Subscribe to blog
Newmark Expert Highlights Tech Boom Permeating Canadian FDI
Newmark Senior Managing Director,
Gregg Wassmansdorf, recently authored his latest column for fDi Magazine. In this opinion piece, Mr. Wassmansdorf explains why, despite the U.S. traditionally being global leaders for technology innovation, Canada is increasingly catching the eye of IT and start-up firms, as well as investors.
Excerpt below.
“In North America, it is no surprise that the US has been the largest recipient of FDI in software and IT services over the past 15 years, followed by Canada, and then Mexico with lower, and more sporadic, FDI levels. However, the US does not attract 11 times the number of foreign investment projects as Canada – which would be proportionate to their respective GDPs – but only four to seven times. And in the past four years, software and tech FDI projects have surged in number in Canada and Mexico, whereas US inbound tech FDI has been steady or declining in total project numbers.
Technology investments are less impacted by trade agreements and tariff threats, so foreign tech firms are less compelled to invest in the US due to White House trade actions. Moreover, Canada’s determined efforts to attract and welcome highly skilled immigrants and international students has put wind into the tech industry’s sails. That, along with ambitious efforts by governments, academia and the private sector to create unique and valued tech clusters in Montreal, Toronto, Waterloo, Vancouver, Edmonton and elsewhere are lifting the tech sector and certainly drawing the attention of global software and IT firms.”
Read the full article titled View from the Americas: tech's never-ending growth story.