Doing business in Canada

A selection of articles, books and online resources to help you explore the key issues for doing business in Canada.

Key data

Ease of Doing Business in Canada
Summary of comprehensive annual data collated by the World Bank giving key indicators for business and economic conditions. Includes information on typical business procedures, showing time to complete and associated costs for each step.

Guides

Overseas Business Risk: Canada
Report from the Department for International Trade looking at potential risks for UK businesses operating in this country. It gives a political and economic overview, and guidance on human rights, bribery and corruption, security threats, IP, organised crime, and UK export finance.

Canada company registration
Comprehensive guide produced by Healy Consultants explaining company structures and business entity types, fees and timelines for incorporation, accounting and tax in this jurisdiction and comparisons with other countries in the region.

Atradius Country Report: Canada
Overview published by Atradius covering the country's most important business sectors, key indicators, political and economic summaries and outlook. Updated in February 2019.

International Business Guide: Canada
Guide on doing business created by HSBC. Sections cover conducting business, tax system, labour, audit, trade, finance, infrastructure. Published in 2019

Canada: Guide to Doing Business
Guide published by legal firm Lex Mundi in 2018, providing an overview of the legal and business environment in Canada.

Doing Business in Canada
Guide from Osler covering the regulatory, legislative and taxation environment in Canada. This guide also includes a section on doing business in Quebec. Updated in 2014.

Exporting

On our Exporting to Canada page you can find export guides, trade forecasts and economic and political updates.

Corporate governance

European Corporate Governance Institute
The European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) aims to provide 'a forum for debate and dialogue between academics, legislators and practitioners, focusing on major corporate governance issues and thereby promoting best practice'. The ECGI website also provides a directory of national Corporate Governance Codes, Principles & Recommendations.

Law and regulation

Doing Business law library
World Bank
Collection of business laws and regulations from economies around the world, linking to official government sources. Topics include company law, labour, tax and trade.

The float guide: How to float a company on a Canadian Stock Exchange
Overview prepared by the International Bar Association describing the process for initial public offering (IPO) by companies. The guide explains the steps involved and offers a typical timetable.

Doing business in… Country Q&A tool
Useful tool from Practical Law that allows users to compare summaries of key legal issues across several jurisdictions, including this country. Summaries cover:

• the legal system
• foreign investment
• business vehicles
• employment
• tax
• competition
• intellectual property
• marketing agreements
• e-commerce
• data protection
• product liability.

International debt collection handbook
Detailed guide compiled by Atradius looking at debt collection procedures, legislation and culture across 35 countries, including a profile of this jurisdiction. Profiles include information on the amicable phase, legal procedures, enforcement, insolvency proceedings, arbitration and mediation.

Forums and support networks

The British Canadian Chamber of Trade and Commerce
Support network for promoting business and trade between the UK and Canada.

Canada-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce
Support network for promoting business and trade between the UK and Canada.

Articles and books in the Library collection

Selected books

The Business Operations in... series from Bloomberg BNA provides expert guidance on the tax aspects of expanding and operating businesses abroad.

Business Operations in Canada
Analysis of the business environment in Canada, focusing on: the economy and government, operating a business, forms of doing business, principal taxes and taxation of domestic corporations.

Find more resources

• Find articles and books in our collection on doing business in Canada

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to book loans.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports by post or email through our document supply service.