Canada has the tenth largest economy in the world (measured in US dollars at market exchange rates), is one of the world's wealthiest nations, and is a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). As with other developed nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important. Canada also has a sizable manufacturing sector, centered in Central Canada, with the automobile industry and aircraft industry especially important.

Canada has one of the highest levels of economic freedom in the world. Today Canada closely resembles the U.S. in its market-oriented economic system, and pattern of production. As of September 2011, Canada's national unemployment rate stood at 7.1%, as the economy continues its recovery from the effects of the 2007-2010 global financial crisis. In May 2010, provincial unemployment rates varied from a low of 5.0% in Saskatchewan to a high of 13.8% in Newfoundland and Labrador. According to the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's largest companies in 2008, Canada had 69 companies in the list, ranking 5th next to France. As of 2008, Canada’s total government debt burden is the lowest in the G8.

Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km² (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.

The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.

Paul Edgar Philippe Martin PC, CC (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin, Jr., is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

On November 14, 2003, Martin succeeded Jean Chrétien as leader of the Liberal Party and became prime minister on December 12, 2003. After the 2004 election, his Liberal Party retained power, though it was reduced to a minority government. Forced by a confidence vote, the 2006 general election produced a minority government for the opposition Conservative Party, making Stephen Harper prime minister. Martin stepped down as parliamentary leader after the election, handing the reins to Bill Graham for the interim. Martin stayed on as party leader until he resigned on March 18, being eventually succeeded by Stephane Dion.

Martin served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of LaSalle—Émard in Montreal from his election in the 1988 election to his retirement in 2008. He served as Minister of Finance from 1993 to 2002. He oversaw many changes in the financial structure of the Canadian government, and his policies had a direct effect on eliminating the country's chronic fiscal deficit by reforming various programs including social services.