Canada - A global nation backed by a resilient economy
Canada ranks 13th in the world and 3rd in the G7 in terms of FDI inflow, according to the government organisation Invest in Canada. In 2021, despite the global pandemic, Canada’s FDI inflow soared 50% above the annual average for the decade to reach CAD 74.8B – the highest recorded since 2007. Such resiliency testified to Canada’s long-standing, strong fiscal position and was behind the government’s announcement of CAD 11.3B in new fiscal spending for FY23 and FY24 in its latest Fall Economic Statement, which also proposed refundable tax credits for clean technologies. Canada offers what KPMG calls a “playground for cleantech,” with the global accounting firm identifying the industry as one of the country’s three supply chains, alongside advanced manufacturing, and agribusiness, set to benefit the most post-covid-19.
Meanwhile, Canada has made it easier for people already on temporary visas to become permanent residents, cementing the country’s top position as the world’s most attractive country for entrepreneurs, according to the OECD’S Indicators of Talent Attractiveness. According to the World Bank’s latest Doing Business report, Canada is the easiest place to start a business in the G20. SMES power Canada’s economy, numbering over a million and accounting for 99.8% of all businesses in the country, according to the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), and benefit from the lowest taxation level for new business investment in the G7 – which is also significantly lower than in the USA – according to Global Affairs Canada.
Speaking at the 2022 Business 20 (B20) summit in Bali, Justin Trudeau declared, “Canada’s message is clear: we have the values that make us a solid, reliable partner. We have the raw materials and trade access, and we have a skilled, educated, ambitious and diverse workforce like no other… High tech, Quantum, and AI are Canadian strengths. Canada is not only the most educated country in the OECD, but our strong world-leading immigration policies are attracting highly skilled talent in competitive industries.” Trudeau’s words echo his earlier message to global investors about the “win-win propositions that will support Canadian innovation” at the Long-term Investor Summit in Toronto, and he also spoke on the importance of “giving [businesses] access to the global marketplace.”
Canadian businesses enjoy free trade access to over 51 countries and 1.5B consumers – representing 60% of the world’s output of goods and services – and the country’s 9,000 km border with the USA offers investors preferential access to nearly 500M consumers. Regionwide, speaking on the newly announced Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity at the ninth Summit of the Americas, Trudeau stated, “we believe that this Partnership responds to hemispheric priorities, and that it will provide us with more tools to tackle inequality and grow the economy and the middle class.”