How Canada Fared in 2000

ite Selection?s Top 10 New and Expanded Plants for Canada shows an average business investment in the top five projects of more than US$950 million. An overview of projects for last year shows a substantial investment in call centers in Canada. The second most frequent Canadian industry investment, according to Site Selection?s New Plant database, for 2000 was power plant construction. The third and fourth industrial investment was pharmaceuticals and telecom equipment.

Ontario

The provincial government in Toronto is sweetening the pot for new business expansion. On the legislative table are proposed cuts in personal income tax in 2000, reduction in small business tax rates from 8 percent to 4 percent by 2005, and measures to help research and development companies hire and retain skilled labor. Ontario has created a profitable environment for business development. Eighty percent of all new jobs last year in the province were created by firms with less than 50 employees.

       
Ontario?s newly deregulated electric market has provided a boom for new business facilities. Sithe plans to build two state-of-the-art power plants in the Toronto area, at the cost of $1 billion. “Our investment is a result of the province opening of its electricity market to competition,” says Sithe vice-president Willard Ladd. The plants will be built this year, pending all local and provincial approvals. The province is also home to new auto facility construction. General Motors is building a $440 million auto engine plant in St. Catharines, and Toyota Motors is expanding its sport utility vehicle plant in Cambridge.

Quebec

More than 80,000 new jobs were created in the province of Quebec last year, with unemployment falling by year?s end nearly a full percentage point. Quebec offers businesses an exceptionally skilled work force with four major universities located in Montreal. The second largest French-speaking population in the world is also located in Montreal.

       
Mosel Vitelic announced last July a $2.5 billion, 1,500-job chip factory in Montreal. The Taiwan-based company chose Montreal over another German site. Interquisa announced last June a $500 million petrochemical facility to be constructed in Montreal. Telecom Vision announced late last year a 100-job call center facility to be constructed in Montreal.

Alberta

According to a survey conducted by KPMG, doing business in Alberta is about 10 percent lower than anywhere else in Canada. The province recorded the creation of more than 38,000 new jobs in 1999. Alberta has no provincial sales tax, contributing to the fastest growing economy in the past 5 years. San Jose-based, Calpine announced last year a $135 million power plant to be built in Calgary.

       
“The idea is,” says Dan Allard, vice president of business development for Calpine, “when we operate in a marketplace it is to build a business, not just a project.” The company will begin producing electricity in 2003 and will generate enough power to light up 25,000 households.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

Call center construction was prominent in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, with four new facilities employing an average of more than 342 employees. RMH Teleservices will employ 500 at its new facility in Saint John. The company is also building additional facilities in British Columbia. Cendant Canada announced a new facility to employ 400 in Fredericton, New Brunswick.