•Top three ranking for Canada
as a business destination
•Investing in young entrepreneurs
•Launch of $1 billion Clean Energy Fund
•Canada to boost wine exports
•Connecting businesswomen with
new opportunities
Top three ranking for Canada as a business destination
Canada is ranked the third best country in the world in which to do business, in Forbes magazine′s annual ‘Best Countries for Business’ survey.
This year Canada moves up four places and is surpassed only by Denmark in the number one spot and the US at number two.
This highly regarded survey explores the ease of doing business in different markets and takes into account transparency, levels of corruption and the provision of laws to protect investors.
This year the survey also includes stock market performance as an indicator of the health of countries‘ banking systems and investor confidence in recovery. Forbes says that Canada‘s conservative lending practices and strong capitalisation have made the country‘s major banks amongst the strongest in the world.
While Canada has a strong reputation for good business practices at home, the Government is also encouraging Canadian businesses to operate responsibly in overseas markets. A new initiative was recently launched to support responsible practices by Canadian mining and oil and gas companies working abroad and to help them become positive members of the communities in which they operate.
Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade, says, "Canadian companies are often instrumental in bettering the lives of people in the communities in which they operate. These complementary initiatives will provide the tools, guidance and advice they need to meet and exceed their obligations with respect to corporate social responsibility."
The initiative includes supporting a new Centre of Excellence to act as a one-stop-shop providing information for companies, non-governmental organisations and others. It will also promote internationally recognised voluntary guidelines for corporate social responsibility performance and reporting; and provide continuing assistance for foreign governments via the Canadian International Development Agency, to help them manage natural resources in a sustainable way.
Launch of $1 billion
Clean Energy Fund
The Canadian government has launched a $1 billion Clean Energy Fund to help meet the country‘s climate change objectives and to create jobs in the global economic downturn.
"By investing in the Clean Energy Fund, our Government is encouraging new technologies to help protect and preserve our environment for future generations," says Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources. "Not only will this funding protect our long term energy security, but this additional stimulus creates high quality jobs for Canadians at a time when they‘re most needed."
The Fund will invest $650 million in large scale carbon capture projects while the remainder will be directed to smaller scale renewable and alternative energy projects and to researching clean energy technologies.
In addition, the Fund will also support Canada‘s work with the United States to build a cleaner energy economy for North America.
Canada is also increasingly working with the UK on renewable energy projects. Speaking at the All Energy Show in Aberdeen in May, the Canadian High Commissioner to the UK, James Wright, said, "I can vouch for the growing partnerships between Canadian and British companies and universities in helping to develop renewable energy resources, especially wind, wave and tidal." And he added, "The Canadian and UK governments recently reached an important new understanding to foster greater collaboration between our two countries on carbon capture and storage. In short there continues to be much that we can learn from each other in tackling the global challenges of energy security and environmental stability."
Canadian High Commissioner James R. Wright (second left) meets partners in the 'Super E' sustainable housing scheme.
While in Aberdeen Mr. Wright met a number of students who are studying energy-related subjects at the University of Aberdeen and who have been awarded scholarships by the Canadian energy companies, Talisman, Petro-Canada and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd - all of which are active members of the local energy business community.
Mr. Wright also met representatives of Tenants First Housing Co-operative, the UK‘s largest housing co-operative, which is to build energy efficient, highly insulated, "Super E" Canadian timber homes in Scotland.
"The Super E system is tried and tested in Canada where our winters are much more severe. The technology has been developed over a number of years and is successfully exported throughout the world," said Mr. Wright.
Quails’ Gate Winery overlooking Okanagan Valley
British supermarkets and off licences are full of wines from around the world but ask for a bottle of Canadian wine and the chances are they won‘t have heard of it. But that‘s all set to change as the Canadian Government launches an export initiative to promote the country‘s wines and boost sales around the world.
The Government is working with the Canadian wine industry to prepare producers for the export market and to increase their profile with upmarket restaurateurs, retailers and wine writers in key markets.
"Canadian‘s can be proud of our award winning, world class wine industry," says Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade. "This national export initiative will help open doors for this important industry and introduce the world to our wines."
Canadian wines are gaining a strong reputation in Canada and are beginning to make some inroads abroad. A range of red and white wines are enjoying success at competitions around the world and wine writers have praised the quality of Canadian wine.
Canada's wine industry is perhaps best known internationally for Icewine - a sweet dessert wine made from high-quality grapes which are pressed immediately after the first frost of the season. These frozen grapes yield small amounts of intensely flavoured juice with a very high natural sugar content that is fermented slowly and bottled several months later. Naturally frozen grapes are essential for Icewine's characteristic intense sweetness and high acidity and the Canadian climate guarantees an annual harvest of grapes for making Icewine.
Increased exports of Canadian wine are expected to have an effect on other sectors as Minister Day explains, "the success of Canadian wine exports has economic spinoffs in our agriculture, tourism and wine industries."
Read more:
• Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA)
• Wines of British Columbia
• Mission Hill Family Estate (winery)
Investing in young entrepreneurs
In the 1960s two young Canadian film makers, Graham Ferguson and Roman Kroiter, came up with an idea to revolutionise the movie industry. With support from the Government of Canada and some foreign investment, their idea of using film ten times normal size and projecting it on to huge screens, became IMAX.
There are now more than 280 IMAX screens in countries around the world and Canada is recognised as a worldwide leader in cinematic technology.
Now a new generation of entrepreneurs who want to start businesses and create jobs will have access to start-up loans and other support through the Canadian Government‘s $10 million investment in the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF).
The CYBF is a national charity that provides mentoring, finance and business resources to young Canadians aged 18-34. So far it has helped fund 2,800 entrepreneurial companies which have generated $300 million in sales revenue and $33 million in export revenue as well as more than 15,000 new jobs.
"At CYBF we believe that entrepreneurship equals economic recovery," says chief executive Vivian Prokop. "Our track record proves that our program is part of the solution. The Government‘s generous commitment, coupled with private sector support, recognizes that young entrepreneurs have great potential to generate ideas and expand innovation to keep Canada strong."
The Government‘s $10 million investment is part of Canada‘s Economic Action Plan which was introduced earlier this year and includes targeted action across four areas – reducing the tax burden on Canadian individuals, families and businesses; smart stimulus spending that creates jobs; helping Canadians hit hardest by the recession; and strengthening the financial system and improving access to credit.
As well as helping young entrepreneurs, the Government has pledged to support older workers by providing new skills training for those aged 55 to 64 and to extend income support for long-tenured workers who have lost their jobs and who are seeking long term training.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says, "Canadians who are looking to open up new job opportunities by upgrading their skills deserve every opportunity to succeed. Investing in training is one of the best measures any government can take to ensure that Canadians take full advantage of the jobs of tomorrow."
Connecting businesswomen with new opportunities
Which segment of the Canadian population provides jobs for 1.7 million Canadians and contributes over $18 billion to the Canadian economy? The answer is women.
Between 1981 and 2010, the number of women entrepreneurs in Canada increased by 208 percent. However, despite their numbers, the top 13 multinational corporations with annual spending power of over $1 billion each, spend only 2.2 percent of their budgets with women-owned businesses.
In a bid to give Canadian business women more opportunities, a non profit organisation called WEConnect Canada has been launched which connects female entrepreneurs with corporate and public sector organisations that are looking for more diverse suppliers.
Among the companies in Canada that have signed up to the scheme are Accenture, IBM and Pfizer.
The organisation has also launched in the UK as WE Connect UK.
