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Alberta has fallen from its former position as the most economically free jurisdiction in Canada according to a new report.

Still in the top 40 of all North American jurisdictions, Alberta did retain the top spot among all Canadian provinces and territories in the annual analysis done by the Fraser Institute in their Economic Freedom of North America 2021 report.

The Fraser Institute report “measures the extent to which — in 2019, the year with the most recent available comprehensive data — the policies of individual provinces and states were supportive of economic freedom, the ability of individuals to act in the economic sphere free of undue restrictions.”

According to the report's all government index, which included state, provincial and federal jurisdictions, the most economically free regions were all American states, with New Hampshire occupying the top spot followed by Florida and Idaho, with South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming all tied for fourth.

Alberta is the highest-ranking Canadian province, coming in at 33, with the next highest Canadian province, British Columbia ranking in at 47. Alberta had spent seven years at the top of the index, but fell out of the top spot in the 2018 report.

The least free Canadian province by far, according to the think-tank, was Quebec, followed by New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

The report noted economic freedom has increased in the United States and Mexico since 2013. In contrast, Canada, after an increase in 2014, has fallen back below its 2013 level.