Annual Report
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Annual Report 2015/2016 Building the Future About the Council Founded in 1976, the Business Council of Canada is the senior voice of Canada’s business community, representing 150 chief executives and leading entrepreneurs in all sectors and regions of the country. Member companies employ 1.4 million Canadians, account for more than half the value of the Toronto Stock Exchange, contribute the largest share of federal corporate taxes, and are responsible for most of Canada’s exports, corporate philanthropy, and private-sector investments in research and development. Through supply chain partnerships, service contracts and mentoring programs, Business Council members support many hundreds of thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs in communities of all sizes across Canada. Contents 2 Message from 29 CEO summits the Chair 30 Washington 4 Message from the President and CEO 32 Montreal 6 Year in review 33 Toronto 12 Building the future 34 Events and publications 18 Growing together 36 Board of Directors 23 40 years of policy innovation 38 Membership 44 Council staff BUILDING THE FUTURE 1 Message from the Chair Consider the facts: n International studies rank Canada one of the best-governed jurisdictions in the world, with strong public sec- tor institutions, a transparent legal system, and low levels of violence and political corruption. Canadians often take these things for granted, but few things matter more in business than a stable political environment and the rule of law. n Canada’s comparatively open immigration system attracts a diverse pool of educated and skilled workers, not to mention hundreds of thousands of international students who come here for our world-class universities, polytechnics and When he arrived in Canada in the late 1950s, colleges. Our immigration policies are a vital source of ambitious entre- my father was a refugee from communist Hungary preneurs. Immigration also helps fill gaps in Canada’s domestic labour with little in his pockets but plenty in the way force – a critical success factor for of skills and ambition. Trained as a machinist, companies that face skill shortages in high-demand fields. he started a one-man precision-machining shop n Corporate tax rates are lower in in his basement and built it into a diversified Canada than in the United States and many other jurisdictions. manufacturing company – Linamar Corporation – Although there has been some backsliding recently at the provincial with 57 plants across the world employing more level, our governments deserve full than 24,000 people. marks for recognizing that a globally competitive corporate tax regime is essential in attracting and retaining For Frank Hasenfratz, and for many Without hesitation, my answer is yes. business investment. other people who made their way to Of course we have our challenges – who n According to the OECD, the tax Canada in the postwar period, this doesn’t? But even with all the advances burden on labour in Canada – the country was a land of opportunity. in the global economy over the past half difference between an employer’s Is it still one today? century, Canada is still among the best cost of labour and the employee’s places in the world in which to start and take-home pay – is significantly grow a business. below the average for the world’s 2 BUSINESS COUNCIL OF CANADA: ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016 Canada has... a reputation as one of the best-governed an open immigration countries in system that attracts the world a diverse pool of educated and skilled workers competitive corporate tax rates a tax burden on labour that is well below the preferred access to OECD average many of the world’s largest and most a long history dynamic markets as an innovation nation leading economies. My own company’s world, this is an area where we Our focus at the Council over the next experience attests to that: our burden can’t afford to take our eyes off few years is on precisely this topic: rate in Canada, including payroll the ball. The federal government’s innovation. How can we encourage even taxes, health insurance and other renewed focus on innovation as a more meaningful innovation in both pro- non-statutory benefits, is the lowest of driver of opportunity is a move in cess and product development to secure any of the 11 countries we operate in. the right direction. So too was Canada’s place on the global map? this year’s launch of the Governor Innovation and efficiency define our n The federal government’s ambi- General’s Innovation Awards, cele- competitiveness: investment in both is tious trade strategy ensures that brating entrepreneurial risk-takers critical. Our goal should be to position Canadian companies enjoy – or will who have developed new or better Canada as the world’s innovation hub, soon enjoy – preferred access to ways of creating value and improving with the best engineers, technologists many of the world’s largest and most our