Canada’s western provinces are more attractive to mining investment than the eastern provinces, according to a survey released today by the Fraser Institute.

Companies are asked to provide their opinions about the investment attractiveness of 64 jurisdictions around the world.

For the first time in the survey’s nine-year history, British Columbia ranks in the top half of policy attractiveness. Until last year, British Columbia had languished in the bottom 10 spots on the ranking and was typically in the bottom five.

The three Atlantic Provinces in the survey — New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia — all suffered declines in this year’s survey, while Alberta is now seen to have the world’s second most attractive policy environment.

Both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland lag British Columbia for the first time in the survey’s history. New Brunswick remains ahead, though it has been consistently falling while British Columbia has been consistently rising.

“British Columbia may provide an object lesson for the Atlantic provinces,” said survey coordinator Fred McMahon. “British Columbia’s policy environment began changing for the better several years ago; however this only gradually resulted in better scores. Perceptions are slow to change in the mining industry-mining companies spend a long time pumping money into the ground before they start making money. If miners are going to invest, they need to know that a good policy today will still be in place when they start making their money back. Damage to a province’s reputation can take years to repair.”

Manitoba, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Ontario continue to score highly compared to their global competition, while the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are close to the bottom of the rankings. The Yukon has made steady advances over the last three years and now is in the top third of the survey.

“Mining executives are becoming increasingly willing to invest their exploration dollars around the globe. Attractive geology is necessary, but not enough. Governments who want to maintain viable mining industries in their jurisdictions must enact favourable policies to encourage investment,” said McMahon.

In this year’s survey, companies responsible for a combined total of US$1.83 billion in international exploration (in 2005) — a third of the global total — rate the policy attractiveness and mineral potential of mining jurisdictions in North America and internationally.