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2020-21 Departmental plan

Errata

Subsequent to the tabling in Parliament and online publication of IIC’s 20-21 Departmental Plan, the following indicator attributes were revised in the Planned Results table:

  1. For the indicator "increase in FDI stock from keytarget markets", the target and date to achieve target was revised to 3% and December 2020, respectively.

From the Minister

As the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, it is my job to promote Canada as a great place to invest in, while helping Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs grow into the global marketplace, creating good jobs for hardworking Canadians.

In today’s increasingly connected economy, our government is working hard to help Canadian businesses stay competitive in the global marketplace – growing Canadian businesses and strengthening our national economy.

Canada is one of the best places in the world to do business.

We are in a very strong financial position, our innovation sector is thriving, and we have a very stable, low-risk business environment. With our highly-skilled, well-educated, and diverse workforce, we are a nation brimming with opportunity.

To help bring investments to Canada, two years ago our government launched Invest in Canada – our premiere investment promotion and attraction agency. This important work is accomplished by working with the Trade Commissioner Service – bringing together all levels of government to help global investors navigate Canada’s business landscape.

Looking to the year ahead, I look forward to the new opportunities Invest in Canada will create as it continues to work with partners to build on its successes and accomplishments, attracting more investment from around the world to further strengthen our industries, our innovation, and our talent pool.

I will continue to provide Invest in Canada with direction and support to ensure it continues to deliver on its important mandate, strengthening our national economy and international brand.

It is my pleasure to present Invest in Canada’s 2020-21 Departmental Plan, which provides an outline of its strategy to meet their priorities and results over the coming year.

The Honourable Mary Ng

The Honourable Mary Ng
Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade


From the Chair of the Board of Directors

Canada has a growing reputation as an attractive investment destination, combining the best mix of what is important to foreign investors: a resilient, values-based economy; a diverse, skilled and well-educated workforce; accessible programs to enhance and boost innovation; expansive infrastructure; a stable political landscape; and access to large and growing markets.

In an increasingly connected and competitive global economy, Canada has much to offer investors—stability, access to talent and markets, tax advantages and the ability to leverage private and public sector expertise to bring projects to fruition.

Investors are choosing Canada because our country offers advantages that help businesses thrive. As a long-time investor, I have first-hand experience growing businesses in Canada and now as Chair of Invest in Canada, I am witnessing first-hand how players from across the Canadian investment landscape come together to market the country’s advantages as an investment destination and support investment and business growth in Canada.

My colleagues on the Board and I have drawn on our diverse experience as executives, policy leaders, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists across a variety of fields, such as international business, law, investment, business development and finance, to provide direction and oversight to Invest in Canada. The Board understands the real challenges that face foreign investors who are trying to bring their innovative businesses and solutions to new marketplaces.

From our unique vantage point, the Board will work together to support Invest in Canada’s organizational development and provide the Executive team with strategic guidance. In 2020-21, the Board will continue to ensure that Invest in Canada is well managed to be nimble and responsive to the investment community and be a leader in coordinating efforts among partners across the country.

Together, we are working to ensure Invest in Canada is well positioned and supported to welcome more global companies to Canada by spearheading a national network of public and private sector partners that will make it easier for companies to expand and set-up in Canada.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Invest in Canada’s Executive team and dedicated employees for their leadership in championing Canada as a premier investment destination. The next year will allow the organization to build on the success of the last two years and further foster strong relationships with foreign investors to continue to attract new skills and create a stronger Canadian economy.

I would like to thank the Minister for her continued confidence and my colleagues on the Board for their ongoing commitment to sound governance and strong financial stewardship as we look forward to delivering on an ambitious agenda.

Canada is poised for global investments and Invest in Canada is ready to lead the efforts to showcase Canada on the international stage.

Mitch Garber

Mitch Garber
Chair of the Board of Directors


From the Chief Executive Officer

To support economic prosperity and stimulate innovation in Canada, businesses and government partners are coming together to create an inviting environment in Canada that promotes growth and attracts global investment.

