In all honesty, Canada's close ties to the US is like a ball and chain for the Canadian economy. The Canadian gov has to stop dragging their feet and jump in bed with the Chinese already. They've got a major hard on for all those natural resources, but the Canadian gov is partly holding off in anticipation that the US will eventually recover and things will be gravy again. That's not likely to happen. China will have the worlds most powerful economy in the next decade or so. Saying that, the current Conservative gov is actually opening up somewhat to the Chinese, even considering a free trade agreement. In the meantime, Canada will continue chugging along with ~ 2.5% annual GDP growth.