Canada named top 5 country for #entrepreneurship

By
Hayden Richards

Entrepreneurs play a vital role in any healthy and vibrant economy. They act as vital agents of change by developing new products and services, implementing more efficient production methods, and creating new business models and industries. We all are aware of these facts, but sometime your success as an entrepeneur depends on where you live. So who is getting it right when it comes to entrepeneurship?  Scoring consistently high on nearly all categories of the entrepreneurial environment, Canada now ranks among the top five countries in the EY G20 Entrepreneurship Barometer 2013, released this week.

The EY G20 Entrepreneurship Barometer 2013 introduces a model for scoring countries across the five pillars of entrepreneurship. The purpose of this model is to help identify areas of relative strength by country and where opportunities for improvement lie. The model is composed of qualitative information and quantitative data based upon entrepreneurial conditions across the G20 economies.

“Canada has emerged as a real leader in fostering an entrepreneurial culture,” says Colleen McMorrow, EY Partner and Leader, Canadian Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Program. “There’s an emphasis on research and innovation in this country, and we value the role of entrepreneurs in job creation. Canada also offers a supportive tax and regulatory environment for entrepreneurs. All these factors are combining to really promote the growth of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship from coast to coast.”

Despite Canada’s favourable entrepreneurial ecosystem, the EY G20 Entrepreneurship Barometer 2013 finds nearly three in four (73%) Canadian entrepreneurs still struggle to access funding. “That may be strong relative to much of the G20, but the picture is very mixed,” explains McMorrow. “The ratio of private equity activity to GDP in Canada is now higher than in any other G20 nation, except Australia. So private equity and venture capital are improving, but bank financing remains a challenge.”

Dispite trailing behind Canada, due to its policy of cutting corporate tax, the UK is also an attractive hotspot for setting up a business. Burnley is currently celebrating after being named the most enterprising place in Britain. The Lancashire town received the accolade for its ongoing commitment to support small and medium sized businesses and for successfully reframing perceptions of Burnley. The report did find however, that the UK has a poor tradition of mentoring and supporting entrepeneurs. 

It would appear though, that the lending environment is more favorable in Canada than elsewhere in the G20. “While there’s no denying access to funding remains a barrier to growth, 45% of entrepreneurs in Canada say it has improved, compared to only 35% across the G20 as a whole,” says Charles-Antoine St-Jean, EY Partner and Leader, Government & Public Sector Services. “Canada’s government has been highly supportive of entrepreneurs, providing regulatory and tax regimes that have enabled start-ups and growing companies to flourish.”

Despite those challenges, it would appear that entrepreneurs in Canada operate in an environment that is highly supportive of their activities.
Top ten G20 country Ranking:

  1. United States 
  2. South Korea 
  3. Canada 
  4. Japan 
  5. Australia 
  6. United Kingdom 
  7. Germany 
  8. EU 8
  9. France 9
  10. Russia 10
image credit:ey.com

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