Invest in Canada forms a part of a larger Canadian suite of initiatives and programs aimed at attracting and facilitating trade and investment to encourage innovation, support jobs and grow the economy for Canadians. Several policy initiatives have given Canada a competitive advantage, including the Strategic Innovation Fund, the Global Skills Strategy, and the Supercluster Initiative. To complement these initiatives, Canada has an impressive global free trade footprint—agreements with 51 countries to access a global consumer market of over 1.5 billion people—making the country a truly global hub for trade and investment.

Investors from across the globe have responded to the Canadian value proposition. In the last year, Canada has seen more investment capital, through more deals, from more countries into more sectors of our economy.

Since our inception, Invest in Canada has charted a collaborative course with federal, provincial, territorial and municipal government partners and the private sector to promote greater foreign direct investment in Canada. The organization has grown quickly from start-up to a key player in the coordination of stakeholders across the Canadian foreign direct investment landscape.

In 2020-21, Invest in Canada will continue to be dedicated to leveraging Canada’s global brand and promoting the country’s investment advantage to the world’s investment community. The organization will implement and execute strategies to achieve the ambitious results developed in Invest in Canada’s departmental results framework:

  • Canada’s brand is seen as a global leader in investment attraction
  • Canada is a location and destination of choice for global investment
  • Global investors have simplified access to partners, services and tools to accelerate their investment

 

These results reflect Invest in Canada’s commitment to fulfilling our mandate and provide stakeholders with a view of the organization’s priorities in the planning period. Invest in Canada has established a talented team and has built up capacity to carry out our program inventory, structured to support the achievement of our priorities: marketing; investor services; and data partnerships and pan-Canadian collaboration.

Invest in Canada is positioning Canada as a truly premier global investment destination by building strong networks of partners to coordinate efforts across Canada, developing knowledge to better understand the needs of global investors and by highlighting Canada’s advantages.

I am immensely proud of the progress Invest in Canada has achieved in just two short years and am grateful to the entire team for their ongoing dedication. I thank the Board of Directors and the Minister for their ongoing support and direction and look forward to the important work that we will achieve together in the year ahead.

Ian McKay

Ian McKay
Chief Executive Officer


Plans at a glance

Content

Canada has a unique set of advantages that distinguish it from international competition in today’s global innovation economy. Canada must continue to effectively champion its value proposition and continue to innovate to be able to expand and grow opportunities for Canadians. Invest in Canada (IIC) was launched in 2018 to support the Government of Canada’s aim of driving innovation, investment and trade in the country. In this context, IIC will focus on the following priorities in 2020-21 to achieve IIC’s departmental results and indicators:

  1. Positioning Canada as a top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI).

    IIC will continue to play a leadership role in promoting and increasing FDI in Canada by developing a strong Canadian brand and engaging directly with international investors through a variety of means. The organization will leverage the expertise advanced by partner organizations, such as governments and association partners to attract investment from a variety of sectors. Global Affairs Canada and its Trade Commissioner Service (TCS), a crucial partner with a valuable FDI salesforce in all key markets, will work with IIC to optimize resources in foreign markets. In complement, IIC will focus on tailored approaches to target the key markets to maximize impact and ensure measured success.

  2. Coordinating efforts across all players with respect to FDI in Canada.

    IIC will work in partnership with federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments and their investment promotion agencies, to accelerate collective efforts to attract FDI in order to spur job growth and long-term economic benefits for all Canadians. Building alignment and partnerships across stakeholders will also be important to developing a national FDI strategy in Canada.

The organization will continue to enhance partnerships to deliver a single-window concierge service and high-quality business intelligence to potential investors. IIC will focus on playing a leadership role to offer investors a straightforward experience navigating the various services and programs available to make it simpler and easier to make their investment decisions and select Canada as their investment destination.

IIC will remain aware and mindful of challenges and opportunities throughout the year and will evaluate its value proposition, strategies and priorities at mid-year to track progress.

IIC has built its internal capacity to deliver on its priorities and planned results through its Internal Services and a program inventory of three areas: Marketing; Investor Services; and Data Partnerships and Pan-Canadian Collaboration.

