Province of Manitoba Profile:

Access to Markets

In today's competitive world economy, Manitoba offers business an unbeatable combination of benefits. Manitoba has a strategic mid-continent location and an open door the to United States and emerging markets in the Americas.

Not only is Manitoba at the centre of Canada and the continent - but it sits at the northern end of a trade corridor running through the Midwest U.S. to Mexico, and potentially further south. Since the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (1989), Manitoba's exports to the U.S. have increased 350%. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Manitoba's trade with Mexico will be virtually tariff-free by 2004.

Central Time Zone and Low Cost Attract Telecommunications Centres

Manitoba's central time zone means business people can easily contact customers and suppliers across five time zones - anywhere on the continent - within regular working hours. This is a special attraction for coast-to-coast call centres and teleservicing operations.

Today, the province is home to 80 call centres, over a dozen of which have recently moved here from other parts of Canada and the United States. Manitoba recognized the increasing significance of this sector and set up the Manitoba Call Centre Team to promote the province's strengths as a telecommunications centre. A leading partner in this group, Manitoba Telecom Services, has some of the most advanced telecom infrastructure, equipment and services in North America, and at competitive rates.

For instance, Manitoba has over 75,000 strand kilometres (49,500 miles) of fibre-optic cabling, and digital trunking to 100 per cent of the province. Such infrastructure ensures reliable, efficient service not only for call centres, but all businesses and consumers. Moreover, Manitoba also offers a competitive telecommunications climate, with several alternative long-distance carriers and an innovative information technology sector.

Distance to Markets

Transportation

Manitoba’s transportation links are unsurpassed.

• Winnipeg is the only city in Western Canada served by three continental railways; CN, CP and Burlington Northern.

• Manitoba’s central position in North America makes it an ideal trucking centre. Many of the leading interprovincial and transborder trucking firms are headquartered here.

• CN, CP and Burlington Northern railways all operate intermodal terminals in Winnipeg, so shippers enjoy the economies of rail transport in combination with the flexibility of highway transport.

• Winnipeg International Airport is competitively positioned as one of the few major North American airports which operates 24 hours a day. Generally favourable weather and efficient operations allows the airport to be used 99% of the time on an annual basis. Only 7 km (4.5 miles) from the city’s downtown, it provides convenient access for both business and visitor traffic. The airport's central location relative to global flight paths, combined with it being uncongested and having room to grow on land adjacent it, makes the airport attractive as an air cargo distribution centre.

• Churchill is not only a major tourist site, but Manitoba’s northern seaport. OmniTRAX operates the Hudson Bay Railway, a short line railroad connecting The Pas and Churchill, moving commodities such as grains, ores and wood products through the seaport. Already a long-established export route for agricultural and mineral commodities, Churchill has great potential as a trading port for markets in northern and eastern Europe, and Latin America.

For further details on Transportation (ie., Roads, Airports, Railroads, Ports) go to the Transportation Section of the Provincial Profile.

One of the province's fastest growing industries is information and telecommunications. The rapid expansion of call centres is thanks to Manitoba's strategic advantages, including a central time zone, low-cost office space, competitive telecommunication rates, and a ready supply of bilingual and multilingual labour. Manitoba has over 75,000 strand kilometres of fibre-optic cabling, with 100% digital switching technology. Manitoba also s one of the first provinces to establish an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) fibre backbone network, allowing advanced services, such as multi-media applications, for most of Manitoba's larger communities. These advantages, coupled with the province's innovative information technology sector, place Manitoba in a highly competitive position.