Canada Claims Number One Spot

Canada has long been heralded as a world leader when it comes to bouncing back from the recession. The many relationships that we, here at Synergy, have developed with business owners across this great country have helped us to realize exactly why that may be the case.

We are proud to say that we live and work in a country where our entrepreneurs are hard-working, determined individuals who seem to be constantly striving for success. Just yesterday, further proof came out that seems to prove this point of view. A QMI Agency report revealed that Forbes magazine has declared that “Canada is the world’s best place to do business”!

Knocking the former champion, Denmark, out of first place, the magazine’s recent annual ranking of global economies has placed Canada in its top spot. Among the factors leading to Canada’s worldwide dominance as the “best place to do business” are improvements to the nation’s tax system, a lack of red tape and strong investor protection.

QMI also notes that Forbes has placed Canada in 9th place when comparing tax systems in countries across the world. This is a significant jump from the nation’s previous holding of 23rd in this category in last year’s study. Formally 4th place in the world, Canada’s new number one spot places it right in front of New Zealand and Hong Kong who round out the top three in that order.

There are some Canadians who may disagree with the idea that the nation’s tax system is one to celebrate. The recently-introduced and widely-hated Harmonized Sales Tax is one reason that many might feel that way. However, QMI points out that Canada has made cuts to employee and corporate tax rates as well as the HST in Ontario and British Columbia.

The United States, by the way, just made it into the top 10 by claiming the tenth spot. According to Forbes, “While the U.S. is paralyzed by fears of a double-dip recession and Europe struggles with sovereign debt issues, Canada’s economy has held up better than most. The $1.6 trillion economy is the ninth biggest in the world and grew 3.1% last year. It is expected to expand 2.4% in 2011, according to the Royal Bank of Canada.”

The worst countries in the world to do business in? According to Forbes magazine, that would be Burundi, Zimbabwe and Chad. So congratulations Canada! Especially to you business owners who work tirelessly to provide optimum services and products that have helped our country become recognized around the world as the best place to do business.