For more information on Invest in Canada’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks” section of this report.


Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

This section contains detailed information on Invest in Canada’s (IIC) planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.

Foreign Direct Investment Attraction

Description

Invest in Canada’s core responsibility is to lead the Government of Canada’s foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction efforts by making Canada top-of-mind for foreign investors and providing services in support of investor decisions to expand in Canada

Planning highlights

The Government of Canada’s ambitious trade promotion and investment attraction agenda to create momentum in making Canada a premier destination for investors is one of the reasons for the creation of Invest in Canada. IIC has a mandate to promote FDI in Canada and attract and facilitate that investment and to coordinate these FDI efforts across government, private sector and other stakeholders. In doing so, IIC’s efforts will support economic prosperity and stimulate innovation in Canada.

In 2019-20, IIC established its departmental results framework to provide the Government with a view of the results that IIC intends to achieve and the means to measure and describe progress on the results. Invest in Canada’s three program areas: Marketing; Investor Services; and Data Partnerships and Pan-Canadian Collaboration are structured to support the Agency’s achievement of the following results:

Result 1: Canada’s brand is seen as a global leader in investment attraction

With a more protectionist trade and investment position taken by some countries, the competition for attracting FDI is great and continues to intensify. In 2019-20, IIC carried out branding activities to promote FDI in Canada, including agile international marketing to boost Canada’s international profile as a competitive business location and partner of choice. Business-to-business marketing and promotion was a primary focus last year as the Agency continued to optimize its brand identity and pursue collaborative promotional opportunities with cross-Canada government partners. IIC also deployed an engagement strategy to pursue thought leadership and promotional opportunities at key international signature events in order to advocate for the Canadian investment advantage in front of the right people, at the right time.

To continue to motivate investors to view Canada as a premier global investment destination, IIC will enhance Canada’s investment brand and communicate it in a coherent, consistent manner. In 2020-21, Invest in Canada will:

  • increase efforts needed to sell investors on the Canadian value proposition by developing messaging that resonates with decision makers, dispels misperceptions, and provides an accurate assessment of Canada's sectoral strengths and economic advantages;
  • enhance the Canadian FDI brand with unique, targeted advertising and public relations campaigns showcasing Canada’s capabilities and strengths and depicting Canada as a vibrant place to live and the top choice to set up business; and
  • directly engage investors through high profile business events, attending FDI focused partnership opportunities with federal, provincial and municipal partners investment related trade shows and specific marketing events.

Result 2: Canada is a location and destination of choice for global investment

Canada has a tangible investment advantage to offer, including a number of federal initiatives, some unique among international competition (e.g. Global Skills Strategy, Innovation Superclusters Initiative), top-tier university system and skilled workforce, competitive corporate tax, and high quality of life, together with the current geo-political landscape and global interest in Canada, provide a far-reaching opportunity.

In 2019-20, IIC rolled out an evidence-based market intelligence analysis of the Canadian FDI landscape to boost, track and prioritize client outreach activities; developed a forward-looking lead and prospect generation strategy; and grew the existing pipeline of potential and active investors across traditional and new sectors. In developing IIC’s target sectors— agribusiness, advanced manufacturing, clean technologies, digital industries, life sciences, media and entertainment, and natural resources, the organization considered the Innovation Superclusters Initiative and how IIC can foster stronger connections and leverage opportunities and programs designed to support and strengthen industries in Canada. Building on these actions, in 2020-21 IIC will:

  • focus efforts to increase FDI stock from key target markets to minimize risk of over-reliance on certain markets and demonstrate that Canada is a destination of choice for investment from other parts of the world;
  • leverage the Innovation Superclusters Initiative to attract investment from their respective sectors;
  • apply IIC’s assessment methodology which considers quantitative and qualitative metrics and criteria to assess investment opportunities.
  • maximize the impact of investments and ensure greater emphasis on aftercare services once investments are made in Canada to ensure these investors re-invest into Canada; and
  • work with partners to address implementation irritants and improve Canada’s performance in turning initial investments into expanded investments.

