How Productive Are Canadians?

Canada’s Productivity

First Published Date: July 31, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

A recent report “The Future of Productivity” published by professional services firm Deloitte looked at productivity in Canada compared some other parts of the world. Today, I will go over some highlights from that report.

How does Canada compare to other parts of the world? We are productive and growing fast, but not as fast as some other nations. For example, from 2001 to 2009 Canada’s productivity growth was far below Australia’s and even from small countries like Austria and Israel. An average American worker generates $13 more per hour than a Canadian worker, a Norwegian worker generates $29 more, and an Australian worker generates $2 more. Countries like Korea and Russia sit on top of productivity growth, while countries like Switzerland and Denmark sit at the bottom.

When it comes to launching new start-ups, Canada has one of the highest levels of launching fast-growing companies by entrepreneurs. However, in terms of holding onto those start-ups, Canada is lagging behind. Canadian firms are not investing enough in R&D (Research and Development), which is essential to sustain growth and expansion. The top five OECD countries to invest in R&D are Israel, Korea, Finland, Japan, and Korea. The bottom five countries are Turkey, Slovak Republic, Poland, Mexico, and Chile. Canada sits somewhere in the middle and ranks below OECD average.

One interesting fact is that one in three Canadian companies do not know or understand that they are underinvesting in research and development, and in machinery and equipment that are vital for sustainability and growth. The full report The Future of Productivity – A wake-up call for Canadian companies can be accessed on Deloitte Canada website.

$3.30 Per Month Home Phone Plan?

VOIP Home Phone Offers Incredible Savings

Published Date : August 14, 2013

Is it possible to have a home phone service from $3.30 to $4.95 per month in Canada? If you think of a home phone literally connected by wire to the phone companies such Bell or Rogers, it is impossible to have a phone service that cheap. Actually, a basic home phone service from Bell or Rogers with almost no features will cost you around $30 to $40 per month. However, if you consider VOIP home phone just like a regular home phone, then yes, it is possible to have a home phone service with lots of features at the price I mentioned above.

VOIP home phone uses your existing Internet connection to offer you cheap home phone with the same voice quality and much more features than a traditional home phone at a fraction of the cost. There are many VOIP home phone service providers in Canada these days. However, these three providers are worth considering in terms of value, quality, and abundant features.

Nettalk – Basic plan costs only $3.30 per month with many features and 3000 minutes per month. First year is free with purchase of the VOIP device, also known as the adaptor.

Ooma – Basic plan costs only $3.98 per month and comes with 21 features and 5000 minutes. Want 44 features that you never thought even existed? It will cost you $9.99 per month.

Fongo – Unlimited minutes and 11 premium features cost $4.95 per month.

For any VOIP home phone services, initially you need to purchase an adaptor that would cost somewhere between $50 to $150 depending on the provider. And also, you need to have Internet service at home. Nowadays, I have seen many homes without a home phone, but I haven’t any homes without Internet. It is time to get more out of your Internet by having a VOIP home phone and stop paying unnecessarily for a traditional home phone.

Amazing Cave Churches Carved Out of Solid Rock | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 0 (Part 4)

Middle East’s Largest Church - Saint Simon Church (also called the Cave Church), Cairo, Egypt

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

I arrived in the early morning at the Oasis Hotel, so I had the afternoon and full evening free on my first day (Day 0) in Cairo. The tour guide suggested a few tours, and I picked visiting the Winter and Summer Churches located on the outskirts of Cairo.

The Monastery of Saint Simon is located in the Mokattam Mountain. To visit this historic area, you have to go through Garbage City, home of the famous Zabbaleen. The residents here are Coptic Christians who collect, sort, and recycle garbage of Cairo, all done by hand—no machines. The way this community does all the work manually is an incredible story in itself.

There are seven churches and chapels hidden inside the Monastery of St. Simon the Tame, all within a series of caves. The Virgin Mary and St. Simon Cathedral is the largest church in the Middle East with a seating capacity of 20,000 in the amphitheater.

