Making the "Brand Canada Initiative" Work

If Canada wants to brand itself successfully to the rest of the world, the effort needs to have some teeth.

In his throne speech in March, Prime Minister Stephen Harper glowed, “Canada is poised to emerge from the recession powered by one of the strongest economies in the industrialized world.” Who wouldn’t show a little sparkle when the OECD remarks that Canada’s economy is “rebounding vigorously.” In The Economist last month, an article on Canada effusively praised our country:

“When Stephen Harper, the prime minister, hosts the get-togethers of the G8 and G20 countries next month he will be able to boast to his visitors that his country’s economy is set to perform better than that of any other rich country this year.”

Even I tingled a little when reading that. And who wouldn’t? It wasn’t too long ago that Canada’s debt peaked at $563 billion, in 1997. The unemployment rate in Canada often hovered around eight per cent, while in the U.S. the rate was nearer to four per cent. In many ways, Canada was the kid brother allowed to tag along at the G8 (or then G7) summits. So when Toronto hosted the G8 and G20 summits this past weekend, it was a moment for Canada to sit pretty (albeit with a billion-dollar price tag). A leading think tank, the Canadian International Council, recently got into the act promoting our new role with its Strategy for a Networked Age. The Mark even published a series of articles called ”Brand Canada” to accentuate the current sexiness of our country. Yes, it is time for a campaign to brand Canada, particularly in a hyper-competitive global economy. Yet this effort needs to have teeth, be fully adopted by our government, and truly respond to the world around us.

The world that we are waking up to as the economic crisis subsides is markedly different than the one in which many of our politicians have grounded their policies. From 2008-23, non-OECD countries are expected to contribute up to 54 per cent of real GDP growth globally. Traditionally strong currencies such as the euro are faltering. The debtors are increasingly from the West and the creditors from the East. China by itself is already an industrial leader in many sectors, including alternative energy, where Suntech is the global champion for solar panel production. Japan’s largest trading partner is China – no longer the U.S. Yet, the wave of growth in emerging markets is in fact coupled with more integrated trade flows between them. This is nowhere more apparent than in the Middle East, a region that traditionally looked west but is now building widening links with Latin America and the Far East.

Knowledge is no longer a monopoly of a coterie of G8 countries, and Canada will find itself hard-pressed to compete in a globally connected knowledge economy with more of the same. At the same time, it’s easy to see why Canada itself is not just a premium brand, but also a premium product. Why is this so? Canada is globally dynamic country with the ability to thrive in the “new” world order.

Geographically, Canada is phenomenally placed. A “northern country” in the proverbial West, Canada finds itself as well a key member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). It has a multi-tiered economy that has a strong primary, manufacturing, and services sector, allowing it to play in all parts of a value chain. If it continues to invest, which it needs to do more often, it will be a leader in a number of high-tech industries as well. Politically, Canada is innocuous. While that may seem like a slight, it is an asset when operating in much of the developing world, where Canada’s motives are not seen as predatory or tied to an ignominious track record. Finally, culturally, Canada is a polyglot, and this is the most valuable feature of the country in today’s world. Canadians can interoperate on any continent, authentically and locally, through the connections and networks of their fellow compatriots. This cannot be underestimated.

For now, however, Canada’s significant potential is not being realized. Without a deep concerted effort – call it the Brand Canada initiative if you will – it will continue to be unrealized. While the State Department in the U.S. is reconfiguring its entire mode of operations around the power of networks and partnerships, Canada is deploying a few new trade commissioners to a few select countries. It is not enough.

How do you create new virtual connections between Canada and the world? What can promote Canada’s brand and dynamism to the next generation of business leaders in the East and South? Who are the partners and networks our government needs to be linked with? What is the level of educational and research partnerships globally? Where are our social, cultural, political, and economic leaders and entrepreneurs sharing their lessons?

These are just some of the questions that need to be answered to give teeth to a strategy to brand Canada. For now, it remains to be seen if the Harper government will take on the task of answering them.