9 per cent in 1981 to 75.5 per cent in 2021. It stood at 78 per cent in the most recent year, 2023.
Canada's per capita GDP has been sliding in relation to that of the United States for 40 years.
This is the second of a two-part analysis of Canada's GDP per capita. The first part can be found here.
Some business and political commentators cite a growing gap between the per capita GDP of Canada and the U. S. as evidence of Canada's purported
economic dysfunction. Some even conclude that because of stagnating per capita GDP, Canada is now poorer than Alabama rCo a state with widespread poverty, low incomes and short life expectancy.
This far-fetched conclusion reflects deep flaws in the use of per capita
GDP as a measure of prosperity and living standards. As explained in the first part of this commentary, GDP per capita measures total output
produced (for money) in a country relative to its population.
However, this simple ratio ignores important issues such as what is
included in GDP, who owns it and how it is distributed. International comparisons are further complicated by necessary adjustments for exchange rates, price levels and population estimates.
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Comparing GDP per capita between Canada and the U. S. is especially fraught because of other methodological problems. For example, the much larger proportion of unauthorized immigrants living in the U. S. artificially
boosts its apparent per capita GDP. There are an estimated 11 million
people there who contribute to the numerator (GDP) but are not counted in
the denominator (population).
Similarly, per capita GDP ignores the value of time. In 2023, the average employed American worked 114 hours longer than the average employed
Canadian rCo about three weeks more of full-time work.
American working hours are among the longest of any OECD country because
low wages compel many of them to work extra hours or even second jobs and because there are no legal requirements for paid vacation. Those longer working hours account for much of the Canada-U. S. gap in GDP per capita.
Another issue is the failure to consider the environmental effects of economic production. Conventional GDP statistics take no account of the
costs of pollution. America produces more output per person, but takes
fewer measures to protect the environment, which obviously affects the quality of life of current and future generations. Like time, nature is not free.
These methodological issues cast considerable doubt on the validity of simplistic Canada-U. S. comparisons.
Attention to Canada's per capita GDP has grown during the current federal election campaign. However, it is important to view the issue through a long-term lens. Canada's per capita GDP has been sliding relative to the U. S. since the early 1980s. The following figure portrays the ratio, based on OECD estimates.
Thanks to rapid industrialization, Canada largely closed the long-standing disadvantage versus the U. S. from 1950 through 1980. Relative per capita
GDP peaked in 1981 at 94 per cent of the U. S. level. It then fell rapidly during the 1980s and early 1990s, to just 81 per cent by 1992. It partially recovered in the late 1990s and 2000s but then fell again in the 2010s.
After fluctuating during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada's per capita GDP had fallen by 2023 to 78 per cent of U. S. levels.
Data and politics
There is a natural tendency to put a political spin on economic
measurements. However, there is no correlation between which party is in power in Ottawa and the evolution of this ratio.
Canada's per capita GDP relative to the U. S. rose during Pierre Elliott Trudeau's first years in office but began to fall during his final term. It declined most steeply under Brian Mulroney, was stable during the terms of Jean Chre-|tien and Paul Martin, fell during the last years of Stephen Harper's rule and then declined further under Justin Trudeau.
Canada-U. S. per capita GDP comparisons reflect a complex mix of many determinants, including economic growth, sectoral changes, population
growth, immigration, inflation and exchange rates. It is far-fetched to conclude that any government deserves either credit or blame for its trajectory.
Prosperity depends not just on how much is produced, but how it is distributed. Bank of Canada research shows most of the U. S. advantage in
per capita GDP is concentrated among high income earners.
Three-quarters of the gap in per capita output is captured by higher
incomes for the top 10 per cent of Americans. There is little difference in incomes between the bottom 90 per cent in the two countries. The richest 10 per cent of Americans receive almost half of all pre-tax income, so their wealth significantly inflates the overall per capita average.
