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The Importance Of Doing Business In Canada

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Doing business in Canada is often synonymous with North American business practices. In most cases there is little difference in managerial style, business language and approach to agreements whether you’re standing in Calgary, Alberta or Chicago, Illinois. There is an exception to this general principle however. Doing business in indigenous communities and with indigenous peoples in Canada is almost unrecognizable from models used across North America. Indigenous culture is different, the values are different, and the measure of time is different. This paper will briefly highlight some of the intricacies of managing business relationships in Canada’s indigenous communities.

Canada is a large and diverse nation state. Within Canada there are 614 distinct indigenous First Nations recognized by the …show more content…

There are no cold, unemotional deals in these communities; as such, trust and communication become key elements to managing business relationships in “Indian Country”. (Edworthy, 2014) Many of the trust issues have nothing to do with the partners at the table, but are latent cultural issues as a result of intrusive legislation and regulation. (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2014) Communication with indigenous peoples can present unique challenges as well. As English and business English are not the first languages used by indigenous peoples, long pauses and quiet tones are often used when Western culture would dictate otherwise. Prolonged eye contact, a sign of genuineness in western culture, can be enough to cause mistrust and discomfort among indigenous peoples so strongly that it could jeopardize nearly completed business arrangements and agreements. (Joseph, 2015) It is critical that research into the individual communities and their customs be conducted by the proponents prior to making contact. This extra time can avoid costly and time consuming

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