In this time of trade uncertainty and growing global protectionist sentiments, it can be helpful for an investor, and particularly a European investor, to know there is a viable, profitable and growing business location where the local business community welcomes you, government provides efficient supports and incentives, and international trade agreements are in place to provide you access to the entire North American marketplace. That place is the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, in the Province of Ontario, Canada.

Chatham-Kent has an extremely attractive and competitive proposition. Our Federal Corporate Tax rate, at 15 percent, is still well below the new rate of 21 percent recently set in the United States of America. Our Provincial Corporate Tax Rate, at 10 percent, is still well below most US State Tax Rates, which are often well above 30 percent. We offer an accelerated depreciation rate on new capital expenditures. We offer federal government ten-year loans at zero percent and provincial government grants currently at 10 percent for capital equipment investments. Our competitive currency exchange rate keeps production inputs of labour and materials at a marked cost advantage. Our easy transport access routes to both Canadian and US markets position us well for expansion. Our local tax abatement incentive for new or expansion facilities, at up to 80 percent of net new taxes for a period of up to 10 years, is also a great advantage. Chatham-Kent − it’s time to get to know us!

“Absolutely, Chatham-Kent is a good place to go because of its access to the markets,” says Tim Schinkel, CEO of Schinkel’s Legacy, a Canadian meat products processing company that has tripled in size since 2011 and has plans to double again in the future. Expansions to date are worth about $2.5 million, with development assistance from local, provincial and federal government programs. In fact, Schinkel’s Legacy is one of a dozen Chatham-Kent companies currently expanding their operations.

Schinkel’s Legacy is a family-owned company based in the local community of Chatham, part of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent and located among the very fertile farmlands and charming towns of southwestern Ontario, Canada’s most developed and populous province. Tim is part of the second generation in Canada of a European immigrant family that brought traditional methods with them to produce award-winning high-quality meat products. The third generation is now on the job as well.

For the Schinkels and their 25 employees, their marketplace is regional, and by that they mean the entire Province of Ontario with a population of 13.5 million people, Canada’s largest city – Toronto, and an overall geography bigger than France and Spain combined. Their highway to market is Highway 401, a major Canadian transportation artery. Schinkel is all for building the capacity of the local food processing industry by attracting foreign investors, saying there is another good reason such investors in the sector might be interested: “We are in a unique location. With the Great Lakes all around us, we are awash in water. We take that for granted because we live here.”


The Great Lakes are, in fact, the world’s largest accumulation of fresh water. They also form the international border between Canada and the United States of America. Beside them is Chatham-Kent, a geographically large community of 102,000 people with easy Highway 401 access, as well as rail, air and water highways for right-on-time delivery. Seven major border crossings and competitive land costs have made Chatham-Kent a popular location for businesses. They appreciate the wide range of developed or certified-ready greenfield business sites, as well as a skilled workforce and low business operating costs. In addition to agriculture and food processing, Chatham-Kent encourages investment in biofuels, alternative energy, information and communication technologies, and the automotive and advanced manufacturing sectors. Cross-border commerce has a long history here.

“We’re a border city in a rural community adjacent to the nation’s trade superhighway with a highly dedicated workforce. That gives us a tremendous advantage over other jurisdictions in Ontario,” says Gunther Haas, the intense and confident CEO of Waltron Trailers, another growing Canadian company. Waltron specializes in the design and production of custom heavy-haul trailers for industries as diverse as agriculture, energy, marine, oil and gas.

“We have a lot of resources that work in our favour in Canada, based mainly on our engineering skills, finances and tax structure - so we have all that expertise behind us,” says Haas, adding, “We have a very unique niche market and that market is not as vulnerable to the changes in the economy.”

Waltron and its team of 40 skilled professional designers and builders are based in the Chatham-Kent community of Ridgetown. They make good use of their location on the international border to serve all of North America and have also sold products to Europe: “We are fortunate to have a large part of our revenue in US dollars and so I maintain US bank accounts,” says Haas. “I don’t have to hedge on the dollar. I can sell US dollars - I never have to buy them, and so I always have the advantage.”

Waltron Trailers has just added a new hi-tech paint shop, part of a three-phase expansion over the next two to three years. Gunther Haas is confident it’s the right move. He is also confident that foreign investors will find opportunity as well: “Absolutely - there’s a very positive attitude in the country as a whole,” he says, adding, “If you look at where Canada is - of all places to be, we are the place to be. We have an economy that is going to grow. We have a huge country.”

Amid the changes affecting world trade, Canada has remained steadfast in maintaining and expanding its international trade commitments. Canada, the United States of America and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, creating the largest free trade region in the world at that time. A fully integrated automotive sector is a major part of the agreement. Renegotiations at the time of this writing are considering such areas as labour, environment, and electronic commerce, among others. Daily headlines aside, Canadian officials are confident that an updated NAFTA enjoys broad business support among the three member-nations.

“We are one of the three largest country merchandise export markets for 48 US states,” says Chatham-Kent’s Director of Investment Attraction and Government Relations, Michael Burton, “and all those states want to ensure that trade between us carries on. That will influence the federal administration in the US in their negotiations with Canada. We expect a positive outcome in those talks.”

Canadian government information points out that, overall, Canada is the largest merchandise export market for the US. In 2016, the US exported nearly US$266 billion of merchandise to Canada while the US was Canada’s number one destination for merchandise exports. Nine million US jobs and 1.9 million Canadian jobs are related to this trade. Canada is also the main foreign supplier of energy to the US and the fifth largest source of foreign direct investment.

Canada has also reached out to the Pacific Rim countries, being one of 11 countries to recently sign the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership. When eventually ratified by at least six nations to implement it, and with more nations to come, this trade pact could potentially cover up to 500 million people.

However, it is the Canada European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which came into effect in September 2017, that will most immediately lead to new foreign investments in Chatham-Kent.

Michael Burton says, “This agreement with the European Union is an excellent vehicle for investors from Europe to access Canada and the USA and for US investors to access Europe, all through Canada. We are one of the few countries, at the moment, that have a free trade agreement with the European Union. It puts us in a particularly positive position for European companies. For instance, European food processors that want to bring food or production here can ship materials to their Canadian operation in bulk, and process, package and label it, and then serve the North American market.”

The EU is already a key investor in Canada, second only to the United States, and CETA’s provisions are designed to provide more protection for investors as new opportunities are explored. The review threshold for acquisitions of Canadian businesses by EU investors has been raised by 50 percent, from $1 billion to $1.5 billion. This will facilitate investment, as fewer EU companies will need to undergo a net benefit to Canada review process under the Investment Canada Act.