American companies setting up shop in Canada for the first time quickly discover that when it comes to doing business north of the border, some things can be a lot different. One of the most important things to understand about the Canadian business environment is that corporate decision-making tends to be concentrated in a handful of major cities.

Toronto, Ontario, is widely acknowledged to be the business and financial capital of Canada, and it's a location which leads the rest of Canada by a wide margin in terms of the concentration of corporate head offices.

Other important cities on the Canadian business scene include Montreal, the largest city in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec; Calgary, the locus of business activity in the oil-rich western province of Alberta; and Vancouver, the third largest-city in the nation, which is located on Canada's Pacific Coast.

Picking the right location is key

Because Canada's business community is proportionately so much smaller than that of the United States, networking is a vitally important key to success. Canada is an environment in which all the major players tend to know one another personally, and as a result, the old saying that "It's not only what you know, but who you know" takes on an added degree of significance when trying to do business in that country.

And for companies that are new to the Canadian environment, perhaps an added corollary might be something along the lines of "it's not only what you know, but where you are located".

The fact is, in a place like Canada, often the simple act of picking the right address in which to locate your business can make a world of difference in terms of breaking into the close network of movers and shakers who chart the course of the country's economic affairs. After all, it's a lot easier to get to know the heavy hitters who really count when you ride the elevator with them every day.

In recent years the skylines of Canada's major business centers have been transformed by the opening of several new state-of-the-art buildings that have become important drawing cards for the corporate elite. Here are a couple of examples of newer buildings that have come to be regarded as two of the most prestigious business addresses in Canada:

BCE Place, Toronto

Located at the intersection of Front and Bay streets in downtown Toronto, BCE Place opened its doors in 1991 and since that time has established itself as one of the central landmarks of the city's financial district. The 2.6 million square-foot complex features two 51-story towers connected by a spectacular glassed-in galleria which stand atop the city's major subway line and directly across the street from the main Toronto train station.

For American companies that are new to Toronto, BCE Place offers an ideal location. For one thing, tenants in the building have the opportunity to rub shoulders with executives of some of Canada's leading financial institutions and professional services firms. The proximity of subway lines, the train station, and the Gardiner Expressway means that people working in the building have an easy commute to virtually every area of the city. As well, BCE Place is located within a short walk from other major office towers in Toronto as well as the many shops, restaurants, and entertainment attractions that are to be found throughout the city's downtown core.

Tenants at BCE Place also enjoy access to a wide variety of services that make life easier, including an in-house car wash, an internal courier service, an on-site child care facility, and a courtesy locksmith.

Le 1000 de La GauchetiÑre, Montreal

Montreal may be a city that's known all over the world for its historic European charm, but the magnificent building that's located at 1000 de La GauchetiÑre represents the very latest in design. Opened in 1992, the building features not only some of the most prestigious office space in Montreal, but also some very innovative features, such as a fully-enclosed 10,000 square foot skating rink that's open year-round.

When it comes to the details that can make a big difference, the designers of this building spared no effort to ensure that tenants would have access to the best of everything. Air quality, for example, is continuously monitored by a computerized high-performance ventilation system that's one of the most advanced in the world. The building also features a state-of-the-art telecommunications infrastructure that offers tenants a complete range of connectivity and Internet business solutions.

In addition, the building is equipped with a set of three self-starting diesel generators that can generate enough electrical power to make the complex almost self-sufficient in the event of a power outage. These were put to good use in early 1998, when Montreal was virtually paralyzed for nearly two weeks by an ice storm of unprecedented severity.

As a tribute to its various accomplishments, Le 1000 de La GauchetiÑre has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the "Canadian Building of the Year" award and the "Pinacle Award", which recognizes the building that provides the best client services in Canada.

Good deals are there

for the taking

Although Canada's recent economic growth has tended to be more robust than that of the United States, the slowdown which began in the spring of 2000 has meant that it's now easier to find top quality office space in major Canadian cities. In Toronto, for example, a recent study by J.J. Barnicke, one of the Canada's leading real estate brokers, noted that in 2001 an additional one million square feet of vacant space came on the market. There has been a particularly significant increase in the amount of space available for sublet as companies squeezed by the recession have attempted to cut costs by renting out unneeded space.

By U. S. standards, the cost of premium quality office space in Canada is a bargain. In Toronto, the most expensive market in the country, space in the downtown core currently goes for rates of between $16 and $22 Canadian per square foot. When you consider the fact that the Canadian dollar is currently trading at around $.65 US, that translates into big savings over the rates companies can expect to pay for downtown space in major U.S. cities. Plus, Canada's leading cities enjoy an international reputation for both cleanliness and safety.

The bottom line is, for American companies seeking to establish themselves in Canada for the first time, it pays to pick their new location carefully. High quality space is readily available at reasonable prices, and in the tightly-knit world of Canadian business, having the right address on your calling card can sometimes make all the difference.

Michael Kennedy is president of Kennedy Management Services, a consulting firm based in Toronto, Canada.