We offer seven important business advantages that make Ontario one of the best places in the world for ICT development and production.
- Business taxes slashed
We're dramatically cutting business taxes as part of a fundamental shift in tax policy covering capital, sales and income taxes. There are no capital taxes on businesses operating in Ontario. The marginal effective tax rate (METR) on new capital investments (provincial and federal combined) fell to 18.6 per cent in 2010 from 32.8 per cent in 2009 and will continue to drop to 16.2 per cent by 2018.
- Exceptional workforce
Over 284,000 people work in our ICT industry. They're smart and well-educated - 75 per cent of them have at least one post-secondary degree.
- Programs that cut innovation costs
Our R&D tax incentives are among the most generous in the world. An expenditure of $100 can be reduced to an after-tax cost of approximately $56 - or $38 for small businesses. We also have a range of targeted programs that can help innovative businesses expand.
- Robust and open R&D environment
We have thousands of researchers at our universities and colleges working with companies in every area of ICT including photonics, mobile apps, industrial virtual reality, satellite communications and specialized e-devices.
- Competitive business costs
Business costs for ICT companies - from start-up through the first ten years - are significantly lower in Canada than in any other G7 country according to KPMG's Competitive Alternatives 2010 report of international business locations.
- A critical mass of ICT leaders
With 16,000+ firms and annual revenues of $75 billion+, Ontario has one of North America's largest concentrations of ICT leaders. It includes domestic high performers like Celestica, Mitel Networks and Research In Motion, as well as global giants such as Accenture, Alcatel-Lucent, AMD, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, HP, IBM, McAfee, Microsoft, Oracle and Siemens.
- Quality of life to attract global talent
Living in Ontario offers a unique combination of sophisticated lifestyles, creative opportunities and a comparatively low cost-of-living. That makes it easier for our companies to recruit and retain globally mobile talent.