In fact, most Canadian workers earn higher wages than those in the U. S. It is most accurate to measure typical incomes by the median wage (the halfway point in a distribution), not the average (which can be distorted by very high incomes at the top).
The median hourly wage in Canada in 2023 was C$28.79 or US$24.61 at the OECD's purchasing power parity exchange rate. The median hourly wage in the U. S. in 2023 was US$23.11. The typical Canadian worker thus earned 6.5 per cent more than their U. S. counterpart, despite lower per capita GDP.
Perhaps surprisingly, the Canadian worker also paid a lower marginal
federal tax rate (20.5 per cent for full-time workers) than their U. S. counterpart (22 per cent).
Of course, public services, not just private incomes, are also important to living standards. Canada's more extensive health care, public education and other services enhance the quality of life in ways not captured by per
capita GDP.
For example, eight per cent of Americans have no health insurance and one- quarter are underinsured (facing out-of-pocket costs that force many to
skip needed care). That takes much of the shine off a higher GDP.
For all these reasons, it is clear the typical Canadian has a higher
standard of living than the typical American. We are healthier, live three years longer, face much less inequality and are happier. These outcomes are not accidents. They reflect deliberate policy choices (including
regulation, taxes and public programs) that shape both production and distribution to improve well-being.
The decade is not lost
In that light, Canada has continued to make progress in recent years rCo contrary to claims we have suffered a lost decade.
For example, the poverty rate (as defined by Statistics Canada's market basket measure) fell by one-third between 2015 and 2022. Average real
hourly wages (after inflation) are nine per cent higher than a decade ago, despite post-COVID inflation. The average unemployment rate was lower over the last decade than the previous decade.
The United Nations human development index (HDI) confirms Canada's success
in converting economic activity into well-being. It attempts to directly measure living standards, rather than relying on per capita GDP to evaluate well-being. The HDI considers three components: per capita gross national income (GNI), life expectancy (a proxy for health) and education.
Canada ranked 18th on the latest HDI scorecard, three places ahead of the
U. S. Our human development has improved more than twice as fast since 2010 as the U. S. We rank eight places higher on HDI than we do on GNI per
capita rCo confirming we efficiently improve human welfare with our economic resources. In contrast, the U. S. ranks 11 places lower on HDI than GNI, a bigger negative gap than any other developed country.
In sum, per capita GDP is a deeply flawed measure that says little about real-world living standards. To be sure, Canada has much to improve in its economy: not only to produce more but also to produce it more sustainably
and use it more effectively to improve human and social conditions.
Nevertheless, the typical Canadian lives better than the typical American across a wide range of tangible indicators. Living standards for most Canadians have improved over the last decade, not cratered.
We should not--
be misled by one flawed, abstract measure into believing that Canada is somehow an economic basket case.
This is the second part of a two-part analysis of Canada's GDP per capita. The first part can be found here.
On 2026-02-21 10:49 p.m., BTR1701 wrote:
On Feb 21, 2026 at 5:41:46 PM PST, "JTEM" <jtem01@gmail.com> wrote:Where did you hear about these telemarketers?
BTR1701 wrote:
How Canadia Became Poorer Than AlabamaI wonder why Canadians outlive Alabamians by 7 years?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-out-of-nowhere-canada-bec
ame-poorer-than-alabama-how-is-that-possible/
-------------------------------
"We imported millions of people from 3rd-world shitholes and now our
country is turning into a giant 3rd-world shithole. How is that
possible?"
https://ibb.co/4wW6rPfg
Must be all the poverty.
Canada has a higher life expectancy compared to Alabama.
Canada's life expectancy is dropping fast, considering how many of them are >> killing themselves. In 2025, 5.1% of total Canadian deaths were people who >> offed themselves with the MAID program. That's one out of every 20 Canadians
who died. And it's still rising, especially now that the Canadian government
has teams of telemarketers cold-calling people who are sick and pitching
them
on how wonderful it would be if they'd just kill themselves.
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