Southern Ontario Spotlight - September 2020

York Region is home to many world-leading manufacturers that are embracing technology to take advantage of new opportunities, become more productive, stay competitive and maintain highly skilled workforces.

On August 25, Minister Mélanie Joly, along with Francesco Sorbara, Member of Parliament for Vaughan–Woodbridge, virtually toured Woodbridge-based Vision Profile Extrusions and announced a total investment of $7.8 million from FedDev Ontario to help three local, longstanding manufacturers grow and create jobs.

• With a $2.3-million investment, Vision Profile Extrusions will adopt leading-edge processes, integrating first-in-Canada and first-in-industry capabilities in robotics and automation, creating 36 skilled jobs in Woodbridge.
• With a $4.5-million investment, Axiom Group will automate and digitize its processes to improve its Industry 4.0-enabled facilities, creating 60 skilled jobs in Aurora.
• With a $1-million investment, DuROCK will establish a new manufacturing facility and scale up production to meet growing demand for its innovative, non-combustible Exterior Insulation Finish Systems (EIFS) solution, creating 20 skilled jobs in Woodbridge.

These investments will help to create good, local jobs, while leveraging more than $28 million in additional investments in York Region and boosting regional supply chain spending.

Well known for its beautiful scenery, cultural activities, theatres, wineries and unique shops, Niagara-on-the-Lake attracts millions of visitors annually, bringing vital tourism revenues and jobs to the region. On August 25, Minister Joly announced an investment of $900,000 to strengthen tourism in Niagara-on-the Lake and maintain jobs.

With this investment, the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake will receive $500,000 to establish a fund that will provide contributions of up to $20,000 to small- and medium-sized businesses in the tourism sector to offset the costs of reopening and adapting. The project is expected to support 50 businesses and maintain about 100 jobs.

In addition, the Shaw Festival will receive $400,000 to provide outdoor theatre performances and support visitor activity in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

These investments will help Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Shaw Festival continue to welcome visitors as businesses successfully adapt to new realities and maintain important jobs in the region’s tourism sector.

Following the announcement, Minister Joly, along with MP Vance Badawey, MP Chris Bittle, and Parliamentary Secretary Kate Young, participated in a roundtable discussion on challenges and opportunities in the tourism sector. Stakeholders raised a number of issues facing the sector in light of the pandemic, including discussions on economic supports for the wine and tourism industries; how to boost tourism during off-season times; support for buy-local activities and incentives for domestic travel and local purchases. Minister Joly reiterated the Government’s commitment to supporting businesses and organizations through this challenging time, outlining support available through the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan.

Supporting Canada’s women entrepreneurs is the primary focus of York University’s Entrepreneurial Leadership and Learning Alliance (ELLA) program, which aims to reduce gender inequality in entrepreneurship and create opportunities for women-led businesses to succeed and impact their communities. In partnership with small business enterprise centres across York Region, ELLA is a community accelerator providing training, advisory services and other targeted support for women entrepreneurs in rural and urban communities. Through ELLA, women entrepreneurs gain access to a community of peers and mentors, and the resources and foundational knowledge needed to scale their businesses.

The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, visited York University on August 25 to announce a top-up investment of $281,600 for ELLA through the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy’s Ecosystem Fund. The investment will be used to create a new Fractional Executive Program, which will enable participants in ELLA’s Altitude program to hire professionals to assist with program support, in order to accelerate their companies’ growth. Ten women entrepreneurs will take part in the four-month ELLA Altitude program, scheduled to begin in October 2020.

Learn more about how the ELLA program is supporting the growth of women-led businesses in southern Ontario.

On September 9, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced investments of nearly $221 million in partnership with Canadian financial institutions – including nearly $93 million from the Government of Canada over the next four years – to launch Canada’s first-ever Black Entrepreneurship Program. This program will help thousands of Black business owners and entrepreneurs across the country recover from this crisis and grow their businesses.

