BC Business
Sellics Marketplace Analytics, a German provider of software to assist Amazon vendors, has published a study listing the best cities around the world for launching an online business, based on 22 factors related to infrastructure and both living and startup costs. Criteria for choosing the 130 cities included a strong existing online business presence and popularity with web entrepreneurs.
Cities are ranked according to how many months‘ salary a person needs to save, although residents of 17 locations can receive enough unemployment benefits that, were they laid off from their job, they could start an online business with no savings.
Quebec City tops the list, followed by six other Canadian cities: Winnipeg (2), Montreal (4), Ottawa-Gatineau (15), Calgary (16), Vancouver (40) and Toronto (42).
It turns out that America isn‘t so great for launching online ventures: the highest-ranked U.S. city is Detroit, at No. 34. “Whereas both nations have a strong online venture infrastructure, Canada comes out ahead of the U.S. in terms of affordability due to the strong dollar and welfare,” Sellics CEO Franz Jordan said in a statement. “American citizens are spending upwards of 80 percent more on health care per month compared to Canadians due to Medicare,” Jordan added. “Additionally, unemployment benefits in Canada are almost 20 percent more than in the United States and can be claimed on average for an additional three months.”