摘要：Canada is a large country where distance, unequal endowment in natural resources, unequal proximity to the United States, and various other factors, have played a role in the unequal regional ability to develop. Many empirical studies have shown that in the past the capability to create jobs and to retain population differed markedly from one region to another. Some, like the Atlantic Provinces, have been in difficulty for long periods of time. Similarly, the Prairies lost (in relative terms) 114,447 jobs in the period 1961-70 due to the consolidation of agriculture and the rapid growth of the tertiary sector of the Canadian economy. Yet, since 1975, the Atlantic region has ceased (at least in the manufacturing sector) to lose ground, while Quebec, which was marginally in difficulty in the period 1961-70, is now engaged in a steady relative decline. On the other hand, the Prairies (except for Manitoba) have mounted, since the early 1970s, a performance which is superior to the Canadian average.!
