Vancouver Cross-Border Investment Guide
Investing in Vancouver
“The city is a dream combination of early leadership in social entrepreneurship, climate justice and reconciliation with First Nations peoples, paired with robust economic potential.”
Joel Solomon, Investor, Vancouver
“As one of the key pillars of the Pacific Northwest, the innovation economy in Vancouver is thriving. This is evident by some of the recent big exits by local firms in the high tech and VFX/Animation sector.”
Leonard Brody, Investor, Los Angeles
“My investments in Vancouver have been for me both financially rewarding and personally meaningful; I get to see a lot of great socially responsive organizations grow and succeed.”
Mark Deutschmann, Investor, Nashville
A detailed overview of all the legal and tax considerations that international investors should keep in mind when investing in Vancouver and other Canadian jurisdictions.
Strong early-stage and R&D funding support by provincial and federal levels of government drive investor confidence while augmenting contributions from private capital.
Explore and understand your options through the guide’s detailed explanation of the key unique features of Canadian investment structures, along with any associated limitations or risks.
Secure. Stable. Affordable. Competitive. Canada’s strong regulatory banking framework has made it one of the world’s most recognizably resilient economies, bringing investors peace of mind.
Vancouver startups have proven their ability to develop valuable IP and build relationships with buyers. This translates to quicker exits and earlier returns.
Venture capital investment into Vancouver has increased significantly over the last 10 years, averaging a rate of 46 percent annual growth from 2013 through 2022.
American investors collectively account for the greatest share of private capital in Vancouver’s innovation economy. This guide seeks to streamline the investment process by collating the legal and tax considerations necessary for cross-border investment. While this resource focuses on Canadian and American examples, all other international investors are equally likely to benefit from this guide.
Private capital investment is a critical component of the global innovation ecosystem. Canada offers private investors a strong regulatory banking framework, welcoming immigration policy, ease of starting a business, political stability, protection of minority investors, and low business costs for R&D-intensive sectors.
Vancouver – with its thriving tech sector and startup ecosystem – is a key gateway into investing in Canada’s innovation economy. Furthermore, its proximity to Silicon Valley and major tech hubs along the rest of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor, and to prominent financial centres in the Asia Pacific, connects Vancouver startups and investors alike to global markets.
Vancouver’s concentration of home-grown talent, cluster of leading academic and research institutions, and ready access to qualified global professionals are powerful assets in the development of new ideas and solutions in traditional and emerging technology sectors alike.
The Vancouver Economic Commission respectfully acknowledges that it is located on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.