2. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) Canada has diplomatic and consular offices in over 270 locations in 180 countries.
5. Mexico City Saskatoon Integrated Economies 1000 km 500 km Los Angeles Denver Houston Atlanta Seattle Miami New York Boston Philadelphia Washington Baltimore Detroit Chicago Cleveland St. Louis Pittsburgh Milwaukee San Francisco St. John's Calgary Vancouver Regina Halifax Toronto Montréal Winnipeg Charlottetown Edmonton Victoria Ottawa Windsor Québec Fredericton
8. A Top Investor in Florida Top Foreign Investors in Florida By Value (billions) By Jobs Japan $4.16 UK 45,000 Germany $4.13 Canada 24,300 UK $3.88 Germany 22,600 Australia $3.56 Japan 21,100 Canada $3.36 Netherlands 20,700
20. Sound Financial Institutions *Standing among 134 countries. Ranking based on the degree of soundness of financial institutions. Source: Global Competitiveness Report, 2008-2009
21. A Growth Capital Opportunity 2009 TSX: 28 IPOs, $1.8billion TSX-V: 20 IPOs, $69 million 2010 (projected) TSX & TSX-V: $4 billion IPO market $2.6 Million - Average financing size on TSX-V: $41.0 Million - Average financing size on TSX
22. A Growth Capital Opportunity What's Financed on TSX and TSX Venture Exchange by HQ Location February 28, 2010 YTD
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Notas del editor
Amazingly, but truly, during the next four seconds, two trucks full of merchandise will cross the Canada-US border. During the next 60 seconds, a million dollars worth of goods will be traded between our two countries. In 60 minutes, the same amount will have been exchanged between Canada and Florida. And that’s not even counting services, which is a key economic driver in both our countries. You can look near and far, and you won’t find another jurisdiction, state or nation, that trades more with the great state of Florida than Canada does. Why is this relevant? Because this trade represents sales, and sales are the lifeblood and the main source of growth of any company. So whether you are an investor looking for companies with exceptional growth potential, or whether you work for such a company, my message today is that Canada is creative, competitive, and is your international business partner of choice.
As you heard, my name is Claudio Ramirez and I am a diplomat for the Canadian government. Before I go on any longer, I want to acknowledge the presence here of two of my colleagues, and I would like them to stand-up so you can see them, Tawil Sagaf and Val Jackson. They have come down from Ottawa to experience that despite Team USA’s tragic loss in overtime against Canada in the men’s gold medal hockey game, we are still among friends here. As a side note the US still one more medals than any other nation in the history of the games, and we on the other hand won the most gold medals ever, so it was a win-win for all of us. They are also here to support our Consulate in showing you that Canada doesn’t just perform well in the hockey arena, we also excel in the business arena. And by the way, we will be building on the remarkable success of the Vancouver Games by hosting in the coming months the G8, G20 and North American Leaders summits (NAFTA), so once again the eyes of the world will remain on our country. Let me talk a bit about the organization I represent. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is the Canadian equivalent of USTR, Departments of Commerce and State, InvestAmerica, all in one.
22 offices in the U.S. more than any other country
Let me pick-up on two things about the JFK quote, geography and economics. As you can see, these two are highly related. One of the reasons why the Canada-US trade relation is the largest in the world is because 17 of Canada’s 20 largest cities are located about 90 minutes or 100 miles from the US border. 90% of our population is concentrated in that area. 75% of our exports are U.S. bound and 58% of FDI originates from the U.S. Bilateral trade was $557 billion in 2008, tripling since our bilateral trade agreement was signed in 1989. We make things together. About a third of our trade is intra-industry, with suppliers, manufacturers, service providers etc. maximizing the value chains between our countries. This is why Canada successfully negotiated an exemption to the Buy American clause contained in the Stimulus Package (ARRA).
Canada is the number one customer for 35 U.S. states, and we are in the top 3 in all 50 states. For every dollar that China buys from the U.S. Canada buys $4 dollars worth of US goods.
On top of the millions of jobs that depend on merchandise and services trade between Canada and the U.S, Canadian subsidiaries on U.S. soil also create jobs.
In 2007 (the latest year available) Canada was responsible for 10% of all FDI to Florida and for 10% of FDI-related employment in the state. That year, Canada's FDI stock in Florida reached $3.36 billion (5th overall behind Japan, Germany, UK and Australia), but more importantly as it speaks to the "quality" of this FDI, Canada's wholly and majority-owned affiliates in Florida sustained 24,300 jobs (2nd overall behind the UK, and more than all Latin American countries combined)
One of the impacts of free trade agreements is the expansion of industrial clusters, where linkages among firms within the same industry increase overall productivity and promote innovation. Florida’s “High Tech Corridor” includes Canadian firms like Canadian Aerospace Electronics (CAE) and Adacel Systems, offering flight simulators and training to the civil and military aviation industries. Synergies exist between Canadian and American industry giants located in Florida, such as Bombardier’s supply of airplane parts to Lockheed Martin in Orlando. Telecom players like Nortel and more recently RIM have established themselves in South Florida.
