Setting Up a Factory in Canada, Consultants

One of the things to do would be to register with a CR4 username, so that experienced consultants prospecting for the role might make contact via the CR4 messaging system, because posting e-mail addresses in threads is contrary to CR4 rules and does tend to attract vermin in the nature of spambots, which quickly harvest them and render the destination account useless by bombarding it with scams and adverts for high cost and low value personal products and services. If that's not too long a sentence.

As a Canadian that manufactures in Canada, I suggest you start with the excellent items in post #2!

Dear CR4 Members,

Thank you for the abundant information. The websites have a large library of consultants and I'll try to find the right ones, especially in corporate, trade and environmental law.

Canada has a vast pool of talented engineers that we hope to recruit from. If only they knew Japanese, that would make our lives a little easier :).

An opinion-based question about training: Do you feel recruitment of Canadian engineers familiar with Japanese 'system' (engineering, culture, language, business style) is readily available? If so, what are the best sources? Recruitment agencies? Job fair?

'If only they knew Japanese, that would make our lives a little easier'

That is wishful thinking. You may have to employ some intepretor/translator in the begining. Familiarity with Japanese system will be a question mark IMHO.

'what are the best sources? Recruitment agencies? Job fair?'

Google offers you this.

What are the best recruitment agencies, job fair in Canada?

Engineers familiar with the auto parts industry will have a good grasp of the quality control systems that started in Japan. KanBan,etc. For some industries these are standard procedures. You should have no major issues and I am sure you can get through the language issues.

Canada is fine selection but have you considered Chile as an option........

Legal Process?

In CR4?

Maybe Management/Stocks Consultants

Canadian manufacturing has been hit hard over the past few years. As a Canadian, I am confident in saying that you will be able to find many engineers with experience in Japanese manufacturing techniques here.

I'm sure they did an analyses ofor a location.

And just looking at their line of product, raw material I'm sure played a big part.

As a Previous poster mentioned south western Ontario would have automotive engineers some of whom will have direct experience with Japanese manufacturers or suppliers, Both Honda & Toyota have facilities here and as a result many suppliers have also setup design, manufacturing and warehouse facilities here.

What is your primary method of shipping, truck, rail, ship? Do you have large power requirements? How many workers will you need?

Ontario government is currently offering some incentives to companies to come here in the form of tax breaks. My personal recommendation is to avoid Quebec as there are other issues and concerns with starting a business there, the Unions in Quebec are very strong and make it difficult to do business without employing union members.

While I was an deign engineer for Honda R&D I worked with many engineers in Ontario who are familiar with the Japanese method and even some who can speak Japanese.

Good Luck

Mike

Dear Japanese manufacturer,

Welcome to Canada. You will find a wide range of people having a wide background of knowhow and culture. There is a fairly large population of bilingual Japanese descendants that should ease the language barrier.

As for the culture, we are a country having a large population of immigrants from all around the world. We have generous social programs that promote well being and personal security. This also helps explaining the low crime level. You certainly already know about our vast natural resources and the high quality of life we enjoy so I will concentrate on the business.

Vancouver is certainly a center to consider for an Asian company. You will find yourself at home there. Unfortunately, it is somewhat isolated from the rest of the country by the beautiful Rocky mountains. This is why Montreal is often used by large corporation as a door to North America. People are more open minded here than in other parts of the country. We have a large Asian community and many prestigious universities. Commerce of heavy goods with the rest of the world is convenient from both Montreal and Vancouver with their sea ports. Quebec has large amount of clean hydro-electric energy at a cost that beats all other provinces.

Others have already sold you southern Ontario where about one third of the industrial sector is found. It is unfortunate that they promote their region by putting others down. You can draw your own conclusions...

Finally, the less populated areas on the east coast and central Canada have great attributes. The east coast has a large pool of willing labor with various level of education. They are hard working people who enjoy life at a slower pace than in the large cities. Consider these areas if you are looking for a peaceful life and easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. Central Canada is mostly made of the prairies with a very low population density (agricultural) but is rich with mines and petroleum resources in the northern regions. Taxes are lower there but they are experiencing some labor shortage. The large distances tend to isolate them from other markets.

Where ever you chose to go, thank you for joining our country.

Regards,

Marco (and ~30 millions Canadians)

Dear CR4 Members,

Thank you for the frank and honest opinions. The information gathered here was enlightening and valuable.

It seems that the automative industry has a good grasp of Japanese quality control and system. We are in the chemical and environmental engineering sector. Fortunately, Canada also is a leader in this field.

In response to the numerous questions/comments:

"What is your primary method of shipping, truck, rail, ship? Do you have large power requirements? How many workers will you need?"

I believe domestically in Canada we will ship via truck. For liquids and large orders we may need to use rail. Most of the products are packaged in individual packages in cartons, therefore, we seldom ship containers or bulk materials, with the exception of a pellet fertilizer. I believe our operation in the first year will require under 40 local staff.

Most likely half of the lineup will be imported directly from Japan, still and the subsidiary/branch in Canada will develop solid distribution networks before shifting all production to Canada.

"Canada is fine selection but have you considered Chile as an option........"

Although there are many Japanese communities in South America like Brazil, Chile and Peru, we have not looked at Chile as an option. The main reasons being that it is isolated in the South American continent. Most of our shipments need to reach USA and Europe. Canada's infrastructure is similar to the USA so we can take advantage of that in terms of shipping and legal matters. In addition, none of our staff speak Spanish.

