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Seizing Global Advantage

Boosting Canada’s Share of Global Investment and Innovation

Investment and innovation are key drivers of today’s global value chains.

Businesses are investing in new products, technologies, production facilities and distribution networks to cut costs, expand market share and generate higher earnings and profits.

Businesses are also competing for global investment capital as a means to boost their own operations, productivity and competitiveness.

The Government of Canada is committed to making Canada a magnet for global investment and innovation, and to supporting Canadians pursuing investment and innovation opportunities abroad.

Building on the progress being made in negotiating bilateral investment and S&T agreements with key partners, as well as partnerships with Export Development Canada, the Canadian Commercial Corporation and with the provinces and territories and business stakeholders, the federal government is expanding its efforts to promote Canada’s strengths as a partner and destination for global investment, enterprise and innovation.

Under a new Foreign Investment Promotion Strategy, Canada’s commercial network at home and abroad is focusing on building the Canada “brand” in key markets and priority sectors through a wide range of new initiatives, including:

Investment Champions Program:

Canadian business leaders are being recruited to reach out to prospective investors to highlight specific opportunities for partnering with Canadian companies, and the business cases for doing so.

Investment Champions will help draw potential investors to industry-specific events across Canada and enrich the itineraries of visits to Canada by potential investors.
Investment Promotion Tools:

New tools that articulate strong business cases for partnering with Canadian companies in key sectors and industries are under development.

New sectorand industry-specific materials and a marketing campaign revolving around Canadian success stories are being developed.

Work is also underway to enhance Canada’s visibility and presence at major international business events attended by influential corporate decision-makers.
Investment Awareness Outreach:

The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Canada offer an excellent opportunity to showcase Canada’s attractive business climate and thousands of innovative and highly competitive businesses to the world.
Investor Aftercare Services:

New services are being introduced to help foreign investors in Canada connect to the Canadian suppliers, professionals, labour, knowledge and innovation networks they need.

Investors will also be provided with help in identifying expansion opportunities and/or ways to address issues affecting their current operations.
A number of new Global Value Chain Initiatives will help Canadian companies identify, explore and tap into global value chain opportunities, particularly those driven by U.S.-based multinationals or overseas-based multinationals with operations in the U.S.

Recognizing the importance of partnering with other innovative countries to access foreign knowledge, technologies and expertise in creating marketable products, the Government is also committed to enhancing Canada’s profile and participation in global innovation networks.

Leveraging federal domestic S&T Strategy efforts to make Canada’s business environment one that encourages S&T and innovation, Canada’s international network is boosting the national profile in this regard.

As well, through expanded funding of such programs as the International S&T Partnerships Program and the Going Global Innovation, the Government is seeking to accelerate the commercialization of Canadian innovations in priority markets and sectors.

The Government is also committed to increasing the number of international students choosing Canada. In that regard, funding was announced for the Vanier Scholarships and Global Excellence Chairs to attract foreign students to Canadian post-secondary institutions.