Canadian investment managers rank Alberta and Ontario as the provinces with the best investment climates according to the results of the 2002 Spring Survey of Senior Investment Managers, published in the May issue of Fraser Forum.

As in previous surveys, Ontario and Alberta dominate the top of the rankings. There is a clear gap between these two provinces’ investment climates and those of the remaining eight. The Atlantic provinces dominate the bottom of the rankings.

Only Ontario, Alberta, and B.C. received investment climate scores that exceeded 5 on a 10-point scale. All of the other provinces scored less than 5, ranging from 4.7 for Quebec to 2 for PEI.

“Business investment is a key component of any province’s economic success. It provides necessary capital that is essential in improving both labour and total factor productivity,” says Jason Clemens, director of fiscal studies at The Fraser Institute and co-ordinator of the survey. “British Columbia and Saskatchewan, for instance, have lagged economically over the last decade in part due to their dismal performance in generating business investment.”

Nearly 87% of respondents indicated that Ontario and Alberta have the necessary policies to develop globally-competitive firms. The next best province was British Columbia with 53%. None of the remaining provinces received more than 50%.

The federal Minister of Finance received an 89% approval rating in the latest survey. The Finance Minister’s approval rating has continued to improve since the Summer 2000 survey. The approval rating for Bank of Canada, on the other hand, continues to decline moderately. The current 79% approval rating is a full 10 percentage points below the level reached in the Fall 2000 survey, and well below the Spring 2000 survey’s perfect 100% rating.

Surveys were sent to a host of large pension, investment, and venture capital fund managers across Canada at the beginning of 2002. A total of 30 responses were received, representing assets under administration of over $330 billion. The survey is co-sponsored by the Investment Dealers Association.