Business and Investment Environment

• One of the most trade-active provinces in Canada
• Tailored, low-risk incentives, including loan guarantees and employee training, plus millions of dollars for innovation and R&D
• Total operating costs reaching 30% lower than the average costs across the G7
• Ranks first in 2008 for lowest business costs on the eastern seaboard
• With favourable Canadian/U.S. exchange rate, businesses stand to save an additional 15-20%
• Plan to Lower Taxes in New Brunswick will lower provincial corporate tax rate to 8% by July 2012, making the province one of the most tax-competitive jurisdictions in Canada

Sectoral Strengths

Information and Communications Technology

• Home to around 650 companies employing over 30,000 people, generating annual revenues of approximately $2.1 billion.
• Industry clusters are primarily located in Fredericton, Moncton, Saint John and Miramichi.
• Web-based customer contact centres and advanced training technologies are the fastest growing sub-sectors of the industry that also includes: online universities; e-government; e-security; e-business; e-health; telecommunications; GIS solutions; network management; software development; engineering and environmental services; specialized consulting services; multi-media and gaming technologies; simulation; and, animation.

Advanced Manufacturingy

• Manufacturers in New Brunswick use innovative, advanced processing technologies to produce goods at higher productivity levels which meet the most stringent international quality standards.
• New Brunswick manufacturers export products valued over 437 million dollars each year around the world.
• Industry is made up of 500 manufacturers who employ 10,000 skilled workers.
• 76% of everything produced is exported; 90% of which is shipped to the United States.

Food Processing

• One of New Brunswick’s largest agri-food sectors, generating sales in excess of $1 billion dollars annually.
• The province’s 500 food processing companies employ over 5,000 people and range in size from $10,000 in annual sales to well over $400 million.
• A valuable resource base in the food sector, notably in agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries, and low-cost refined sugar combined with strong links between production and processing businesses in the province have contributed to a growing agri-food cluster in New Brunswick.
• Processed agri-food products represent the second largest manufacturing sector in New Brunswick with export sales totalling $290 million.

Bio-Industries

• Effectively adapting to the realities of the knowledge economy, New Brunswick’s innovation system – universities, public research institutions and knowledge-based industry–is vibrant, and shows international leadership in key areas of the biosciences such as plant and marine biology.
• The province has rich sources of feedstock from agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, and forestry, and has developed clusters of excellence around agriculture and food processing, marine sciences and aquaculture, and forestry.

Aerospace and Defence

• Technological environment and infrastructure to support companies in the fields of metal fabrication, precision machining, advanced learning/simulation systems, electronics/avionics assembly, aerospace design, advanced composites research and secure communications research.
• New Brunswick’s aerospace industry contributes over $130 million dollars in annual revenues to the provincial economy. Export sales amounted to $100 million in 2008.
• New Brunswick companies produce world-class aerospace and defence-related products for the international marketplace

Other key sectors

• Modular Fabrication, Business Process Outsourcing, E-Learning, Digital Media and Contact Centers.

Online Resources

To learn more about other investment opportunities in Canada, please contact:

Invest in Canada Bureau
Email: investincanada@international.gc.ca
Internet : www.investincanada.gc.ca

1. CMA: Census Metropolitan Area (return to source paragraph)
2. CA: Census Agglomeration (return to source paragraph)
3. CPI: Consumer Price Index (return to source paragraph)