There's No Place Like Home – Or is There? – Calgary Article by Justin Taberham

The winning entry was from Justin Taberham with his entry suggesting that Canada would be the place to head to post Brexit. Justin has now returned from his trip and his final verdict can be seen below.

Competition entry

Canada, because publishing is rapidly developing into a sector where you can be located anywhere in the world - most of my authors and editors are outside the UK and we use Skype and email to communicate and develop book content. Many Canadian towns, such as Vancouver, have a climate not dissimilar to London and more beautiful scenery and wildlife. Canada, as a country, is future-proofed economically by the fact that it is sparsely populated yet has significant natural and mineral resources. It has a stable economy and democracy and its population is becoming more diverse, to the degree that the answer to the question 'What is a Canadian?' has become 'Someone who lives in Canada' rather than a stereotypical white person who likes snow! What does the UK have going for it? A politics now dominated by xenophobia and the lesser educated masses and an economy based on education and the recycled cash of a service economy. Time for those with a worldview to go out into the world!

Article

There are a number of ‘pros’. In terms of its long-term economic outlook, Canada is sparsely populated but still has larger conurbations with impressive infrastructure. It is very rich in resources and has diverse and mature industries. It has an enviable quality of life and its major cities such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal often appear in the lists of the top 10 places to live in the world.

The Canadian Government notes that Canada's advantages include a strong economy, low taxes, low business costs, excellence in research and innovation and a high quality of life. The business support agent Lucalex also notes key business benefits as being a similarity to Europe but proximity to the US market, low corruption, ease to set up a business (days rather than months/years), high-quality infrastructure and large R&D funding and spending. KPMG also ranked Canada first in the G7 for corporate tax rate and cost competitiveness and The World Happiness Report (WHR) 2017 ranked Canada 9th globally out of 155 countries, ahead of all G7 member countries.

For a business like mine – Book Editing – I could be located anywhere with a broadband connection as my authors are located all around the world. I’m currently based in London, which is a wonderful city but it does have some significant issues which include the pending Brexit which is likely to impact London negatively, unsustainable property prices (well, unsustainable unless you own lots of properties), a serious air quality issue and severe congestion.

We have three children who are at different life stages (one ending Uni, one at Uni and one in secondary school) and all three are keen to leave London and possibly work abroad.

If the young are keen to leave London and have a global outlook on their lives and careers, why on earth don’t more businesses take Brexit and the UK’s increasing isolation as a bit of a warning sign that now is the time to relocate? Canada would be a great option for anyone considering this and it is top of my list for places to relocate to work-wise.

Justin Taberham CEnv
Book Editor
www.justintaberham.com