On the same day that we published our latest forecast for the European ICT market, Forrester has also published our forecast for the Canadian tech market (see June 8, 2011,“The Canadian Tech Market 2011-2012 -- Different From US In Industry Mix of Purchases; Similar Growth Rates").   The following are my key takeaways from this report:

• The Canadian market for purchases of information and communications technologies (ICT) by businesses and governments is about 10% the size of the US ICT market, and only about 3% of the global ICT market.  Still, it is an important market because of the sophisticated level of its tech adoption (i.e., its readiness to adopt advanced technologies) and its proximity to the US market.  
   
• Canada's ICT market growth rates of 6.2% in 2011 and 2012 growth of 8.1% in Canadian dollars will be very similar to the US ICT market growth in US dollars in the same periods.  With the Canadian dollar having gained strength against the US dollar, that means that US vendors will see even stronger Canadian revenue growth when they convert their Canadian sales back into US dollars. 
   
• Communications equipment and software will have the strongest growth in 2011, at 10.5% and 8.4%, respectively.  Computer equipment growth of 4.4% and telecommunications services growth of 2.2% will be the weakest product categories.
   
• Canada’s ICT market is not a microcosm of the US, though.  Just as Canada is different politically, culturally, and economically from the US, so too does the Canadian IT market differ.  For example, the government market is almost twice as big in Canada as it is in the US.  Natural resources and financial services loom larger in the Canadian tech market than in the US; health care and professional services are less important.
   
• In terms of products, computer equipment, IT consulting and systems integration services, and telecommunications services are a larger part of the Canadian ICT market than in the US; communications equipment and software are relatively smaller.
   

As a courtesy to our Canadian clients, all data in this report -- including our global ICT numbers -- are reported in Canadian dollars.  For our non-Canadian vendor clients, we also provide the US dollar equivalents to our Canadian dollar forecasts for Canada.