Canada

Doing Business in Canada

A vibrant and competitive economy and transparent regulatory framework enable dynamic business creation and operation in Canada. Scoring highly on the World Bank’s scale for ease of doing business and ranking highly on the Index of Economic Freedom, Canadians enjoy a high standard of living whilst foreign investors have unrestricted access to Canada’s fair legal system and enjoy little interference from governmental policies.

A combination of being particularly prosperous in the mining, insurance, telecommunications and automotive industries, rich in natural resources, especially oil, and a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Group of Eight (sometimes known as the Group of Seven) (G8/G7), have all helped cement Canada’s position as one of the world’s top ten trading nations. In short, doing business in Canada is a smart strategic choice.

Canada may be the second largest country in the world geographically but nearly 90% of the nation’s population is located within 200km of the border with America. The trade relationship between the US and Canada is a by-product of this close proximity and the largest relationship of its kind between any two nations in the world. Although Canada could not survive without this crucial bi-lateral trade with its southern neighbours, professionals doing business in Canada would do well to remember that Canadians vary considerably from their American counterparts. Marked differences can be seen in Canada’s business meetings which although democratic in approach, tend to be more formal than meetings in the States. While American business people usually use an extremely direct communication style, Canadians are generally more reserved and understated with high value being placed on polite courtesy.

As Canadians are keen to shake the stereotype that they are similar to Americans, those doing business in Canada will be putting their best foot forward if they recognise the bilingual nation’s historic French ties by offering French translations of any business documents.

The World Business Culture website is a helpful hub of advice like this to help professionals aspiring to do business in Canada navigate the culture and gain invaluable knowledge on the nation’s economic climate, tax system and market entry process.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Canada only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.