Strategic Location

Canada’s Gateway to the World

Global access makes it easy for you to operate internationally. Our strategic location on Canada's East Coast provides easy, fast, and reliable access to world markets. And because we share the same workday with the United States and Europe, this can translate into improved productivity for companies in Nova Scotia. 

Benefits of Nova Scotia’s location

Nova Scotia's reliable infrastructure and exceptional location offer plenty of advantages. These include:

Workday cross-over
Nova Scotia is part of the Atlantic Time Zone, which is four hours behind London and four hours ahead of Los Angeles - a perfect split between the UK and US west coast workdays.

Reduced travel time
Nova Scotia has the closest major mainland airports to Europe; six hours to London, two hours to New York or Toronto, and three hours to Chicago. A 10,500 foot runway allows the largest aircraft to land. Nova Scotia has the closest mainland North American container port to Europe, the Mediterranean and Suez Canal. Cargo arrives a day sooner in Halifax from Europe than any other mainland east coast port.

Convenient harbour access
Nova Scotia features an abundance of natural, year-round, ice-free harbours with depths ranging from 65 feet draft on Halifax Harbour to 200 feet draft on the Strait of Canso, giving it the deepest cargo berths on Canada's east coast.

Shorter customs wait times
Nova Scotia is home to the only US preclearance facility in Atlantic Canada, and offers 24/7 Canada Customs services—plus NEXUS and CANPASS programs for frequent travellers.

Reliable transportation infrastructure 
Our transportation system is an efficient and reliable combination of air, road, rail, and sea infrastructure, to meet supply chain management and logistics needs. This allows businesses to move people and products in and out of North America faster than any other gateway on the east coast.

The Nova Scotia Gateway includes: 

• The world-class Halifax Stanfield International Airport
• The International Port of Halifax (including two super post-Panamax container terminals)
• Canadian National Railway (CN Rail)
• A strong logistics and warehousing sector
• An excellent Class 1 Highway infrastructure (Trans-Canada Highway)
• A comprehensive air route network serving virtually any location around the globe in one stop—and easy transport of perishable and non-perishable products worldwide

Canada's reputation as an investment destination is growing. Find out what the world thinks:

#1 for doing businesses: Canada will be the best country in the G20 for doing business throughout the next five years (2022-2026) according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (March 2022).

#1 for educated workforce: Canada has the most educated talent pool in the OECD.

#1 for employment growth: In 2021, Canada had the highest employment growth rate and the 2nd highest population growth rate of the G7 countries.

#1 for market access: Through 15 active trade agreements covering 51 countries, businesses in Canada enjoy preferential access to a global market with a combined GDP of US$57 trillion, representing 60% of the world’s output of goods and services and home to 1.5 billion consumers.

#1 tax treatment on new business investment: At 13.2%,Canada’s tax treatment for new business investment is the lowest in the G7, below the OECD average and significantly lower than the United States (17.7%).