Why Canada is a land of promise for post-Brexit businesses.
We are living in an era of unprecedented change - not just societies and economies, but individuals as well.
I am sharing my personal story for anyone who is considering making a momentous change in their professional life. My own change was not in this year of the pandemic, but back in 2016, such a significant year in British history.
2016 saw the Brexit referendum vote for Britain to leave the European Union – the same year I relocated from a tech job in central London and life in leafy suburban Wimbledon to the vibrant heart of downtown Toronto, Canada.
I have now lived and worked in four major cities: Liverpool, Manchester, London and Toronto. Working on economic development projects globally has given me a good eye for a city’s potential, they all have phenomenal access to worldwide business networks and unlimited opportunities.
I’ve seen massive business growth potential in Toronto and Canada from the moment I arrived. That’s why I’m still here, four years on, as a permanent resident.
We have had impressive stability through the 2008 financial crisis and Covid shutdown. Just like the US, Canada has strong similarities to the UK in culture and language, a deep affection for our Queen, and they even know how to make a good cup of tea.
More seriously, it offers tremendous growth potential in a number of dynamic science, innovation and business hubs. There’s significant government commitment to supporting companies to become world leaders in emerging and disruptive technologies, and a highly integrated ecology of enterprise, academic and finance partners.
In such a dynamic business environment I have set up Bandwidth, which supports businesses expanding into Canada via our presence on the ground, helping them to get established quickly by forging strong business relationships and strategic partnerships from the outset.
Now it’s time to share the secrets of this phenomenal country with friends back home. Bandwidth launches our first Invest in Canada Report, giving business owners insights into Canada’s potential as the they consider new post-Brexit opportunities.
It outlines how Canada is home to a highly educated workforce, attractive government funding programmes and tax incentives, and provides access to dynamic science, technology, innovation and business hubs nationwide.
When the transition period ends and the UK completes its exit from the EU at the end of this year, UK businesses will be operating in a new business reality. Forward-thinking leaders have already accepted the ‘new normal’ which means they are already looking for new opportunities across the globe.
So what are you waiting for? Come to Canada! I’m not suggesting you do what I did - sell-up and leave Britain on a one-way plane ticket with five suitcases, four boxes of random bric-a-brac and a set of copper tri-ply saucepans.
Instead, I invite you to look at the report and consider some key facts: Canada is the 10th largest economy in the world and forecast to rise to eighth in the next decade – a trend fuelled by its free trade agreements with 51 nations whose markets provide access to 1.5 billion people.
As well as 38 million Canadians, businesses here have easy access to 450 million consumers in the US and Mexico markets, so this is a great place to launch into them.
Canada is ranked third in the world for the ease of doing business, and it costs precisely nothing, and an average of a mere 1.5 days to set up a business here.
So if you are interested in being part of Canada’s success story, please get in touch to discuss your international expansion needs.
Lisa Harding
27th October 2020