Cities welcome the opportunity to partner with new organization to support investment attraction

OTTAWA – March 12, 2018 –  The Consider Canada City Alliance (CCCA) and its members, thirteen of Canada’s largest and most innovative cities, applaud the Federal government’s commitment to move Canada forward in the global competition to attract investment. Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade, launched Invest in Canada, a new federal organization dedicated to attracting global investment and simplifying the process for global businesses to make Canada their new home, creating jobs that come with their investments.

As part of its launch, Minister Champagne introduced Mitch Garber as its inaugural chairperson of the board and Ian McKay as its inaugural chief executive officer (CEO). McKay, who has extensive investment and trade experience nationally and internationally, was the CEO of the Vancouver Economic Commission and chair of the CCCA.

“For the CCCA and its members, today’s announcement creates a significant opportunity to more closely align our activity to that of the federal government,” said Hubert Bolduc, interim CCCA Chair and President and CEO of Montreal International. “On behalf of the CCCA, I would like to offer my congratulations to Mitch Garber and Ian McKay on their new appointments, having worked with both, I am confident that Invest in Canada and the CCCA will work together to provide responsive investor services that will make Canada a premier competitor for FDI dollars.”

“In today’s rapidly changing geopolitical environment, the Canada brand has never been stronger,” said CCCA spokesperson Blair Patacairk. “We look forward to working with Invest in Canada to develop tools and resources that recognize and build upon the strengths of the partners selling Canada as an investment location and advance our global leadership position for economic growth and prosperity.”

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About the Consider Canada City Alliance
The thirteen members of Consider Canada City Alliance (CCCA) include the city regions of Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Waterloo, Hamilton, London, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The economic zones of the members of the CCCA represent 59.6% of Canada’s population, produce 65.1% of its GDP and accounted for 83.4% of Canada’s GDP growth in the five years ending last quarter. As a united front, the Consider Canada City Alliance helps international companies determine the best strategies for business expansion and continually improve Canada’s ability to attract new investment and trade opportunities. 

​November 27 2017- December 1, 2017

The CCCA is working with Invest in Canada on an Investment Mission to Europe in November of 2017 as part of the “Global Business Leaders Series: Focus on Canada” organized by Invest in Canada. The series features investment missions to select countries throughout the world to highlight the advantages of investing in Canada and to showcase specific opportunities. With support from the Canadian Embassies in France, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Switzerland the event will feature seminars on investing in Canada, Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings between European companies and CCCA member cities, and networking opportunities. This mission will highlight the benefits to their global supply chains of European companies investing in Canada in light of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) signed between Canada and the European Union and Canada’s comprehensive set of trade and investment agreements around the world including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The Canadian Consulate in Rio de Janeiro working with the CCCA organized a Virtual Investment Seminar with gaming companies in the Rio de Janeiro region. The mission involved 16 companies from the Rio de Janeiro region and 6 CCCA member cities. It was executed using Skype. The Consulate gave an overview of the FDI opportunity and the gaming sector in Canada. Each city then had an opportunity to address the Brazilian companies, outlining their value proposition and answering questions. The Consulate had provided profiles of the pre-qualified Brazilian companies in advance, including their foreign investment goals and time frames. Follow up after the session was done by the Consulate and individual cities working together.

The initiative was considered a success by all parties with the intent to extend the model in the future to other sectors and cities.

By Michael Darch
As seen in the Huffington Post
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President Obama ended his address to Canada’s Parliament on June 29 with the words “The world needs more Canada.” At this point in time, those words are very true.