Competitive Advantages

• Canada is the best country for business in the world, says Forbes Magazine in its October 2011 study of 134 countries.  The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) says Canada is the best country among the G-7 to do business over the next five years.
• Canada is the easiest place to start a business in the G‑7, according to the World Bank.
• In 2011, international trade accounted for over 67% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), making it one of the world’s most open trading nations.
• Between 2001 and 2010, Canada was the world’s 8^th largest destination of global FDI inflows. 

• Now, Canada’s real GDP is significantly above pre-recessional levels – the best performance in the G-7.
• Since mid-2009, Canada has posted the fastest employment growth in the G-7, fully recouping more than all of the output and more than all of the jobs lost during the recession.
• Almost 600,000 more Canadians are working today than when the recession ended. About 9 in 10 positions created since July 2009 has been in full-time positions and in high-wage industries, with more than three-quarters in the private sector.  

• Today, Canada has the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G-7, according to the IMF.
• Canada is on track to return to a budget surplus by 2015-16. In addition, the federal debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to decline to 30.1% by 2015-16, from 33.9% in 2010-11.

• For the fourth straight year, the World Economic Forum has rated Canada’s banking system as the world’s soundest.
• During the financial crisis, no Canadian bank or insurer failed and none required bailouts.
• Six of the top 10 safest banks in North America are Canadian, says Global Finance Magazine.
• Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s have reaffirmed their top credit ratings for Canada.

• Canada’s overall tax rate on new business investment is substantially lower than all other G‑7 countries.
• Canada has a combined federal-provincial statutory general corporate income tax rate of 26%, below the level of most other G‑7 countries and about 13 percentage points lower than that of the U.S.  
• Overall business costs in Canada are the second lowest in the G‑7 and 5.0% lower than the U.S., says KPMG.
• Canada is the first among G‑20 members to make itself a tariff-free zone for manufacturers by eliminating tariffs on manufacturing inputs and machinery and equipment. 
• Canada allows accelerated capital cost allowance (CCA) treatment for investments in machinery and equipment.

• Canada is first in the G-7 in terms of relative expenditures on R&D in higher education.
• Canada offers one of the most generous R&D tax incentives in the industrialized world, with combined federal and provincial credits that can currently save foreign investors, on average, up to 30 cents on the dollar invested in R&D in Canada.
• Canada has the G‑7’s lowest costs in R&D-intensive sectors (up to 10.7% lower than the U.S.) says KPMG.

• Canada has one of the world’s best educated workforces with the highest proportion of post-secondary graduates in the OECD.
• The availability of qualified engineers in Canada is the highest in the G-7, says the Swiss-based Institute for Management Development (IMD).
• Canada’s post-secondary schools rank among the world’s best.
• Canada ranks #2 in the G‑7 and #4 in the world for the quality of its management schools (WEF),
• Over 200 languages are spoken in Canada, with 1 in 5 Canadians speaking a language other than English or French.

• According to the OECD’s Better Life Index, Canada has the highest quality of life in the G‑7 and second highest in the OECD.
• The Reputation Institute ranks Canada as having the highest reputation ranking among 50 countries based on several indicators, including a good quality of life, a safe place to live, an advanced economy, an effective government and an appealing environment.
• Canada ranks #2 in the G‑7 in the 2011 United Nations Human Development Index. 
• Canada leads the G‑7 for the administration of justice and for offering equal opportunities to individuals, says IMD.
• Vancouver (1^st), Toronto (4^th) and Calgary (5^th) rank among the top five for liveability, says EIU.

• Canada offers businesses assured access to a lucrative North American market of nearly 457 million consumers with a combined GDP of about US$17.2 trillion.
• More than US$1.5 billion worth of goods crosses the Canada‑US border each day.
• 17 of Canada’s 20 largest cities are located within a 90 minute drive of the Canada‑U.S. border.
• Canada has major international shipping ports on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts (Halifax, Vancouver and Prince Rupert) and along the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway (Montréal).

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