Result 3: Global investors have simplified access to partners, services and tools to accelerate their investment

Canada has a breadth of tools available to support FDI attraction, including promotion at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels and numerous incentives and support programs for foreign investors. Invest in Canada’s aim is to coordinate these efforts to improve prospective investors’ access to services, tools and information.

In 2019-20, IIC made progress to optimize investment pursuit and business development models by ensuring connections to a full range of federal programs, and by working in step with its federal colleagues, provincial, territorial and municipal partners, to provide a full suite of investment facilitation and aftercare services. In addition, IIC collaborated with the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) to receive leads and referrals and deliver coordinated investment proposal pitches. Last year, IIC expanded its presence into regional offices across the country to offer decentralized support to be better able to meet the needs of investors looking to capitalize on the unique market benefits that exist across provinces, territories and municipalities and work more closely with partners.

Developing relationships and scaling up and out across Canada in 2019-20 helped IIC build a strong foundation to provide simplified access to partners, services and tools to help accelerate investments. In 2020-21, IIC will:

  • enhance partnerships with federal, provincial, territorial and municipal partners to promote, attract and coordinate potential foreign investment;
  • continue to roll out a single-window concierge service equipped with integrated high-quality business intelligence;
  • collaborate with other government entities, such as Statistics Canada, to develop research and data;
  • deliver partners, investors and other stakeholders with real-time access to accurate data;
  • provide and maintain tools for partners to ensure coordinated approaches and consistent messaging; and
  • offer high-impact investors a seamless customer journey to make it simpler and easier to make their investment decisions and select Canada as their investment destination through cooperation with provincial/territorial and municipal partners and leveraging private sector expertise.

Gender-based analysis plus

Invest in Canada’s long-term plan includes working with non-traditional partners in Canada, where opportunities exist, to leverage investment from abroad. For example, unique investment opportunities and interests may lie with Canada’s Indigenous communities to stimulate development and economic growth through FDI. In support of longer-term goals of diversity and youth empowerment, Invest in Canada will assess the possibility of introducing a program where some positions could be set aside for high performing, recent business school graduates. In addition, these business school graduates will also be targeted for business intelligence positions.

Invest in Canada is part of a broader strategy to transform Canada’s global position. An important part of Canada’s value proposition includes its diversity advantage. In defining target sectors, the organization will consider potential implications of investments on gender and diversity. IIC will work to develop research to better understand the impact of investments on the diverse populations or different types of businesses so that the organization can better work with investors to improve gender parity or diversity goals, while positioning Canada as a top of mind investment destination.

Experimentation

Invest in Canada has not planned any experiments in 2020-21 as the focus remains on executing the mandate as set out. IIC will nevertheless continue to use innovative approaches to deliver services and carry out activities in support of partners and clients, such as digital marketing, regional support across Canada and building key partnerships with industry.

Key risk(s)

As a federal entity operating in a complex and rapidly changing world, Invest in Canada is exposed to a range of risks in Canada and abroad. Effective risk management is therefore critical to IIC’s ability to deliver results for Canadians. Risk management practices and strategies at the corporate, operational and program levels will be developed and applied. Key risks that will be managed to ensure results for Canadians are achieved include:

  • Risk that IIC strategy may not increase foreign direct investment into Canada as expected, or that Canada’s FDI competitors may continue to increase their investments in FDI attraction, reducing the positive results of this strategy. To mitigate this risk, a robust performance management framework is in place and frequent benchmarking will be undertaken to ensure Canada’s FDI efforts are fully informed by the activities of competitors and feedback from the global investor community.
  • Risk of not achieving partner collaboration and alignment in coordinating FDI attraction to Canada. To mitigate this risk, Invest in Canada will implement a variety of methods of collaboration with partners which will include data sharing arrangements, partner referral mechanism and participation on committees at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. 

