Known as one of the most welcomed countries for immigrants aiming to attract skilled workforce from all over the world, Canada has also become a very attractive country for new business opportunities. And it is not for less. With a stable and powerful economy – it is among the wealthiest countries in the world – and with its high life quality, tax facilities for technology companies, low corruption and the country stands out among the best places to do business in the world, according to Forbes.
But why is Canada a good place to invest? There are many answers for that question. Here are six reasons why you should consider bringing your business to Canada:
1 – Strong and Free
Canada is one of the freest countries in the world. It was ranked the ninth most free economy by the Index of Economic Freedom 2018, a study made by the Heritage Foundation in 2018. In the same year, the True North was also awarded the seventh place in the top ten best countries for entrepreneurs, according to CNBC, and one of the best countries for doing business, as stated by the University of Pensilvania
Although those were well recognized ranks, they were not enough for Canadians. The country is also considered to be one of the best places on the planet for individual freedom. According to Freedom in the World , an annual report created by Freedom House, Canada got a 99 score out of 100 for individual liberty – defined by Human Rights standards.
2 – One big country
Canada is the second biggest country in the world, only behind Russia. It has two oficial languages (English and French), 11 provinces, five thousand municipalities, and inspiring wilderness are boarded on impressive 10 million km² from the Atlantic to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Unsurprisingly, it holds a great amount of natural wealth: the Canadian lands are rich in water, energy, minerals and forests. When it comes to oil, the country ranks third in the world in oil reserves behind Venezuela and Saudi Arabia and is the world’s seventh-largest oil producer.
According to the Government of Canada, all these natural resources are responsible for 1,77 million jobs and 17% of the Canadian GDP, in which 7.3% comes from Energy alone. In 2015, 40% of the foreign investment came from companies doing business in this sector, totalizing an amount of more than $107 billion dollars – being the main importers from United States, the United Kingdom, and China.
3 – Big market, less competition
The United Nations ranked Canada the tenth largest economy by GDP in 2018 and it is the eighth richest country by GDP per capita in the world.
The country is also in the top ten by consumer expenditure. In 2016 alone, Canadian households spent an average of more than 62 thousand dollars in goods and services. That’s an impressive achievement for a country with little less than 40 million people. And that is also what makes Canada a great country to do business. Its economic development and an active consumer market ensure that the country receives good value-added products, but without the competition found in countries with larger populations and concentrations of companies, such as the United States, for example.
Besides that, Canada is also a great place to be if you are looking into going global with your business. With free trade agreements that reach 80% of the world and a high skilled work force, Canada offers amazing solutions and incentives to foreign companies looking to establish themselves here.
4 – Highly Skilled Workforce
In 2018, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada as the holder of the sixth most skilled workforce of the planet. It is just as expected from a country that treats education as a priority. According to OECD, approximately 91% of the Canadian adults have finished High School and those are higher numbers when comparing to the average of 74% of all participants countries of the organization.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), also carried out by the OECD, works data from 15-years-old students regarding their capabilities in mathematics, literature, and general sciences. Students in Canada achieved the third highest place, outranking worldwide known as “educational kings”, just like Norway and Finland.
Along these lines, post-secondary studies are also a reference here. Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019 attests that twenty-seven of the one hundred best universities in the world are Canadian. This explains why the country holds fourteen Nobel Prizes since 1923, when Sir Frederick Grant Banting, an alumnus from the University of Toronto, discovered insulin.
5 – Banking and Financing
Canada has one of the most secure banking systems. In addition, it is one of the best countries to do business in. Its financial system is composed by five major banks – Scotiabank, BMO, RBC, TD, and CIBC- alongside other seventy-five institutions that, together, hold assets worth more than 4 trillion Canadian dollars. The bank system in Canada is well matured and slightly more conservative than the one in the United States, usually counting with stricter rules governing leverage and capital ratios.
Although it is regulated by the federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), it also counts with diverse micro systems due to the provinces’ considerable maneuver and liberty to create their own regulations. The OSFI also checks and regulates foreign investment in the country.
Canada achieved a worldwide reputation as a land of easy access for foreign investment, especially when it comes to loans and mortgages for businesses of any sort. It represents an open economy and a big market that thrives in financial management.
6 – More than polite
Famous for being the place of courtesy, where “I’m sorry” is undoubtedly the most spoken phrase of 10 out of 10 Canadian citizens, the country has also shown that these good manners are not just empty words, and this reflects in the way of doing business. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index 2018, an index that ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of corruption in the public sector, according to experts and entrepreneurs, Canada is among the ten countries with the lowest perception of corruption, being considered the least corrupted country of the Americas.