According to a recent national survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), ‘Greater Calgary’ is leading the pack in most business-friendly municipalities in Canada; the category of ‘Greater Calgary’ includes the City of Airdrie, the Town of Cochrane, Rocky View County and the Town of Chestermere.
Five of the top ten ranking municipalities are in fact located in Alberta; Lloydminster comes in second; Red Deer fourth; Grand Prairie sixth; Greater Edmonton (combined communities of Strathcona County, St. Albert, Parkland, Spruce Grove, Leduc and several others) rings in ninth.
The CFIB study is conducted annually, rating the entrepreneurial climate in 107 Canadian cities with populations of 25,000 or more and using 14 Statistics Canada indicators.
The 14 indicators are grouped into three categories: presence (scale and growth of business ownership), perspective (optimism and growth plans) and policy (the actions local governments take with respect to business taxation and regulation).
