Wall Street is looking North for inspiration—and not to Greenwich.

Neither Canadian finance nor Canadian banks have ever been of great interest to much of the First World. But in the wake of a global financial meltdown, a system based on the idea that government isn't always bad--Canada's financial system--has now become something of an international role model.

But why?  It turns out the World Economic Forum has rated Canadian banks top in the world for financial soundness. And,while much of the rest of the banking world has been mired in chaos and turmoil, Canadian banks have quietly been turning profits! The Big Five in Canada have  booked a total of $18.9-billion in profits to be exact since the summer of 2007. During the same period, the five biggest U.S. banks have lost $37 billion.

As Canada's Report on Business details, Canadian banks have seemed to quietly plod along, never making much of a stir. But Canada, and Canadian bankers have not had to utter the all to familiar long-vowled Canadian "sorry" about thier performance. Rather these institutions are being touted in financial papers around the world— "Canada banks prove envy of the world."

As Google Trends shows, It's not just the media that's watching Canadian banks. People interested in New York's place in finance have been searching one Canadian bank, TD, as Google's second biggest rising search in the last 11 months. The only search term higher was Bernie Madoff.

It's very Un-Canadian to gloat, so we should probably just expect more solid, quiet performance from the next global financial leaders.