Business Report- Case Study: How Do You Compete with a Goliath?

Introduction: Canada is one of the most profitable countries in the entire world, comparing to and competing with some of the biggest economic superpowers. In 2019 alone, Canada’s GDP equalled approximately 1.64 trillion dollars and, although the GDP has floated above this number for the past 5 years, the projected forecast for 2020 is around the same number. Consistency is considered a good indicator for success; Canada as a whole, however, wants to grow. The country is looking to make changes to ensure that it does not fall behind and miss out on the next big international business opportunity in upcoming years; in fact, Canada has the potential to be far better than its peers - success being inevitable if it can gain traction. Through research and analysis, this report provides deeper insight into how each individual sector of business links back to Canada, and the ways in which the country can maximize its international promise, attractiveness and potential as a result. Some limitations that may come with this report is the fact that there are no significant deals currently unfolding within the country that could be compared with the Amazon bid, leading to a lack of access to interviews and real time statistics. Nevertheless, the conclusions and recommendations that are made in this report were founded based on three main, well documented sources: Deloitte's “Canada's Competitiveness Scorecard”, Digital Magazine’s “Breaking Down Toronto’s 190-Page Amazon HQ2 Bid” and The Toronto Global’s “Amazon HQ2- Toronto Full Bid”. Overall, the research and analysis that was able to be conducted provided solid evidence for and clear insight into how Canada can become a more competitive nation. Conclusions:

1. Quality of life is more important than it is given credit for and can really propel the success in a city.

2. Regulation is holding Canada back, essentially, scaring companies and investors off. 3. More Investments and using capital is really important to grow and succeed as a whole

nation. Recommendations:

1. Advertise/Promote Canada’s Quality of life and ensure it stays at that high up standard. 2. Open up the economy and loosen up policies to attract foreign business’. 3. Invest Capital into domestic business’ to allow international expansion.

Findings and Discussions Recommendation 1: Cities within Canada looking to expand their international business exposure should take the opportunity to promote and encourage their high quality of life. Cities such as New Zealand’s Auckland have taken advantage of that same factor and advertised it to the world with countless surveys and articles. They even promote these achievements on their government website; New Zealand Now states “Survey after survey proves New Zealand’s enviable work-life balance. HSBC's 2017 Expat Explorer survey … (and first for 'Quality of Life').”​1​ If Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg did the same, they, too, could see a boom in business growth. Quality of life truly does matter in business, as it speaks to the culture within which owners would be paying to market. For example, when referring to Appendix A, Toronto Global states “With the lowest monthly apartment rents among North American tech markets, tech salaries go farther in the Toronto Region than anywhere else.”​2​ Toronto’s reasonable rent rates boast a significant advantage in attracting more tech companies to the city, as less money spent on property directly translates into more money to cover basic needs, resulting in an overall greater quality of life. As is further illustrated in “Breaking DownToronto’s 190-Page Amazon HQ2 Bid”, “From the bustle of the urban core to the sprawling countryside and everything in between, the Toronto Region offers something for everyone.”​3​ In other words, a diverse, inclusive social, cultural, and natural environment also counts towards quality of life and, seeing as Canada has all of these things, the country would be taking a step in the right direction by showcasing all that they provide for their residents. This can be achieved through putting together ads on website giants such as Youtube or posters at international airports. Taxes may cause hesitation for people considering a life in Canada, but these also contribute to a high quality of life, leading to limitless business possibilities. As long as Canada pushes the fact that quality of life is more important than given credit for, and adheres to the standard they have created for themselves, then the country’s competitiveness can skyrocket.

1 ​New Zealand Now. “Balanced lifestyle.”​https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/why-choose-nz/balanced-lifestyle​ , accessed October 2020. 2 ​Mark Cohon, Toby Lenonox. “Toronto Region Response to Amazon HQ2 RFP” (November 2018). Toronto Global. ​https://torontoglobal.ca/​ , accessed November 2020 3 “Breaking Down Toronto’s 190-Page Amazon HQ2 Bid.” ​digital. Magazine​, October 23, 2017. [​https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H3_prbebIcSlOp7KTzkNgZylBEVscOcmzHd2vAR0RAI/edit​]

Recommendation 2: Regulation is holding Canada back, essentially, scaring companies and investors off. References: New Zealand Now. “Balanced lifestyle.”​https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/why-choose-nz/balanced-lifestyle​ , accessed October 2020. Mark Cohon, Toby Lenonox. “Toronto Region Response to Amazon HQ2 RFP” (November 2018). Toronto Global. ​https://torontoglobal.ca/​ , accessed October 2020 “Breaking Down Toronto’s 190-Page Amazon HQ2 Bid.” ​digital. Magazine​, October 23, 2017. [​https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H3_prbebIcSlOp7KTzkNgZylBEVscOcmzHd2vAR0RAI /edit​] Appendices: Appendix A:

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4 ​Mark Cohon, Toby Lenonox. “Toronto Region Response to Amazon HQ2 RFP” (November 2018). Toronto Global. ​https://torontoglobal.ca/​ , accessed November 2020

Appendix B:

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5 ​Mark Cohon, Toby Lenonox. “Toronto Region Response to Amazon HQ2 RFP” (November 2018). Toronto Global. ​https://torontoglobal.ca/​ , accessed November 2020

Feedback from Business Report 2: I’ve done this I’ve struggled with this

● Use quotes as evidence to support what I am saying (Needs to be done in findings) ● Make sure all my reflections and readings are done so I have a good understanding of the

topic ● Make sure my capitalization and grammar is correct ● Opinions can’t be too controversial ● Use a formal tone ● Recommendations should be capitalized ● REDO BUSINESS REPORT 2 FOR MORE FEEDBACK