Minister's Letter

As Canada’s Minister of International Trade, I am delighted to welcome readers of the 2018 edition of Location Canada, produced by Area Development for over two decades. Global investors recognize Canada is increasingly the home of innovation, creativity, and a stable and growing economy that delivers secure returns. In Canada, investors find a regulatory environment that supports openness to trade, investment, and talent, with rock-solid investor protections.

Canada is a top investment destination.
Canada provides investors with global ambition, unparalleled market access. Businesses operating in Canada already benefit from preferential access to 44 foreign markets around the world; with the ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), this access will expand to over 1.5 billion of the world’s wealthiest consumers and a combined GDP of over US$50 trillion, representing almost two thirds of the world’s output of goods and services.

The Canadian government has also announced a number of initiatives as part of Canada’s Innovation Agenda — an ambitious plan that fundamentally enhances how foreign investors can participate in the Canadian economy. The new Canada Infrastructure Bank, Canada’s new Global Skills Strategy, its Strategic Investment Fund, and Venture Capital Action Plan provide tremendous opportunities for foreign investors to benefit from and participate in Canadian economic growth.

In March 2018 we launched Invest in Canada, a single-window service to help business focus on securing the right location and the tools to move swiftly toward their investment. By bringing together industry, community partners, and all levels of government, Invest in Canada will provide seamless service that will make it easier for international investors to build innovative and global businesses in Canada.

There has never been a better time to invest in Canada.
Canada is one of the best places in the world to do business. Canada remains the easiest place to start a business in the OECD and offers foreign investors the best availability of skilled labor and highest R&D spending (as a share of GDP) in the G20, which we also lead for the Democracy Index, the Social Progress Imperative, and the Global Peace Index.

Your operations will benefit from the most highly educated workforce in the OECD and a highly competitive research and development tax environment. Canada is one of the most open and multicultural countries in the world, and investors can rely on a financial system that is ranked as one of the most stable in the world.

I invite you to read the following pages and to visit www.investincanada.org to learn more about how you can benefit by investing in Canada.

Sincerely,
The Honourable Jim Carr
Minister of International Trade Diversification

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