By Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press
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OTTAWA - To many, Canada Day is a time for fireworks displays and contemplating the country's many blessings, but a new report suggests Canadians may have less to celebrate than they think.

The annual Conference Board of Canada report card measuring quality of life among 17 advanced countries released Monday concludes that Canada is like a student who started out strong, but is coasting toward the bottom of the class.

In a break from past reports, the Conference Board looked back at Canada's performance to the 1970s and found that although the economy is stronger and per capita income has increased, other countries have passed it by.

Canada's economy was the envy of the world in the 1970s, ranking third. Now it has fallen to 11th place, behind leader Ireland. And on a per capita basis, individuals in the United States, which ranks seventh, earn $6,400 a year more on average than Canadians.

It is a similar story with the other five domains in the report card - innovation, environment, education and skills, health and society, which includes levels of crime. In most, the country is either treading water or slowly sinking.

"While Canada is still in the gifted class among nations, its report card tells the story of a country moving to the back of the class," the study says.

"That's a hard argument to make in a country enjoying low unemployment, a strong dollar, declining debt and a booming resource economy. If everything's so bad, why does it feel so good?" the report adds.

But the devil is in the details.

Board president Anne Golden says other countries have caught up and surpassed Canada in many areas, something that should not have happened given Canada's natural advantages.

Canada ranks 15th in environmental performance due to high greenhouse gas emissions and that it produces more garbage per person that any other country in the group. It is ninth in health outcomes, 10th in the society category, and a woeful 13th in innovation with a D grade - not failing, but close.

It does best in educational attainment with a second place behind Finland and a B grade. But its illiteracy rate is worse than a decade ago and while it leads the class in college-level completions, Canada is graduating students in the wrong fields.

Canada underperforms in skills training, produces relatively few PhDs in the sciences, math and engineering, and the scientists it does produce "tend to congregate in research positions that many not be well connected to commercializing activities."

Canada has been able to do as well as it has over the years mostly due to its abundant natural resource riches and proximity to the world's richest and largest market, the report says.

"We've been lucky more than smart," said Golden. "We're doing fine, but we're coasting and that's not good enough."

This year's report also contains some myth-busting items.

Canada does very poorly in rates of child poverty, with one of seven children considered under the line and most surprisingly in levels of crime.

For instance, Canada has 17 times the rate of assaults, seven times as many burglaries and three times as many homicides as Denmark.

But even more surprising is that the United States, which is last in the society category, still has fewer burglaries, a lower suicide rate and greater gender equity than Canada.

"It was a shock to me too," said Golden. "We are much more violent than we think."

The report notes that Canada is doing well in many areas that contribute to quality of life. Canadians rank high in acceptance of diversity, the ability of individuals to move up the income scale, levels of high school and college graduation, living standards that are rising even if not as fast as many others, and Canadians are healthier than several decades ago.

"The good news is that Canada's past achievements, such as reducing poverty among its elderly, show that given the political will, Canada could successfully address other social challenges to sustain future quality of life," the report concludes.