FDI 2023 Blog - Unlock Canada's Investment Potential

The FDI Transformation; What Does Canada Bring to Foreign Investors?

Canada is a country that was economically built on FDI. Its economic prosperity is directly linked to its ability to attract foreign investors. The focus of the Canada FDI Report was to get an update on Canada’s FDI performance and value proposition to investors moving forward. It covers the top sectors and source countries for FDI in Canada, the effects of COVID-19 and the impact of different aspect of the economy such as the rise in interest rates.

With so many unstable situations around the globe such as the war in Ukraine, global supply chains are undergoing major restructuring to meet new economic needs and workforce challenges in all parts of the world. The sources of FDI and key sectors like services and manufacturing are experiencing major disruption and therefore Canada and its provinces need to ensure they remain a competitive option for investors moving forward.

Figure 1: Manufacturing industries FDI projects, 2017–2023. Source: fDi Markets, 2023

Key Sectors - FDI Projects

Since 2017, Canada’s economy has attracted a significant number of projects in a variety of sectors. The Services and Manufacturing sectors managed to attract 90% of all projects identified during this period. Services alone represented almost 60% of all projects and the majority (79%) of those projects were from the Support & IT and Business Services industries.

Canada’s Value Proposition: Revised & Improved

The core element of Canada’s value proposition for foreign investors is the skilled labour. Canada’s immigration  system favors the selection of high  skilled labor, a highly attractive asset for foreign investors. In fact, the Canadian government has set ambitious immigration  targets  in  the  coming  years  aiming  at  500,000 new permanent residents per year until 2025.

Engaging in trade agreements. In the face of rising protectionism elsewhere and promoting investments in technology complete the three pillars of Canada’s attraction strategy.

Beyond promoting itself as a great place to do business, Canada needs to remain proactive in attracting foreign investment by updating its value proposition to effectively target foreign investors in response to all the new challenges and changes in the overall economic situation.

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