A poll released Wednesday by Angus-Reid Public Opinion shows 63 per cent of Canadians think economic conditions are good or very good in Canada. That compares to 20 per cent in the United States and just 9 per cent in Britain.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
The economic fortunes of Canada and the United States are closely linked, and both countries are experiencing sluggish growth.
But ask Canadians and Americans how confident they are about the economy, and you get vastly different answers.
A poll released Wednesday by Angus-Reid Public Opinion shows 63 per cent of Canadians think economic conditions are good or very good in Canada. That compares to 20 per cent in the United States and just 9 per cent in Britain.
The reverse is also true. Seventy-eight per cent of Americans think the economy is bad, compared to just 32 per of Canadians.
Looking across Canada, Albertans are the most bullish on the economy at 81 per cent. The least confident are Ontarians, where 59 per cent say conditions are good or very good.
Canadians are also much more confident about their own finances. Sixty-one per cent of respondents in the survey rate their personal finances as good or very good. That compares to 46 per cent for Americans and 40 per cent for Britons.
The results are based on separate polls of conducted in late September of 1,000 adults in the U.S., 2006 in Britain and 1,502 in Canada. The margin of error is 2.5 per cent for Canada, 3.1 per cent for the U.S. and 2.2 per cent for Britain.