"Legal Process?

In CR4?"

My apologies, it was necessary was without the first step, there will be no journey.

"I'm sure they did an analyses ofor a location.

And just looking at their line of product, raw material I'm sure played a big part."

That is precisely why we are interested in Canada.

"Where ever you chose to go, thank you for joining our country."

Thank you to the numerous posters who sent us messages of welcome. We understand that Canada is an immense country and choosing a location is difficult. Different regions are specialized for different industries.
I believe our biggest advantage is a rural region just outside the Vancouver area. Most of our products and staff will be coming from Japan and the first point of contact with North America is Vancouver. Vancouver also boasts numerous reputable port facilities, logistics/distribution companies and a skilled workforce with exposure to Asian working habits. Many raw materials from the prairies or Asia can be shipped easily to British Columbia. Therefore the bulk of our manufacturing operations should be centered around the Lower Mainland of Vancouver.
As another poster mentioned, Montreal has a much better position for export to Europe and the East Coast of the USA. I believe this is an important factor we will need to consider in terms of logistics and sales.

Best Regards,

An Osaka Company

AP #1,

And thank you for a straight forward and considered answer to our posts- a fairly refreshing change to what you may have seen on some of the threads in this forum.

I'd like to throw in a couple more comments- please don't take offence if some of them seem redundant or worse!

One is that many people I've dealt with from other countries just don't realize how big Canada is, and when you are trying to encompass all of the US as well logistics can be a nightmare. Without trying to sway you to any particular area, I will simply say that a chemical manufacturer that I work with ships right across Canada from the Great Lakes area, and the costs can have a huge impact unless your product has a high value relative to its volume/weight. I know Europeans who have moved to Canada and been astounded at the impact freight has had on their businesses. For this reason I will note that Vancouver is not the best place to service the Eastern US or Europe- I can get a back haul in an ISO container from Ontario to BC by rail for about 1/2 the cost of sending the container the other way due to the very convenience you've mentioned of Vancouver for importing, and I can send the same container all the way to Sydney, Australia for about 50% more than it would cost me to send a 53' semi-trailer over the road to BC. But for the same reason, if you expect to pursue most of your business in the Western U.S. this will be an excellent location.

Another is time- these long distances eat up a lot of that!

So as mentioned before, please ignore these comments if you've already accounted for them, a warm welcome from a Canadian to those interested in pursuing a new business venture anywhere in this diverse country, and the best of luck!

I understand vancuver )vankong= has many golf curses wich seems to be very apreciated by japanese .....

"Others have already sold you southern Ontario where about one third of the industrial sector is found. It is unfortunate that they promote their region by putting others down"

Mike was simply stating fact Marcot. Quebec has many issues and the biggest hurdle for any company coming into Quebec is having the French language forced upon them. You and I both live in the same city so you know what I'm talking about. I'm English but fully bilingual and communicate with my clients in French on a daily basis so I've never had any problems. Those who are new to the province will have many headaches to deal with.Just ask Ben And Jerry's ice cream. I'm sure the language issues keep many people away. That is what is truly unfortunate.

Then there is the newly proposed Bill 14 which affects existing small businesses between 26 - 49 employees. Below is an excerpt.

As you can see, some of this is absolutely absurd. A company in Quebec that deals primarily with clients in the US and overseas has no reason to communicate in the French language. So why force it on them?

If I was a company looking to establish myself in Canada and I did not speak French, sadly I too would stay way from Quebec.

Terraman,

While the language issue in Quebec is an irritating factor, it is part of the cost of doing business here. We can only hope that cooler heads prevail and that this self damaging concept will be dampen down.

But as a business man, the OP must weight other costs such transportation, energy, infrastructures and services. The electricity in Quebec is the cheapest in NA and comes from clean sources. We produce so much electricity that we give it away (almost) to the neighbors. This is why the aluminum industry is so strong here.

Now, if you use the old Anglo mentality to see everything on the wrong side, suit yourself but do not claim that the language issue is a deal killer for all businesses. If so, why are you still here?

Basically, every locations have their good and bad points. I just don't approve of the "Canadian way" of shooting each others in the foot to making other countries look more atractive when they have even worst problems but just dont publicize them.

"Now, if you use the old Anglo mentality to see everything on the wrong side, suit yourself but do not claim that the language issue is a deal killer for all businesses."

I never said the language issue is a deal breaker for all businesses. Read my post carefully again. I said it's a deterrent. I also said if I were new to Canada and did not speak French I would look elsewhere. I'm still here because, as I mentioned earlier, I don't have any issues with the language and never had. The majority of my clients are well educated, open minded, forward thinking French speaking engineers and businessmen and woman...not politicians!!. I chose to learn French in my teens because I like living Quebec and if I wanted to succeed here I needed to also speak the predominant language. No problem.

I don't have an old "Anglo" mentality because I'm only 43 and not an Anglo. I'm Hungarian and immigrated here with my parents 40 years ago. That makes me "Allophone" according to Quebec's political system (Anglophone, Francophone, Allophone). I see and understand both sides of the language issue.

As you said..."we can only hope that cooler heads prevail and that this self damaging concept will be dampen down".

It's unfortunate that the politicians don't see things the way you and I do. Cheers.