About Competitive Alternatives:
The 2008 KPMG Competitive Alternatives Study, the seventh since it was inaugurated in the 1990s, ranks the competitive business cost advantage of 136 cities in 10 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. The study measures the combined impact of 27 significant cost components that are most likely to vary by location, as applied to 17 different business operations. Over 2,000 individual business scenarios were examined, combining more than 50,000 items of data. The basis for the cost comparison is the after-tax cost of startup and operation, over a 10-year planning horizon.

Waterloo Region
Waterloo Region, known for over 20 years as Canada's Technology Triangle, has retained an overall level of competitiveness against the average of a range of US locations, according to the new Competitive Alternatives Study. This competitiveness has been sustained in the face of marked weakness in the US dollar since the previous survey two years ago. Costs for Waterloo Region are fifth lowest among the 20 principal cities in the North American Northeast surveyed by KPMG. Overall, business costs in Waterloo Region are just under the average in the US.

Waterloo Region - R&D Cost Competitivness
Research and development remains an area of notable advantage for Canada, Ontario and Waterloo Region. Waterloo Region has been successful in attracting new research-intensive investment and jobs from firms such as McAfee, Nuvation and Google.

For more information about this study, conducted by the prestigious international management consulting firm KPMG, please visit www.competitivealternatives.com.