After trailing the average performance of G7 countries for 15 years, Canada’s relative business investment performance stands out in a promising light for 2009 and 2010, according to a C.D. Howe institute study released Thursday.

In Equipping Ourselves in Tough Times: Canada’s Improved Business Investment Performance, authors Colin Busby and William B.P. Robson find that, amid the recession, new capital spending on tools for workers in the form of machinery, equipment or buildings has held up better in Canada than in many other countries, and particularly the U.S. Investment per worker in Canada for 2010, they say, should surpass that in other G7 and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries — including the U.S.

Not surprising, business investment everywhere is down. In Canada, however, a less severe decline means a marked improvement in relative position. Domestic investment per worker should average around $11,100 in 2009 and remain at the same level in 2010. Examined in the light of the situation in other G7 countries, Canada’s investment per worker should, for the first time in recent history, be clearly superior.

Among provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador — which have seen investment per worker rise over recent years, driven in large part by rising commodities prices — are still setting the pace.

To make further progress, Canadians should focus on maintaining and, where possible, enhancing their fiscal, tax and regulatory advantages in the years ahead, the authors say. In good times and in bad, business investment to provide better tools for workers is a critical foundation for future prosperity and growth.