Business Climate Index 2003

Nova Scotia's business climate ranks 4th

This is the second edition of Nova Scotia's Business Climate Index. This report monitors and compares Nova Scotia's business-climate ranking nationally and in Atlantic Canada using comparable measures. It assesses general business climate across 53 indicators and ranks the province on each of these relative to other provinces in Canada. Data for the index is compiled primarily form Statistics Canada and is based on the most recent year available.

This report builds on the Index from last year and uses additional resources identified from extensive provincial consultation and feedback from the federal/provincial business-climate working group.

As a result of this feedback one indicator was dropped, Change in Manufacturing Salaries per Worker and two indicators were added: Business Service Sector Growth to recognize the importance of the service sector and Public Debt per Capita, as debt service is a significant expense.

Many indicators were revised to reflect changes in Statistics Canada data sources and to use more up-to-date information.

PROVINCE	1999r	2000
Ontario	2nd	1st
Alberta	1st	2rd
British Columbia	4th	3nd
Nova Scotia	3rd	4th
Quebec	6th	5th
Manitoba	7th	6th
Prince Edward Island	9th	7th
New Brunswick	5th	8th
Saskatchewan	8th	9th
Newfoundland & Labrador	10th	10th

Nova Scotia moves to 4th place in Canada and 1st place ranking in Atlantic Canada in Development Capacity. Development capacity refers to the quality of the social and physical infrastructure supporting economic performance. Nova Scotia's rankings improved in two groups, graduates with advanced degrees and highway quality. It slipped in high school attainment and health-care workers per capita. Challenges continue in the level of financial resources available to business.

	INDICATORS	1999r	2000
Human Resources	Post-secondary Education Attainment	1	1
	High School Attainment	4	5
	Literacy	5*	5*
	Skilled Immigrants	6	6
Technology Resources	Graduates with Advanced Degrees (replacing Doctorate Graduates)	3	2
	Science/Engineering Graduates	8	8*
	Patents Granted	8	9
Financial Resources	Venture Capital Investments	8	8
	Business Loans Per Employee	6	6
Infrastructure and Amenities	Health Professionals Per Capita	1	4
	Highway Quality	4	2
	Internet Use	4	4
	Land Cost	4	4*
	Major Crimes	5	5
	Sewage Treatment	7	7*
Overall Ranking	Development Capacity	5	4

Nova Scotia's ranking fell from 4th to 8th in 2000 and ranks 2nd in Atlantic Canada. Economic Performance refers to the strength and growth of the economy. Clearly, unemployment rates remain high within Nova Scotia compared with other provinces. The above-average performance in this measure is driven by the province's growth rate.

	INDICATORS	1999r	2000
Output	Personal Income Growth	2	7
	GDP Growth Rate	5	8
	Personal Income Per Capita	6	6
	GDP Per Capita	8	8
Employment Base	Employment Growth	5	3
	Unemployment Rate	7	7
Earnings and Job Quality	Average Annual Pay Growth	1	9
	Average Annual Pay	6	6
Equity Rural	Income vs Urban Income	6*	6*
	Low Income	6	6
	Income Distribution	6	6
	% Income Distribution Change	6	4
Overall Ranking	Economic Performance	4	8

Nova Scotia's tax and fiscal environment continues to rank 3rd in Canada and 1st in Atlantic Canada. Rankings improved in sales tax per personal income and business subsidies per GDP. Rankings fell in corporate tax per GDP and property tax per GDP. Overall Nova Scotia's tax & fiscal environment continues to be competitive.

	INDICATORS	1999r	2000
Tax Base	Corporate Tax Per GDP	3	5
	Indirect Tax/Personal Income	2	2
	Personal Income Tax	4	4
	Sales Tax/Personal Income	5	2
	Property Tax/GDP	3	4
	Workers' Compensation Premiums	8	8
Expenditures Base	R&D Tax Credits/Businesses	6	6
	Business Subsidies Per GDP	4	2
	Government Expenditures Per GDP	9	9
	Public Debt per Capita	8	8
	Government Employment per Capita (Replacing Government Employment/% Total)	1	2
	Tax & Fiscal Environment	3	3

Nova Scotia rank falls to 7th in Canada in business vitality. Business vitality refers to the strength of its business sector. Nova Scotia continues its leadership in percentage change in new companies and low relative transportation cost. Change in export diversity accelerated. Rankings slipped in business immigration and business service employment growth.

	INDICATORS	1999r	2000
Existing Business Strength	Manufacturing Capital Investment	5	5*
	Business Service Employment Growth	7	8
	Manufacturing Salaries/Worker	7	7
	Business Closings	8	7*
Entrepreneurial Energy	Change In New Companies	1	1*
	New Business Job Growth	3	3*
	Business Immigration	2	3
	New Companies	3	3*
Structural Diversity	Export Diversity	5	5
	Change In Export Diversity	10	5
Business Location Competitiveness	Transportation Cost Index	3	3
	Labour Cost	5	5
	Housing Cost (Replacing Construction Price Index)	6	6
	OH&S Regulation	7*	7*
	Electricity Cost	9	9
Overall Ranking	Business Vitality	5	7
r = ranking has been revised to include new indicators and revisions by Statistics Canada * not included in calculating the overall ranking; comparable data not available