The program will include:

• up to $53 million to develop and implement a new National Ecosystem Fund to support Black-led business organizations across the country. This Fund, to be delivered by Canada’s regional development agencies, including FedDev Ontario, will help Black business owners and entrepreneurs access funding and capital, mentorship, financial planning services, and business training;
• up to $33.3 million in support through the new Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund that will provide loans of between $25,000 and $250,000 for Black business owners and entrepreneurs. The Government of Canada is also partnering with financial institutions, including RBC, BMO Financial Group, Scotiabank, CIBC, National Bank, TD, Vancity, and Alterna Savings, to make up to $128 million available in additional lending support; and
• up to $6.5 million to create and sustain a new Black Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub that will collect data on the state of Black entrepreneurship in Canada and help identify Black entrepreneurs’ barriers to success as well as opportunities for growth. The Hub will be run by Black-led community and business organizations, in partnership with educational institutions.

 

“The pandemic has shone a light on the inequalities that disproportionately hurt Black Canadians, and has underscored the need to restart our economy in a way that allows all Canadians an equal chance to succeed. That is why today – thanks in part to the leadership, advocacy, and expertise of Black business owners and Black-led organizations – we are announcing Canada’s first-ever Black Entrepreneurship Program. As we move forward, this program will help support Black entrepreneurs and create new opportunities for Black-owned businesses, so they are well-positioned for our economic recovery.”

- The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on businesses and organizations across the country. To support them through this challenging time and into recovery, the Government of Canada launched the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) which provides financial contributions to help support SMEs’ fixed operating costs. Recognizing the particular impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on main street businesses, on June 11, Minister Joly announced a FedDev Ontario investment of $42.5 million through the RRRF initiative to support the Digital Main Street platform.

The platform helps Ontario businesses pivot operations to include digital business models and stay competitive now and into the future. Digital Main Street recently announced the official launch of a key aspect of its platform: the Future Proof Program, which aims to create lasting change for businesses. Through this initiative, businesses will have the opportunity to work with teams of highly-trained students and recent grads with expertise in web design, digital marketing and more to create transformation plans that will give them the tools to maintain their upgraded online presence. The program also facilitates collaboration among businesses, communities and regional innovation centres to identify common challenges and work toward solutions.

Visit the Digital Main Street website for more information or to apply.

On September 1, Queen’s University and Kingston Economic Development Corporation announced the selection of 21 women-led businesses that will make up the first cohort of their LEAD program. The 14-week LEAD program is part of the WE-CAN Project at Queen’s University, which is supported with over $3-million in funding from FedDev Ontario through the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES).

Designed to engage C-suite women executives and women in senior leadership positions within the Kingston Region, the LEAD program will encourage business growth and development through expertise and shared experience. The goal is to create a network of creative, professional women focused on improving opportunities for women in business through networking, new connections, educational workshops, and most importantly promoting the advancement and success of women-led businesses.

Learn more about LEAD and review the list of participating companies on the Queen’s University website.

 

“We know women-led businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic. We also know that women are vital to the success of our society and our economy and that they have the strength and ability to pivot their businesses in response. We are proud to support projects such as the WE-CAN initiative at Queen’s University through the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, which is working to create a strong network of women business leaders in the region. Congratulations to this cohort of local businesses. I look forward to learning of your continued success!”

- The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

Health Canada and the Canadian Digital Service are urging Canadians to download the COVID Alert app to do their part in limiting the spread of COVID-19. If an individual is diagnosed with COVID-19, his or her healthcare provider will supply an anonymous temporary code to enter into the app, which is then uploaded to a national network. The COVID Alert app uses Bluetooth technology to exchange random codes with nearby phones and notify users of a potential exposure to COVID-19.  To protect confidentiality and privacy, the COVID Alert app does not collect personal or health information, track user location, or disclose the identity of users.

The COVID Alert App is another tool Canadians can use to help protect themselves and their communities, along with the proper use of masks and continued physical distancing measures. The more Canadians that download the COVID Alert app on their phones, the more we can limit the spread of COVID-19. The app is free for Canadians to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

For more information visit canada.ca/coronavirus.