SUISSE news Winter 2022
Business
January 2022

Swiss Business Hub Canada: Business picked up in 2021

Following a very quiet 2020, 2021 turned out to be an active one for the Swiss Business Hub Canada (SBHC). The SBHC is the Canadian arm of Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE), the official Swiss organization for investment attraction and export promotion.

Toward the end of 2020, companies started to realise that business had to continue on in spite of the issues that Covid had caused. Growth plans that had been put on the back burner as companies focused on survival came to the fore once more.  Companies were more receptive to hear about the benefits that Switzerland could offer them as an ideal country to expand to either to take on the European market or improve their product offerings.

Of course the situation is still far from the old “normal” as most Canadian companies continue to have employees working from home and travel restrictions have been a hindrance to international business. In-person meetings still are generally not taking place. In spite of these challenges, the SBHC has been able to have dozens of meetings with Canadian companies that have been identified as having some level of potential to expand to Europe. The move to virtual meetings has certainly had its benefits as Sarojini Vasant based in Montreal and Mike Stewart based in Toronto have been able to jointly “meet” with companies from across Canada.

The most promising companies that SBHC is dealing with offer a wide range of services mostly involving the use of artificial intelligence. Switzerland offers many strengths for these companies with the most important one the pool of talent from both universities and the apprenticeship system. In 2022, the SBHC is planning on working closely with partners to build awareness about Switzerland among dynamic Canadian health sciences, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing companies. We are looking forward to having a number of these companies set up operations in Switzerland in 2022!

The export side of SBHC work was very much curtailed by travel restrictions.  SBHC efforts focused on raising awareness in Switzerland of market opportunities in Canada. The major initiative was the organization of a webinar about opportunities in the construction and refurbishment of buildings in a sustainable manner.  It is always tough to get Swiss companies to think about Canada rather than the US market!  Going forward, SBHC will be focusing on opportunities in Canada in different several sectors. In particular e-commerce and MedTech given the high level of growth in Canadian cities.
SCCC Corporate Members
  • Habib Canadian Bank  (Subsidiary of Habib Bank AG Zurich)
  • Zurich Canada
  • Laderach (Canada) Inc.
  • Custom Spring Corporate
  • Rolex Canada Ltd.
  • Lette LLP
  • Swiss Business Hub
  • Roche Canada
  • Swissmar Ltd.
  • Swiss International Air Lines Ltd.
  • Endress + Hauser Canada Ltd
  • Hilti (Canada) Corporation
  • Switzerland Tourism
  • Mazars LLP
  • Canadian Tire Corporation
  • Lindt & Spruengli (Canada) Inc.
  • Adecco Employment Services Limited