--Rebecca Skinner
Well known for its
vibrant and welcoming culture, high-quality seafood, and
coastal landscapes, people from around the world have been
visiting Atlantic Canada for centuries. The story less-often told
is of the many international companies who have invested and
are thriving in the four most Eastern provinces of Canada.
Multinationals
such as IBM, Samsung, Kvaerner, Tech Mahindra, and Michelin have realized
the operational and strategic advantages found in Atlantic Canada.
Read
on to discover what advantages Atlantic Canada offers for your
business as well.
Canada s political
stability, sound banking system, welcoming business environment,
and global market access have made it an attractive location for
world-leading companies.
Located
on Canada s East Coast, the Atlantic region features these advantages
and more. The region is comprised of the provinces of New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador. It has
a collective population of 2.4 million and GDP totalling $105.8 billion.
Atlantic Canada is appealing to
investors looking for a loyal workforce that values work-life balance
and an affordable cost of living. The average residential real
estate cost in the region is just over $240,000 CAD, the average
commute time rests just under 20 minutes, and average job
tenure in service-based industries is just under 9 years.
Additionally,
each of the Atlantic provinces have
award-winning universities and offer top-ups on the federal Scientific
Research & Experimental Development tax credit making it a great place
for R&D activities.
Read more below to learn more about how each
province in Atlantic Canada is making waves in its own niche
industries.
Although
Prince Edward Island (PEI) is Canada s smallest province, it is
growing. According to population estimates by Statistics Canada, the
province of PEI witnessed the highest population growth in Canada from
2018 to 2019.
Much
of this growth can be attributed to the region s favourable
immigration policies, such as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot,
which helps employers hire foreign talent who want to immigrate
to one of the four Atlantic provinces, as well as
international graduates who want to stay in the region after they
graduate.
Hiring
international students, who have unique perspectives and experiences to
offer, has presented a tremendous opportunity for employers. The
Atlantic provinces are home to 16 public universities, as well as 43
community college campuses that attract more than 112,000 students 34,050 from
outside of Canada annually.
Interestingly, PEI s
international student population grew nearly five-fold since 2010 the
strongest growth among all provinces and territories. Coupling this growth
in students with welcoming
immigration frameworks reveals an available and
sustainable workforce that multinational companies benefit from.
One
such industry that has attracted considerable international attention is PEI s
Bioscience Cluster. Based in the provincial capital,
Charlottetown, the Cluster is comprised of more than 60
companies, seven research institutions, and North America s
first business accelerator dedicated to the commercialization of technologies
based on natural product chemistry. Multinationals who have invested in the Cluster include Japan-headquartered Sekisui
Diagnostics (with its only
Canadian location) and UK-based Croda International (with
its International s Centre of Innovation for Marine Biotechnology).
The
oil and gas industry in Newfoundland and
Labrador supplies 100% of Canada s offshore
petroleum and hasn t even yet reached its full
potential. Over 22 years, 1.7 billion barrels have been discovered,
however, this represents just a drop in a much larger bucket. It is
estimated that there is an additional 52.2 billion barrels of
oil still to be discovered in just 9% of the province s
offshore area. With deep-water exploration projects on the horizon,
Newfoundland and Labrador has stepped up as
a Deep-Water Centre of Excellence.
Built
on the energy industry s significant advancement, Newfoundland and
Labrador has a vibrant and diversified ocean economy one of the
largest in Canada. In fact, Canada s Ocean Supercluster,
one of Canada s innovation initiatives is headquartered in St.
John s, Newfoundland. Canada s Ocean Supercluster
is a transformative cluster model that is driving cross-sectoral
collaboration, accelerating innovation, and growing Canada s ocean economy.
The
industry is bolstered by strong research and development
capabilities and an expertise for collaborating with industry. 40%
of all research at Memorial University is related to the ocean. A
significant portion of this research is conducted at The Fisheries
and Marine Institute Canada s most comprehensive centre
for education, training, applied research and industrial support for the ocean
industries. The Institute is home to the world s largest flume tank, 2
of only 5 full-motion ship's bridge simulators in the world, and more than 20
industry-driven marine programs that range from technical certificates to
master's degrees. Beyond industry-driven R&D, the Institute produces
graduates that are well-equipped to succeed in the workforce.
