A new report out of the Fraser Institute says that Newfoundland and Labrador ranks dead last of all ten Canadian provinces and 50 U.S. states in terms of economic freedom.
North American map showing economic freedom index (Fraser Institute 2025).
Matthew Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute’s centre for human freedom, says economic freedom refers to a person’s ability to make their own economic choices.
He says governments limit that freedom with things like tax rates and regulations around labour and business – which is what the report considers in its rankings.
Newfoundland and Labrador ranks 60th – with only the US territory of Puerto Rico and all Mexican states ranking lower.
The other Atlantic provinces are immediately above NL on the list. The top-ranked province, Alberta, is in the 30th position.
Mitchell says the report doesn’t measure prosperity; it measures policy.
He says there are very consistent findings that say places with more economic freedom tend to prosper. Mitchell argues that could be an explanation as to why Atlantic Canada has struggled more in comparison to other places in North America.
