Atlantic Canada Provides New York, U.S. Companies Lower Costs, Improved Efficiencies.

MONCTON, New Brunswick -- The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), a Canadian federal government agency, recently released its latest research on foreign-owned firms investing in the Atlantic Canada region. Key findings of their research indicate that more than 98% of the foreign-owned firms surveyed believe Atlantic Canada is meeting or exceeding their expectations for improved efficiency, quality of workforce and cost reduction, while 90% said they would recommend Atlantic Canada as a site for new foreign investment.

"This survey conducted with foreign investors in Atlantic Canada has confirmed what successive, comparative studies have shown - that Atlantic Canada is the right place to do business for companies looking to improve their cost structure, while maintaining quality of products and services," stated The Honourable Joseph McGuire, Minister of ACOA.

While destinations like India, Philippines and Singapore have dominated the initial wave of the outsourcing market, Atlantic Canada is steadily increasing its share of direct foreign investment given its obvious advantages over the aforementioned countries, namely its political stability, proximity to key financial and business centers in the Northeast, and cultural similarities.

Atlantic Canada comprises the four most eastern provinces of Canada hugging the Atlantic Ocean coastline - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. The region boasts a population of 2.4 million and its largest cities are Halifax, St. John's and Moncton.

As New York area-based companies, and U.S. companies in general, face increasing cost-saving pressures, the importance of outsourcing software production, IT service, contact centers and research capabilities to lower-cost destinations has grown significantly. For example, New York-based companies operate in one of the highest-cost environments in the world, and although outsourcing employee-intensive business functions like software development and call centers is not new to most companies in New York, many are unaware that a viable option exists very close to home, in Atlantic Canada.

"Atlantic Canada is continually growing its reputation as a world-class business environment by building on its strengths - a vibrant and well-educated workforce and the most competitive business costs in the G7 according to studies by KPMG," added Minister McGuire.

ACOA research also found that 41% of foreign-owned companies researched stated the primary reason they choose to outsource certain aspects of their business to Atlantic Canada is the low cost of doing business there. The second most important driver of their decision is the quality of the region's workforce. Furthermore, 75 % believe Atlantic Canada's corporate tax rates were very competitive with other potential outsourcing destinations.

In addition, the survey revealed that many companies plan to expand their operations in the next five years in the region and believe that other business processes or operations of their firms could logically be expanded to Atlantic Canada.

Additional information on Atlantic Canada and the full report is available at: www.invest-ac.com