Innovations in Foreign Direct Investment Attraction

Case study: Invest Canada 

Invest in Canada Bureau, part of Global Affairs Canada, has the most comprehen-

sive program to support subnational IPAs, with a federal level program to support 

investment promotion capacity at the local level called the “Community Initiatives 

Program”.

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The Invest Canada-Community Initiatives (ICCI) program was established by the 

Government of Canada to provide support to Canadian communities seeking to im-

prove their capacity to attract, retain and expand FDI in order to create jobs, support 

innovation and increase exports. The focus is on attracting greenfield FDI.

The program supports non-profit and public-private partnerships at the local com-

munity level. The initiatives supported by the program must focus on attracting, re-

taining and expanding FDI through specific activities. Non-repayable contributions 

range from C$3,000 to C$300,000, and agreements are made for a one-year period, 

from January 1 to December 31. ICCI provides reimbursement of up to 50% of eli-

gible expenses. If an applicant accesses other federal government support, the total 

federal support cannot exceed 50%.

Since 2006, the program has supported over 416 municipalities and community or-

ganizations through 1,253 projects valued at C$42.2 million. In 2016, 87 organiza-

tions across Canada received more than C$3.7 million in funding.

Applications are evaluated based on their FDI attraction and retention strategies, 

project components, performance measures, capacity, work plan and the level of 

public-private sector partnership. The program prioritizes initiatives that focus on 

seven key target sectors and 23 target countries, to coordinate national and local 

activities. 

The objectives of the program are:

• 

To enhance the capability and effectiveness of Canadian communities to attract 

employment - creating FDI by aiding communities in developing FDI attraction, 

retention and expansion initiatives; 

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http://tradecommissioner.gc.ca/funding-financement/icci-icic/index.aspx?lang=eng

  

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• 

To help build business cases that will make foreign investors aware of the proven 

advantages of expanding into and within Canada; 

• 

To encourage and promote the pursuit of excellence in the development of invest-

ment programs by allocating funds on the basis of competition that is judged on 

clear, long-term planning principles and demonstrated cooperation between the pri-

vate sector and municipal governments; 

• 

To help Canadian communities become more effective in dealing with FDI after-

care and support for specific foreign investment promotion initiatives; and 

• 

To encourage intergovernmental cooperation, promote partnerships with the pri-

vate sector and demonstrate federal commitment to encourage FDI and retention.

The focus is on supporting four main types of investment promotion activity, as 

shown in Table 4 below.