Planned results for foreign direct investment attraction

Departmental Results Departmental result indicator Target Date to achieve target 2016–17,
2017-18,
2018-19
actual results footnote *
Canada’s brand is seen as a global leader in investment attraction Improved score in global foreign direct investment attractiveness index 0.03 point increase March 2021 Not available
Increased awareness/recognition of the Invest in Canada brand Target will be available in 2020-21 March 2021 Not available
Percentage increase in "my opinion of Canada as a prominent global leader for foreign investment" Target will be available in 2020-21. March 2021 Not available
Canada is a location and destination of choice for global investment Percentage increase of Canada’s FDI stock Increase of 4% per year December 31, 2019 Not available
Increase in FDI stock from key target markets 3% increase for the 2020 reporting year December 31, 2020 Not available
Increase in FDI investments from key sectorsfootnote ** Baseline data and a target will be available in 2020-21 March 2021 Not available
Global investors have simplified access to partners, services and tools to accelerate their investment Number of investors/decision makers using the independent Cost Comparative Analysis Tool for FDI decisions Baseline data and a target will be available in 2020-21 March 2021 Not available
Number of partners collaborating to access, build and format data sets to be highly available to potential investors 20 March 2021 Not available
Number of investment leads facilitated with partners 150 March 2021 Not available

Table Footnotes

* Note:

Actual results are not available for fiscal years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 as Invest in Canada only became operational on March 12, 2018 and the current departmental results were recently approved.

Return to footnote *

** Key Sectors:

agribusiness, advanced manufacturing, clean technologies, digital industries, life sciences, media and entertainment, and natural resources.

Return to footnote **

Financial, human resources and performance information for Invest in Canada’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBasei.

Planned budgetary financial resources for foreign direct investment attraction

2020–21 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates) 2020–21 planned spending 2021–22 planned spending 2022–23 planned spending
$27,433,245 $27,433,245 $27,417,245 $26,889,245

Financial, human resources and performance information for Invest in Canada’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBaseii.

Planned human resources for foreign direct investment attraction

2020–21
planned full-time equivalents
2021–22
planned full-time equivalents
2022–23
planned full-time equivalents
57 57 57

Financial, human resources and performance information for Invest in Canada’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBaseiii.

Internal Services: planned results

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of Programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct services that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. These services are:

  • Management and Oversight Services
  • Communications Services
  • Legal Services
  • Human Resources Management Services
  • Financial Management Services
  • Information Management Services
  • Information Technology Services
  • Real Property Management Services
  • Materiel Management Services
  • Acquisition Management Services

Planning highlights

Building on a year of growth where the organization further developed its internal capacity to more effectively support the Board, management and IIC’s service delivery, IIC will continue to support strong internal management controls, including financial services, human resources management, information technology and security. IIC will continue to champion strong internal governance structures to provide support to the Board and management’s oversight and decision-making.

In 2020 21, IIC will focus on the following key initiatives that support the achievement of IIC’s departmental results.

Corporate Governance: Ensure effective governance through ongoing improvement of Board and management meetings and committee structures, as well as ensuring compliance with key legislative requirements and reporting.

Human Resources Management: Establish a human resources framework, including IIC’s final classification and salary framework established with the support of an external compensation firm, policies and procedures, which will be reviewed by the Board of Directors to ensure proper oversight.

Financial Services: Ensure that IIC’s financial management policies and structures are documented and observed. IIC will work with the Board to ensure that policies are reviewed systematically confirm that controls are sound and that safeguards are in place to protect public resources.

Information Management/Technology (IM/IT) Systems: Maintain existing corporate and operational tools, such as IIC’s technology platform and the customer relationship management system, as well as develop the next phase of IT solutions for internal and external audiences.

Planned budgetary financial resources for Internal Services

2020–21
budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)
2020–21
planned spending
2021–22
planned spending
2022–23
planned spending
$6,858,311 $6,858,311 $6,854,311 $6,722,311

Planned human resources for Internal Services

2020–21
planned full-time equivalents
2020–22
planned full-time equivalents
2021–23
planned full-time equivalents
10 10 10

Spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three consecutive fiscal years, and compares planned spending for the upcoming year with the current and previous years’ actual spending.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2017–18 to 2022–23

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory) spending over time.

