groupeexpertis

© epSos.de

A good reason to invest in Canada is that it remains one of the most stable big-market profit plays in the world. Some investors refer to it as the "world's safest economy", because any worries about political stability are basically groundless. With an upcoming election in May, opinion polls show a result almost identical to that of the previous election in 2008.

Also, even a left-center coalition government would only make modest changes to Canada's stable economy. Canadian GDP is forecast to grow 2.6 – 2.8% in 2012, which is slightly below the growth rate forecast for the US. But it is conceivable that Canadian GDP could continue to run well north of 3%, as it has been over the last year. Canada has a moderate inflation rate, similar to the US, yet it's budget deficit is only 2.1% of DGP, which is much better than its neighbor to the south at 9.8%.

© Rich Moffitt

For those who chose to invest in Canada shale oil play Bakken, it has paid off handsomely. This has led both the industry and investors to become very excited about finding huge new shale oil plays around the globe. However, so far Bakken is the only play on earth with any operating history.

Other sites only have estimates of prospective resources, and a lot of contingencies that can end up taking down the original estimates significantly. That fact has not stopped oil companies from pursuing new shale deposits, and there are several which look promising. TAG Oil , for instance, has published a report that says their "best case" resource estimate on their shale oil play in New Zealand could be 12 billion barrels of oil, with a "high case" of 37 billion possible. And that is only on a fraction of their land.

© CJ Isherwood

The new Canadian budget has measures that will reduce red tape and give $1000 tax credits to small business in order to offset Employment Insurance (EI) premiums. This is hiring credit that will applied against any increase in EI premiums paid in 2011. Only companies who paid less than $10,000 in EI premiums in 2010 qualify for the credit, so it is targeted at the smallest of the small.

It is estimated that about 525,000 businesses would be eligible for the credit, saving them a combined $165 million in 2011. The small business federation was also seeking to shelter companies from legal or tax consequences of following incorrect advice from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and they say that provisions in the budget represent a step in that direction. This is an important issue, as a recent survey found that more than 20% of the time, advice given out over the phone by the CRA was either incomplete or incorrect.