Because we had over 10 consecutive years of budget surplus, between 1996 to 2007 in fact, we entered the global economic crisis in much better position than other countries. We had a minimal deficit in 2008 and will have a modest one in 2009, which will be due in part to government injecting money to provide a stimulus to the economy, which will go to roads, infrastructure, the auto industry, green tech, and is somewhat similar to that of the U.S. with one big exception: no bank bailout.
Although Canada had a budget deficit in 2009, we were still in a stronger position than most industrialized countries.
We had the healthiest economy before the recession and we are emerging out of it still on the most solid economic footing.
Looking forward, the IMF predicts that we will be the fastest growing economy in the G7 this year. Our unemployment rate is about 8.2%, much lower than in most industrialized countries.
Canada’ business climate ranked first in the G-7 and third out of 82 countries in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s global business rankings for the forecast period (2009-13), up from fourth and still first in the G-7 out of the full 82 countries from the historical period (2004-2008).
Canada’s economy is driven by talented and enterprising people with the education and expertise to compete. Canada has a highly educated and skilled knowledge workforce. It ranks #1 in the OECD for the proportion of the population with post-secondary education and Canada spends more on education, as a percentage of GDP, than any other country in the world.
Not just our economy that is diversified, so are our people. Like Miami, Toronto is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, and is the most ethnically diverse city in the world on a per capital basis. Vancouver is not far behind, and Montreal the second largest francophone city in the world. And it’s one of the reasons why Canada has been so successful economically, and why we have been able to attract some of the best and brightest from around the world to our shores as immigrants to make their futures in this country In a business world gone global, Canada’s multicultural work force provides a great advantage for firms working internationally. More than 200 languages are spoken in Canada and Canadian knowledge workers have strong abilities to communicate across cultures.
Canada is not just competitive, it is also creative, and offers one of the most generous R&D tax credits in the world.
The World Economic Forum has determined that Canada has the soundest banking system in the world, and today, five of the top ten banks in North America are Canadian.
Canada also offers opportunities to raise growth capital and a positive outlook for IPOs. The TSX is a two-tier stock exchange, great alternative source of growth capital for US companies looking to raise anywhere from $1 million to $1 billion. Top 10 exchanges in the world in terms of equity raised and market capitalization; it is unique in its ability to accompany companies from its junior to its senior market as they grow (to date, some 500 companies worldwide had been incubated that way); in addition to being a world leader in the resources sector, it is also boasts new niche industries such as life sciences; it offers world-class services to prospective companies and innovative financing mechanisms like the Capital Pool Company (CPC) program, a shell company that allows individual investors to acquire a business that will be listed on the TSX-Venture Exchange through a qualified transaction; the TMX is ideally suited for U.S. mid-size companies, time spans for listing are much shorter and costs lower than on NASDAQ or NYSE for example (driving the point home, the TSX and TSX-V include 142 U.S. issuers as of early 2009 with a total market capitalization of $26 billion). 5% in the life sciences industry. TMX speed of access. In Canada, the conception to completion of an IPO is more condensed, giving a 3 to 6 months advantage over U.S. exchanges, which can ultimately determine the success or failure of a transaction given the volatility of the markets and the often narrow window of opportunity that needs to be exploited. In addition, it takes only 2 weeks to get a review from Canadian regulators whereas that process can take several months with the SEC.
The TSX is a global exchange, not just for Canadian firms or for projects in Canada.
I won’t read what you can see on the slide as it repeats some of the arguments I have already made and in fact, I am now going to exit the speaking booth because even though I have been relying on third-party studies in my short presentation, I could be accused of cherry-picking the data to feather Canada’s nest. We wanted to make sure that this would not sound line another marketing pitch and this is why we have partnered with IBM, which is as you know a global company with a reputation for integrity and objectivity. We also have great speakers from companies based in Orlando and you will be hearing how they have been able to position themselves to success in Canada. So I wish to welcome you all, and I hope that this will be an exciting and stimulating knowledge-building day for all of us .
But lastly, some quick logistical announcements: I hope that you gave your busines card at the registration table because at the end of the event tonight we will be giving out a small collection of Canadian gifts as a token of our appreciation for your presence. You have bags that contain relevant information about Canada’s value propositions, including a USB drive that contains Everton’s presentation (I will send you mine separately) Lastly, Everton gave this presentation earlier this week in Minneapolis and we will be giving it again in Atlanta tomorrow morning so unfortunately, he and my colleagues will have to leave us at 6:30 to catch a flight and for that I apologize but I will remain with you throughout the evening of course.