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Canada Could Capitalize on Nearshoring Trend in Coming Years

By Oliver VanDervoort, Contributing Writer

While Atlantic City can certainly attest that the United States call centers are starting to look at staying at home rather than reshoring, Canada is taking a new angle when it comes to seeking a low-cost location. Canada considers itself a near-shore option when it comes to American companies that are looking to be located somewhere other than the United States.

The Philippines is typically the first go-to place when a company in the United States wants to go somewhere other than home. Still, Canada was once considered a low-cost haven for these kinds of companies and it seems as though it is starting to build momentum again. At the same time, Near Shore Americas points out that this is still the early days of the comeback and no one can be sure the Canadian comeback is going full force.

If Canada can make a comeback, it would be quite impressive indeed. One recent survey has found that when it comes to the percentage of Canada’s third-party workstations that are serving customers in the United States, the number has fallen to just 13 percent; it was sitting at 50 percent just a decade ago.

The biggest reason the number went down, and could go up again is what the Canadian dollar has done. Over the last year, the value of that dollar had been going up, it’s coming back down now and making Canada attractive again. While a recession, like the one Canada is going through is generally not good news, it could serve as a positive for U.S. companies looking to move north. A recession means that more people are looking for jobs and would be more likely to take an entry-level call center position. In short, Canada’s struggles could be companies from the U.S.’ gain. In the long run, that could also be a big positive for the Great White North as they attempt to recover from an economic downturn.