Overview

The Western advantage is more than just a phrase—it's a way of life and a way of doing business.

Western Canada is an ideal place to do business. Anyone searching for new trade and investment opportunities will be attracted by the wealth of advantages embodied in Canada's four western provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Easy access to markets and suppliers, competitive business costs, the availability of natural resources and innovative technologies, superb infrastructure and a quality workforce are all factors for which Western Canada presents distinct advantages. The region also offers some of the best living conditions in the world. Canada's West has provided fertile soil for hundreds of innovative industries, and there's plenty of room for more to grow.

Strategic Business Location

Consider Western Canada's location for its strategic features:

• Close proximity to thriving economic regions throughout North America and the Asia-Pacific region.
• Efficient access to consumers and suppliers through truck, air and rail services fully integrated with U.S. networks.
• Nine major airports including international airports in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg with direct flights to the United States.
• Deep-sea ports with short shipping times between North America and the Asia–Pacific region and world-class facilities servicing Asia and Western Canada.
• Vancouver is a corridor to Asian markets and resources, while Winnipeg is a gateway to the U.S. Midwest and Mexico.
• With broadband coverage second in the world only to Korea, Canada has a superior information and communication technologies infrastructure vigorously supported by provincial and federal governments.
• With a strong trade surplus, Canada offers an ideal base for exporters and its extensive network of free export development services and intelligence is available to all companies that produce goods and services in Canada.

Competitive Business Costs

The cost of labour, transportation, utilities and taxes are among the key factors that cut into the bottom line. Competitive Alternatives (2006), KPMG's guide to international business costs, found that Canada leads the G7 countries in low business costs, with a cost advantage of 5.5 points over the United States. In Western Canada, the average cost of doing business is 5.7 points less expensive than in the United States. The Western Canadian cities in the study are all less expensive to do business in than comparable U.S. cities. All industries are less expensive to operate, some by as many as 18 points under their counterparts in the United States.

Among the countries analyzed by KPMG, Canada has

• the lowest costs for industrial facilities and electricity;
• the second lowest labour costs;
• competitive corporate tax rates for manufacturing operations; and
• lower expenses for benefit plans.

Natural Resources and Innovative Technologies

One of Western Canada's distinct advantages is its ability to efficiently extract and process its rich endowment of natural resources—petroleum and natural gas, timber, minerals and productive farmland. Now innovative technologies are also starting to distinguish the region.

Extensive R&D throughout the West has led to the development of technologies that enhance resource development and also contribute to economic diversification. Universities, governments and private companies collaborate to create technologically sophisticated industry clusters. Enclosed in this package are profiles of the aerospace, agri-food and value added agriculture, biotechnology, environmental technologies, information and communications technology, and medical device industries. Diversification is partly fueled by the development of a strong local market, particularly among new industries.

Primary and secondary industries in Western Canada benefit from their proximity to energy sources, raw materials and other resources, like water, that are necessary for production processes. Meanwhile, oil and gas produced in the West supply regional industries, as do regional sources of electricity.

A Reliable, Supportive Infrastructure

Western cities enjoy

• efficient and extensive transportation networks;
• stable and affordable water, sewer and electric utilities;
• sophisticated research facilities and consortia, and science and business parks, and
• excellent broadband connectivity.

In recent years, tens of millions of dollars have been invested in Western Canada in municipal infrastructure projects by the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Federal Budget 2006 renews the Government of Canada's commitment to local infrastructure by maintaining current financial support and adding significant additional funding.

A Highly Skilled Workforce

Post-secondary education through universities, colleges and technical institutes is of high quality in Canada and government funding keeps student tuition costs low. The governments of Canada and the western provinces sponsor some 300 programs and services to provide training and skills. There are 12 public universities in the West and dozens of colleges and technical institutes with programs to train individuals for most industries. The private sector is also becoming more involved in educational partnerships and educational institutions work cooperatively with industry to develop students with the right training and skills to hit the ground running.

Canada is creating an environment to attract the best and brightest from around the world. The Government of Canada has implemented a program to facilitate the immigration of skilled workers and each provincial government has a program to encourage skilled workers to immigrate to their province. In Budget 2006, the government took measures to create an agency for the assessment and recognition of the credentials of foreign-trained immigrants, while getting those who are trained and ready to work in their fields of expertise into the workforce quickly.

The Western Advantage

Western Canada is a unique region with its own issues and priorities, benefits and qualities. The region contains 30 per cent of Canada's geography and population, and produces 32 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. Recent real economic growth in the four western provinces exceeds the Canadian average, which is among the highest in the world.

Western Canada ranks tops in lifestyle, enabling business to attract and retain talent from around the world. According to the 2006 Mercer Human Resources Quality of Living report, Vancouver ranks third in the world for quality of life. The same report found that Calgary ranks first as the cleanest city. That almost 20,000 companies have chosen Calgary as the location for their head office speaks volumes about the city and the region of which it is a part.