The
province is home to Canada s second-highest percentage of young STEM
graduates (aged 25-34) who work in science and technology occupations.
These young graduates are considerable assets to local
industry and multinationals who choose to work in the
province. Multinationals who have invested in
the province include Kongsberg Maritime, Kvaerner, TechnipFMC, and Vale.
In
addition to leading the nation in offshore opportunities whether it be in
energy or technology applications St. John s, Newfoundland has made
history in venture capital deals. Verafin,
a financial crime management company, attracted
the largest-ever venture capital deal in Canadian history raising
$515 million in 2019.
Bordering
Quebec and the US, there are 55 million consumers within a 1,000 KM radius of
the province of New Brunswick. It also benefits from the fastest
average download speeds in Canada with 140.35 Mbps.
This
fall, the National Centre for Cybersecurity will open
in Fredericton, New Brunswick. This Cyber Centre will also be housed in
the city s Innovation District Hub and high-tech cluster, Knowledge Park.
The
Cyber Centre is a $37
million, 135,000 sq. ft., Protected
B , Level II security building with 96-hour post event resiliency,
onsite back-up generation, redundant data connectivity, and Canada s most
advanced networking and internet fiber infrastructure. It will offer investors
and tenants security services with
physical and bio-metric security layers enabled 24x365 and
was specifically built for national security and defense-grade cybersecurity research and development.
The
Centre will feature the most advanced testbed and
Centre-of-Excellence for Cyber Defense and Critical Infrastructure Protection
(CIP) in Canada, testing and validation facilities, training labs, as well as
an IoT security innovation lab and incubator.
New
Brunswick s cybersecurity industry has a healthy
mix of innovative start-ups, homegrown businesses, and multinational investors. IBM s major
innovation hub for tackling cybersecurity
challenges has been located in Fredericton since 2011 and Siemens
Canada established their global centre for cybersecurity
in Fredericton in 2018.
Things
are happening in Nova Scotia. Last summer it was announced
that its capital city of Halifax was one of the fastest growing
metropolitan regions in Canada, with a population growth rate higher
than Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver. But opportunity exists beyond the
capital; from financial services to game development, naval
defence, ocean technology, and advanced
manufacturing, international investors have chosen Nova Scotia as a strategic
location for decades.
Michelin
North America has manufactured 230 million tires in the province since
1971. The French multinational employs 3,300 people across
three plants in the province making it the largest private manufacturer in
Nova Scotia. In 2018, the company announced a $21 million dollar
expansion to its facility in Pictou.
As a result, 85% of Michelin's North American volume for the new
X-Ice SNOW tire will be produced in the newly upgraded plant.
The
province is also the home to DSM Nutritional Products, the
world s #1 manufacturer of concentrated fish oils an appropriate
reflection of Nova Scotia s maritime heritage and expertise in ocean
industries.
Concerning
its ocean industries, the province showcases diversification again. From
seafood to marine transportation, tidal energy, and naval defence, ocean industries employ almost 35,000 Nova Scotian workers. The crowning jewel of the
industry is the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE) a
collaborative facility for applied innovation in the ocean sector that
offers international investors a unique place for a soft landing in the
province.
In
Nova Scotia, there are more graduates in engineering, applied science,
mathematics, and physical science per capita than anywhere else in Canada.
Attracting attention from top tech leaders, graduates
are well-equipped to work with employers like IBM, Ubisoft, and EY. Investors can rest
assured that there is a sustainable supply of top talent thanks to the
province s 10 universities and 13 community college campuses. In fact, in
the last three years, Nova Scotia has seen a 50% growth in computer
science and math enrolments, contributing to this growing pool of talent.
Atlantic
Canada has something to offer investors from different industries, from around
the world. If you haven't considered Atlantic Canada as your next
expansion destination, you're missing out. Dive a little deeper into Atlantic
Canada; its rapid growth, diversity, and expertise just might
surprise you.
Through its regional office, Invest in Canada works
with partners in Atlantic Canada to connect global investors with business
opportunities. To learn more about each of these organizations, visit their websites: OpportunitiesNB, Ignite Fredericton, Nova Scotia
Business Inc., Halifax Partnership, Cape Breton Partnership, Innovation
PEI, the City of Charlottetown, the Government of Newfoundland
& Labrador, and the City of St. John s.
Ready to get started? Contact us now
to discuss your business expansion project.