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Better Business Services

Canada is good for your bottom line

Businesses looking for better ways to manage their finances, employees and technology need look no further than Canada. Canada’s business services sector is a critical node in today's multinational, multi-value chain model, generating over $57 billion in 2007 and employing 1.1 million – nearly 7% of the labour force. Canada is the world’s third largest exporter of engineering services with world-class firms that develop new approaches and materials to many design challenges. Canada is also a favoured destination for complex and high-value-added information technology/business process outsourcing.

Look what Canada has to offer

  • 2nd most attractive global centre for BPO, KPO and ITO
  • Highly-educated, multilingual population
  • 7 of the top 10 locations internationally for low operating costs
  • In the top 10% for global broadband penetration rates
  • 1st in the G7 for quality of life

Canada’s core strengths

Engineering services

This is an area of exceptional strength for Canada, which is home to many major international engineering firms. This industry segment employs over 85,000 workers and has annual operating revenues of more than $13 billion. Canada has an enviable international reputation for the quality of its engineering services, fuelling industry segment growth at double-digit rates in recent years. Canadian engineering firms have garnered special recognition for excellence in resource extraction, energy, telecommunications, transportation and infrastructure engineering.

Nearshoring/offshoring

Nearshoring/Offshoring represents significant brand equity for Canada in BPO, ITO and KPO. There are over 150,000 highly-skilled professionals working in these sectors in Canada. The combination of skills, innovation, proximity to the U.S. and cultural similarities has earned Canada the number two ranking for BPO markets in the world. Canada’s nearshore/offshore industry produces US$14 billion in annual revenue and represents 30% of the U.S. market for nearshore and offshore services.

Feature success story: Keane Canada (PDF)

Management services

Management services is a fast-growing industry segment in Canada. Internationally-controlled firms have been a major source of expansion in recent years, and now represent nearly 35% of Canadian head office and management operations. The high quality of available staff, coupled with the high quality of life offered in Canadian cities, makes Canada a global magnet as a location for head office and management service operations.

Competitive clusters

Canada’s business service clusters are diverse, dynamic, and home to the world’s top firms. Clusters of related companies create close linkages with buyers and suppliers to offer advantages that lead to greater efficiency and accelerate innovation.

Toronto
Canada’s largest city is the #1 head office location for most Canadian-based and international businesses, and home to all top 10 global human resources and benefits firms. Leading BPO companies located here include Accenture, Capgemini, CGI, Convergys, and EDS. Another booming field is customer management centers. Growth in this segment has averaged 20% annually in recent years, with 7,000 customer management centers now located in the area. Engineering is an area of particular strength in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), with over 65,000 licensed professional engineers and accounting for more than $4 billion in revenues for firms based in the region.

Calgary
Not only is Western Canada’s fastest growing city home to the 2nd largest number of head office locations in the country, Calgary is also the site of rapidly expanding business services clusters with over 800 companies. Engineering services represent a soaring growth segment, reflecting a strong regional economy and dynamic oil and gas sector. Calgary firms specialize in: civil, municipal and structural engineering; geological and geo-technical engineering; mechanical, electrical and process engineering for hydrocarbon resource development and upgrading; petroleum and reservoir engineering; and, transportation and environmental engineering. The sector also encompasses large engineering contractors that provide engineering, procurement and construction services to industrial process plant projects. Calgary’s engineering services firms now represent more than one quarter of the Canadian total.

Vancouver
Strategically located at the commercial crossroads between the Asia Pacific region and North America, British Columbia is Canada's Pacific Gateway. Although the largest and busiest port in Canada, Vancouver is also a commercial hub for a wide array of business services including transport & logistics, engineering, advanced technologies, ITO, BPO and KPO. Recent investments by eBay, Microsoft and PeopleSoft were made on the basis of the city’s highly skilled workforce and strong commitment to IT, education, research and training.

Montréal
The past decade has seen this multicultural city become the destination of choice for large foreign firms looking to outsource the development of applications and complex internal systems. They have been drawn by Montréal’s highly-skilled workers and their expertise in health, human resources, management, logistics, finance, government online and other key areas. In addition to the 536 head offices located in the city, close to 700 companies specialized in outsourcing and integration of information technologies are clustered in greater Montréal. They include Canadian giant CGI Group and multinationals such as IBM-LGS, DMR, Insight, Honeywell, Canon and IMS. Montreal is also home to global engineering firms SNC-Lavalin and Tecsult, one of the busiest inland ports in the world and a key transfer point for transatlantic cargo.

Halifax
Halifax was named North America's number one emerging IT and BPO destination in 2007, confirming it as a major centre for both domestic and international business process and IT services. Part of the attraction is its experienced labour force, with 40,000 people employed in the sector. Services on offer include CRM, software development, payroll services, back and middle office administrative support, accounting services, and support services for the international financial services industry. Notable names in Halifax include Keane, Minacs and Convergys. Halifax's strategic location, efficient infrastructure and service have made it Canada’s Atlantic Gateaway, the preferred connection to Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Winnipeg
Winnipeg’s business support services cluster employs over 10,600 people who provide outsourced HR services and process bill payments for companies across Canada. Winnipeg is also home to call centres and back office operations. Winnipeg is considered an inland port, offering greenfield investment opportunities for a wide variety of sectors including distribution centres, warehousing and manufacturing. Recognized firms in the region include EDS, Ceridian Canada Ltd., Telpay Incorporated, Convergys, INSPYRE Solutions, IPSOS Reid, Royal Bank and Manitoba Telecom Services.

Moncton
The city’s bilingual population is just one reason why it is a major presence for BPO, home to over 30 contact centers specializing in customer service and technical support. Several larger centers also offer back office operations such as payroll, insurance underwriting and accounting. The region’s low cost of living and high quality of life are further attractions that have drawn major global firms including Exxon Mobile, Minacs, UPS, ClientLogic, Moneris Solutions, ICT, Asurion and Medavie Blue Cross.

Charlottetown
The picturesque city’s low labour and space costs, along with its strengths in the areas of human resource management, payroll services, accounting and client relations, make it a popular business services processing location. Major firms based in Charlottetown include Ceridian, HRA and Resolve Corporation.