Departmental spending 2017–18 to 2022–23
Text version
< 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
Statutory 58,584 981,490 0 0 0 0
Voted 3,055,718 22,203,434 36,056,589 34,291,556 34,271,556 33,611,556
Total 3,114,302 23,184,924 36,056,589 34,291,556 34,271,556 33,611,556

Invest in Canada’s funding profile has matched the maturation of the organization. When fully operational, IIC’s funding will stabilize. IIC is responsible for all employee benefits and pension contributions annually.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for each of Invest in Canada’s core responsibility and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Core responsibilities and Internal Services 2017-18
expenditures
2018-19
expenditures
2019-20
forecast spending
2020-21
budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)
2020-21
planned spending
2021-22
planned spending
2022-23
planned spending
Foreign Direct Investment Attraction $1,129,045 $4,884,967 $19,341,000 $27,433,245 $27,433,245 $27,417,245 $26,611,556
Subtotal $1,129,045 $4,884,967 $19,341,000 $27,433,245 $27,433,245 $27,417,245 $26,611,556
Internal Services $903,638 $5,833,968 $4,941,000 $6,858,311 $6,858,311 $6,854,311 $6,722,311
Total $2,032,683 $10,718,935 $24,282,000 $34,291,556 $34,291,556 $34,271,556 $33,611,556

Invest in Canada was formally established on March 12, 2018. The expenditures in 2018-19 and forecasted reflect the ramp-up of Invest in Canada operations. Planned spending from 2020-21 to 2022-23 reflect funding for IIC at a steady state.

Planned human resources

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned full-time equivalents (FTEs) for each core responsibility in Invest in Canada’s departmental results framework and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services

Core responsibilities and Internal Services 2017–18
actual full time equivalents
2018–19
actual full time equivalents
2019–20
forecast full time equivalents
2020–21
planned full time equivalents
2021–22
planned full time equivalents
2022–23
planned full time equivalents
Foreign Direct Investment Attraction 0.75 29 57 57 57 57
Subtotal 0.75 40 57 57 57 57
Internal Services 0.25 7 10 10 10 10
Total 1 36 67 67 67 67

In 2018-19, Invest in Canada’s human resources increased from 1 to 36 full-time equivalents (FTEs) to stand up the organization and build the capacity to deliver new programs and initiatives in support of its mandate and priorities. In 2018-19, the actual number of FTEs was on target based on launch date of the organization and ramp up. The variance in FTEs forecasted between 2018-19 and 2019-20 reflects an anticipated scale-up to a steady state.

Estimates by vote

Information on Invest in Canada’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2020–21 Main Estimatesiv.

Condensed future-oriented statement of operations

The condensed future oriented statement of operations provides an overview of Invest in Canada’s operations for 2019–20 to 2020–21.

The amounts for forecast and planned results in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The amounts for forecast and planned spending presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on Invest in Canada’s website.

Condensed future oriented statement of operations for the year ending March 31, 2021 (dollars)

Financial information 2019–20 forecast results 2020–21 planned results Difference (2020–21 planned results minus 2019–20 forecast results)
Total expenses $20,983,000 $32,799,000 $11,816,000
Total revenues $0 $0 $0
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers $20,983,000 $32,799,000 $11,816,000

The variance between planned and forecasted results reflects the scale-up of Invest in Canada’s operations and build out of internal capacity following the launch of the organization in March 2018. The 2020-21 fiscal year will represent Invest in Canada’s operations at a steady state.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister(s): The Honourable Mary Ng, P.C., M.P.
Institutional head: Ian McKay
Ministerial portfolio: International Trade
Enabling instrument(s): Invest in Canada Actv
Year of incorporation / commencement: 2018
Other: Invest in Canada is headquartered in Ottawa and is a departmental corporation, overseen by a board of directors (the board) accountable to the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade. The board is composed of eleven (11) part-time directors, including a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and an ex-officio director, the Deputy Minister of the designated Minister. Apart from the Deputy Minister, all positions are appointed by Order-in-Council to hold office for terms not exceeding three years and are eligible for reappointment in the same or another capacity. A complete list of current board appointees is available on Invest in Canada’s website.

