Canada hails WEF's rating for its soundest banking system in G7

Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver welcomed Wednesday the World Economic Forum (WEF) rating of the country's banking system as the soundest in the world for the seventh year in a row in its annual Global Competitiveness Report.

"I am pleased that the World Economic Forum has once again recognized Canada's banking system as the soundest in the world. Our financial institutions remain well supervised and well capitalized, which instills domestic and foreign investors with confidence in the Canadian economy," said the minister.

Statistics showed that the Canadian economy has posted one of the strongest job creation records in the Group of Seven (G7), with more than 1.1 million jobs created since July 2009.

The country's real gross domestic product is also significantly above pre-recession levels -- the best performance in the G7.

According to auditor KPMG, total business tax costs in Canada are the lowest in the G7 and 46 percent lower than those in the United States.

Both the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development expect Canada to be among the strongest growing economies in the G7 over this year and next.

Four credit rating agencies -- Moody's Investors Service, Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor's and DBRS -- have reaffirmed their top ratings for Canada.

In addition, the federal government's cooperation with provinces and territories to establish a common securities regulator will further encourage capital investment in Canada -- leading to a stronger economy, job creation and prosperity for Canadians, added the finance minister.