7 Canada Investments for 2011

Well, there are a few reasons. First is the financial angle. Canada’s banks hold their residential mortgages. They do not sell them or repackage mortgages for securitization. That has allowed the nation to avoid the major damage that the financial crisis caused U.S. banks.

Also, Canada is resource rich but politically stable — a combination rare in this world right now. For instance, 33 million Canadians produce nearly as much GDP every year as 142 million Russians — but the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom lists Canada as number 7. By comparison, Russia ranked 143rd.

And if by chance the U.S. pulls out of its tailspin, Canada will share in that success too. After all, it is the United States’ top import and export partner. Oil sands and natural gas from Canada will always find a market in the U.S. Canada is known as the Saudi Arabia of oil sands and today is America’s largest supplier of imported oil. But since Canada’s resource export success isn’t tied to the U.S. — during 2009, Canada geared up its exports across the Pacific to resource-hungry China and Singapore — that means America’s recovery is a "nice to have" and not a "must have" for Canada to succeed in 2011.

So where can you put your cash to share in the Canada boom? Here are seven investments to consider.