NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) May 1, 2001--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its double-'A'-plus long-term foreign currency sovereign credit and senior unsecured ratings on Canada. Standard&Poor's also affirmed its triple-'A' long-term local currency sovereign credit and senior unsecured ratings on Canada. The outlook remains stable. Standard&Poor's also affirmed its `A-1'-plus short-term sovereign credit and commercial paper ratings on Canada. On Oct. 31, 2000, Standard&Poor's and the Canadian Bond Rating Service (CBRS) announced the combination of their operations in Canada, beginning a process of harmonizing all CBRS ratings with Standard&Poor's global ratings scale. Going forward, all new debt issued by Canada will be based upon this new harmonized credit rating. The improving