The board supervises and manages Invest in Canada’s business and affairs and advises the Minister and the Chief Executive Officer on matters relating to the organization’s mandate. The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for Invest in Canada’s day-to-day operation.

Invest in Canada’s enabling legislation provides the framework and powers of the organization. It also provides Invest in Canada authority over matters relating to human resources management, contracting, communications, travel and hospitality and other general administrative functions.

Invest in Canada works globally, in partnership with Global Affairs Canada and its Trade Commissioner Service, other federal departments, and provincial and municipal investment attraction offices, to promote Canada as a destination for foreign direct investment.

Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on Invest in Canada’s website.

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on Invest in Canada’s website.

Reporting framework

Invest in Canada’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2020–21 are as follows:

Core Responsibility: Foreign Direct Investment Attraction
Text version

Departmental Results Framework / Internal Services

Core Responsibility: Foreign Direct Investment Attraction

  • Departmental result 1: Canada’s brand is seen as a global leader in investment attraction
    • Indicator: Improved score in global FDI attractiveness index
    • Indicator: Increased awareness/recognition of the Invest in Canada brand
    • Indicator: Percentage increase in “my opinion of Canada as a prominent global leader for foreign investment”
  • Departmental result 2: Canada is a location and destination of choice for global investment
    • Indicator: Percentage increase of Canada’s FDI stock
    • Indicator: Increase in FDI stock from key target markets
    • Indicator: Increase in FDI investments from key sectors
  • Departmental result 3: Global investors have simplified access to partners, services and tools to accelerate their investment
    • Indicator: Number of investors/decision makers using the independent Cost Comparative Analysis Tool for FDI decisions
    • Indicator: Number of partners collaborating to access, build and format data sets to be highly available to potential investors
    • Indicator: Number of investment leads facilitated with partners

Program Inventory / Internal Services

  • Marketing
  • Investor Services
  • Data Partnerships and Pan-Canadian Collaboration

Changes to the approved reporting framework since 2019–20

The reporting framework in the 2020-21 Departmental Plan has been refined since 2019-20 to include departmental results and indicators which were not included in last year’s departmental plan.

Structure 2019–20 2020–21 Change Reason for change
Core responsibility Foreign Direct Investment Attraction Foreign Direct Investment Attraction No change Not applicable
Result Not applicable Canada’s brand is seen as a global leader in investment attraction New result Note 1
Result Not applicable Canada is a location and destination of choice for global investment New result Note 1
Result Not applicable Global investors have simplified access to partners, services and tools to accelerate their investment New result Note 1
Program Marketing and Outreach Marketing Title change Note 2
Program Partnerships & Strategy Development Data Partnerships and Pan-Canadian Collaboration Title change Note 2

Table Footnotes

Note 1:

New result and indicators as the departmental results framework was not established for 2019-20.

Return to first Return to Note 1 referrer

Note 2:

Better reflects recent changes to refine program descriptions.

Return to first Return to Note 2 referrer

Supporting information on the program inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to Invest In Canada’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBasevi.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on Invest in Canada’s website:

  • Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
  • Gender-based analysis plus

Federal tax expenditures

Invest in Canada’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures that relate to its planned results for 2020–21.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance, and the Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government-wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expendituresvii. This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis. The tax measures presented in this report are solely the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address
160 Elgin Street, 18th Floor
Ottawa, ON
K2P 2P7

Email: CorporateServices@InvCanada.ca

Website(s): www.investcanada.ca

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A report on the plans and expected performance of a department over a 3 year period. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental priority (priorité ministérielle)

A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Departmental priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

experimentation (expérimentation)

The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare, the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works and what doesn’t. Experimentation is related to, but distinct form innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.

full time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. Full time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])

An analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors including race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2020–21 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2015 Speech from the Throne, namely: Growth for the Middle Class; Open and Transparent Government; A Clean Environment and a Strong Economy; Diversity is Canada's Strength; and Security and Opportunity.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

non budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)

The process of communicating evidence based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision-making, accountability and transparency.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all of the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

strategic outcome (résultat stratégique)

A long-term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization’s mandate, vision and core functions.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.