Establishing a New Business in Canada

Effect of the Rule of Law and Ethics on the Economy: Canada

Although the United States occasionally overshadows its neighbor to the north, Canada has a thriving and vibrant economy. Canada was once a colony of the United Kingdom. Instead of a violent revolution like some colonies, the UK and Canada split relatively amicably. The two nations have a very special and close relationship, perhaps even more so than the US and the UK. On Canada’s own government website, it notes the extent to which Great Britain influenced the development of its own parliamentary democracy (Canada-United Kingdom relationships, 2021). The UK and Canada have fought side-by-side in both world wars and have always been on the same side of virtually every major geopolitical conflict.

The two nations continue to share a sovereign. The UK remains the most important European economic partner with Canada (and thus was subjected to the fallout from the UK leaving the European Union), and the UK is one of the most important sources of foreign investment in Canada (Canada-United Kingdom relationships, 2021). But it is also important to remember that Canada is not simply a member of the commonwealth and a former colony, but has also engaged in colonization itself.

First Nations policies and Canada’s attitude to its aboriginal population have been roundly criticized as leading to health inequalities and economic disenfranchisement (MacDonald & Steenbeek, 2015). There has always been a great deal of criticism for policies which are insufficient to keep the culture of First Nations people alive in Canadian schools. Thus, despite being a parliamentary democracy governed by the rule of law, Canada has been criticized for exhibiting certain injustices in its approach to the people it has colonized both in the past and in the present.

In terms of its government, Canada’s government is made up of the sovereign, its senate, and the house of commons, presided over by the prime minister of the majority party. There are also lower levels beyond the federal level of provincial and municipal government, as well as First Nations with tribal authority (Get to know Canada, 2022). Much like the United States, Canada has a formal, written charter detailing the specific rights possessed by its people in the form of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects freedom of speech, right to a fair trial, and other rights deemed essential and inalienable (Get to know Canada, 2022).

Again, this is reflective of the multiple influences upon Canada’s system of law and government. Canada has a parliamentary system similar to that of the United Kingdom, but rather than unwritten common law like the UK, like the US, it does have written rights outlined which are possess by all citizens. These cannot be infringed upon by the government or the courts.

Socioeconomic Problems: Entrepreneurship

Canada is a large country with a small population, and it tends to be more costly to purchase many products and services in Canada, versus the United States. This can make it more difficult for Canadians, particularly in farther-reaching provinces, to access certain goods and services. All Canadians have access to healthcare, but unlike the United Kingdom, Canada does not have a unified, national system of healthcare. Nor does it have privately provided insurance as in the United States. Instead, the healthcare system is provincially and territorially administered, which can result in inequalities, particularly in poorer and more remote provinces (Dhalla & Tepper, 2018). Like many industrialized nations, Canada has struggled with a rise of chronic diseases, particularly those due to obesity and inactivity.

Although Canada would not permit a system of private practices to rival its national health systems, one potential idea for a health product to rectify these social injustices would be to create a system of for-profit weight loss health centers, with a focus upon healthy eating rather than aesthetics, selling processed foods, or gimmicky diets such as low-carb or low-fat plans. This would be designed to reduce the need to see physicians for secondary and tertiary care. The approach would be evidence-based, versus commercially targeted like Weight Watchers or other potential competitors in the market.

Current Environment for Entrepreneurship

Canada actually has many attractive elements for an entrepreneur to encourage outside entities to do business with it—it has a lower corporate tax rate than the US, for example, and many other major industrialized nations (Doing business in Canada, 2019). Canadians spend more than 60% of their income on American products and services alone, showing a healthy willingness to patronize the companies of other nation’s governments (Doing business in Canada, 2019). Canada has strong intellectual property protections, and existing trade agreements with the United States as well as the United Kingdom and other nations (Doing business in Canada, 2019). Canada is a very diverse nation, welcoming immigrants from all over the world, as well as is bilingual and bicultural. It shares many cultural similarities with nations abroad, and thus has a healthy and open mind to entrepreneurship possibilities.

Methods for Entry

However, Canada is still a unique culture in and of itself. The many provinces can have different laws and regulations, and all have a cultural composition and character of their own. One of the most useful points of entry, particularly for a chain of weight loss consultations and health-related coaching, would be a joint venture with another Canadian firm. Joint ventures are preferred when it is necessary to seek out a domestic entity that can help navigate a foreign entity’s first launch in the unique business climate of another country. A joint venture is when a new business is launched, creating a new entity and brand, versus a partnership between an existing firm and a local business (Bingöl & Begeç, 2020). Given the need to win consumer trust for such a personal aspect of life as weight loss, creating a new, uniquely Canadian entity that could not be confused with other weight loss entities would be useful, despite the legal challenges and costs of creating a new corporate brand name and legal structure.

Cultural, Societal, and Religious Values

For example, having counselors who spoke a variety of languages (including French, First Nations languages, and other ethnicities highly represented in Canada) would be useful and build trust. Counselors would not only need to be aware of fitness and nutrition information, but also cultural norms pertaining to weight and body image that might be relevant. Ideally, marketing would not be based upon weight loss, but upon living a healthy lifestyle in a way that would be meaningful to the subjects.