quality of life. and skilled tradespeople developing dynamic markets. Bigger markets incredible products made with the most to buy from and sell to mean more As a business leader, it frustrates efficient processes. opportunities for Canadian firms me to hear people suggest that to grow and become more efficient. Canadian manufacturing is no longer A land of opportunity? Canada has it That’s why it is crucial to ratify and competitive. At Linamar, our Canadian in abundance, thanks to smart public implement both the Canada-EU plants are our most productive and policy, a culture of entrepreneurship trade deal and the Trans Pacific efficient globally. We have dramatically and a high-quality, skilled labour force. Partnership. increased our productivity over the past Together with my colleagues at the five years and we are far from alone. Business Council, I look forward to n Canada has a long history as an Our commitment to innovation is widely working with other decision-makers in innovation nation and a strong shared, too, as shown by the collection all regions and sectors in building a tradition of public sector support for of success stories in this edition of our stronger, more prosperous Canada. research and development. In today’s Annual Report (page 12). competitive and interconnected Linda S. Hasenfratz, Chair BUILDING THE FUTURE 3 Message from the President and CEO Is Canada really all that different from other countries in terms of its openness toward asylum-seekers and other migrants? After a video showing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sharing a Ramadan meal with Muslim caucus members went viral on Facebook, the digital news site Vox praised Canada as “the least xenophobic country in the Western world”. The article juxtaposed Canada’s acceptance of 25,000 des- perate Syrians with the anti-foreigner backlash that helped fuel the “Brexit” vote against U.K. membership in the European Union. Sadly, xenophobia and isolationism are on the rise in many regions around the world. Whatever the outcome of this fall’s U.S. presidential election, th News from north of the 49 parallel doesn’t often Donald Trump plainly struck a chord with many Americans with his vows to build dominate the front page of The New York Times, a wall along the Mexican border, deport but the headline this past July 1st was hard to miss: 11 million undocumented migrants and ban Muslims from entering the country. “Refugees hear a foreign word: welcome”. The The World Economic Forum, meanwhile, says that terrorist attacks and a massive accompanying story and photo essay explained surge of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa have driven migration- that Canada’s laws give its citizens a rare power related worries to “unprecedented levels” and responsibility: the right to band together in in France and Germany. The rising wave of anti-immigrant sentiment across small groups and personally help resettle a refugee Europe, the Forum warned, could trigger a rollback of the EU’s cherished system family. “Much of the world is reacting to the [Syrian] of passport-free travel. refugee crisis … with hesitation or hostility,” the Times Canadians shouldn’t feel too smug about our country’s reputation for said. In contrast, “the Canadian government can multicultural tolerance and diversity. barely keep up with the demand to welcome them.” 4 BUSINESS COUNCIL OF CANADA: ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016 As a share of total population, no Irene Bloemraad, a sociologist at the primary role of immigration policy is other country welcomes as many University of California at Berkeley, to help new arrivals find jobs and inte- immigrants as we do, from as many says it is striking that a significant grate into society, rather than instilling different places. But unlike, say, percentage of ordinary Canadians cultural norms and values. Germany – which in 2015 accepted view immigration as both an exercise almost one million asylum-seekers, in nation-building and a key positive Perhaps that explains why Canadian half from Syria – Canada is buffered feature of their country. In much of the politicians who pander to fears based by oceans to the east, west and north, rest of the world, people who express on ethnic and religious differences – as and a prosperous neighbour to the high levels of nationalism and patriot- occurred in both the 2015 federal elec- south. As a result, illegal immigration ism tend to hold anti-immigrant views. tion campaign and the 2014 provincial and fear of uncontrolled borders barely In this country it is the reverse: surveys election in Quebec – are generally register in Canada as public concerns. show that Canadians who express defeated at the ballot box. Intolerance Rather than being forced to contend high levels of patriotism are also the may be a winning, and increasingly with huge waves of uninvited migrants, most supportive of immigration and popular, strategy in many other coun- our governments can pick and choose multiculturalism.