The Cave Church of St. Simon is literally carved out of the solid rock of the stone mountain. The cave church is really a natural grotto, also known as the summer church. There is another underground 'winter' church as well.

Inside the church, you will find beautiful engravings covering the walls, representing stories from the Bible. The whole area has lots of engravings and artworks on the walls, on the mountains, statues, paintings, and carvings and all over.

Some other cave churches carved out of the rock are St. Bola’s Church, St. Marks Church, and St. Simon the Tanner’s Hall.

In recent days, there was another Church discovered underground. The Church (now known as the Burnt Church) got burnt, possibly from electricity. However, the picture of Jesus Christ did not burn. I saw the signs of smoke and fire on the frame, but miraculously the picture got saved without any significant damage.

The whole area was historic and felt like going back in time, especially the engravings on the walls telling various events from the Bible that occurred in Egypt.

There were lots of visitors, both local and foreigners, in that area. The security presence was noticeable. After seeing so many historic places in one area, I got tired and our team wanted to go for a restaurant or café to relax a little bit.

Toronto Will Be One of The Top Ten Competitive Cities on Earth By

Toronto Scores High On The Future Competitiveness of Cities List

First Published Date: August 22, 2013

Commissioned by Citi, The Economist Intelligence Unit has looked at several factors such as the quality of human capital, business and regulatory environment, environmental governance, cultural aspects, among other factors to determine the competitiveness of 120 global cities in 2025. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, a city’s competitiveness means its ability to attract businesses, capital, talent, and visitors – and the factors mentioned above are required to sustain high economic growth and future Competitiveness. Let’s look at the top ten list:

The Top Ten Competitive Cities in 2025

1.    New York

2.    London

3.    Singapore

4.    Hong Kong

5.    Tokyo

6.    Sydney

7.    Paris

8.    Stockholm

9.    Chicago

10.    Toronto

Vanguard Canada Launches 5 New ETFs

Five New Vanguard Canada ETFs

First Published Date: September 5, 2013

Low cost ETF guru Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. launched 5 more new ETFs in August. Vanguard entered the Canadian ETF market in December 2011 and currently its total ETF portfolio consists of 16 ETFs, including these 5 newcomers. Let’s look at these 5 new ETFs briefly.

VCN – FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF MER 0.12% – VCN tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the FTSE Canada All Cap Index. The difference between VCN and Vanguard’s other similar ETF VCE FTSE Canada Index is in its holdings. VCE holds about 77 large and mid-cap stocks. On the other hand, VCN offers more diversification by holding 277 large, mid, and small cap stocks.

VDU – FTSE Developed ex North America Index ETF MER 0.28% – VDU tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the FTSE Developed ex North America Index. The difference between VDU and Vanguard’s other similar ETF VEF FTSE Developed ex North America Hedged CAD Index is that unlike VEE, VDU has no currency hedging. The FTSE Developed ex North America Index provides exposure to developed countries excluding North American or emerging market stocks. If you remember my older posts on iShares 5 New ETFs, XEF – iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF MER 0.30% offers broader diversification by holding 2479 stocks, while VDU holds 1338 stocks.

VUN – U.S. Total Market Index ETF MER 0.15% – VUN tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the CRSP US Total Market Index that holds about 3582 large, mid, small and micro cap stocks. VUN is basically the non-hedged version of Vanguard’s VUS.

VGG (Non-Hedged) and VGH (Hedged) U.S. Dividend Appreciation Index ETF MER 0.28% – These ETFs track (net of expenses) the NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index that holds about 146 U.S. companies that have increased dividends over time. Some other U.S. dividend ETFs listed on TSX are XHD, CUD, ZDY.

There are about 281 ETFs trade on the Canadian TSX. The number is much higher in the U.S. at 1490 ETFs. Vanguard has about $2.5 trillion global assets under management ($285 billion in ETF). BlackRock iShares is the world’s largest asset manager and the world’s largest ETFs provider with about $3.6 trillion global assets under management ($645 billion in ETF).