...according to the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index.
Canada also ranked third in the closing a business category and ranked fifth for protecting investors.
The World Bank's Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations for local firms in 183 economies and selected cities at the subnational level.
According to the detailed data on starting a business, starting a business in Canada requires only one procedure, it takes on average five days to register a firm, and the cost, as calculated in percentage of income per capita, is 0.4 percent.
Compare these figures to a country such as Greece, where starting a business requires 15 procedures, it takes 19 days to start a business, and costs 20.7 percent of income per capita, and we look really good.
The worst place to start a business in terms of jumping through hoops is Equatorial Guinea where an astounding 20 procedures are necessary to start a business. And if you have any thought of starting a business in Suriname, you better get started; it takes 694 days, just short of two years, to get one started there. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the most expensive country to start a business; it costs 735.1 percent of income per capita to set one up.
And where is it easier to start a business than in Canada? New Zealand ranked number one, followed by Australia.
Overall, Canada came in seventh for ease of doing business, following Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Denmark - perhaps because of our low scores on enforcing contracts and trading across borders.
By Susan Ward, about.com guide
