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Here’s an issue that deserves more attention in 2016: lowering the burden of business property tax in the city of Montreal.

It’s clear by now that we’re living through a low-growth period and that investment dollars are hard to come by.

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Montreal does a pretty good job of competing for foreign investment by international standards because its overall operating costs are relatively low and its currency is now attractively valued. But within a Canadian context, the city is not competitive at all.

The C.D. Howe Institute and the Montreal Economic Institute both looked at this issue and concluded that business property taxes in Montreal are among the highest in the country — well above prevailing rates in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and other places.

If taxes are too high, companies have an incentive to move elsewhere — and it doesn’t have to be far. Moving off-island or elsewhere in Quebec becomes an attractive option if you know that an investment in Montreal is going to be eroded every year by the tax rate.