Southern Ontario Spotlight

FedDev Ontario Minister Filomena Tassi visited stakeholders across the region to highlight Budget 2023’s investments to make life more affordable for Canadians. This included a stop in Brampton where she visited the Asian Food Centre to highlight the new Grocery Rebate. In Windsor, Minister Tassi visited the University of Windsor to meet with students and speak to the government’s plan to provide enhanced financial assistance and improved Registered Education Savings Plans to help students cover the costs of tuition, housing and everyday essentials, making the transition from school to working life easier. She also attended the Downtown Windsor Business Revitalization Association for the unveiling of two new art installations, as well as visited businesses in Windsor’s Little Italy. In London, she met with employees at General Dynamics Land Systems Canada and Sodecia. The Minister highlighted Budget 2023’s commitment to supporting hardworking small business owners by reducing tax rates and credit card transaction fees, and providing low-cost strategic financing and targeted funding. The Minister then visited Hamilton-based Eaton, a global power safety company, to discuss the government’s plan to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and more affordable energy to millions of Canadian homes. Budget 2023 also outlines plans for a clean economy through investments in clean manufacturing and zero-emission technologies, and development of a new tourism growth strategy for Canada’s tourism sector that includes targeted funding to support communities, small businesses and not-for-profit organizations in developing local projects and events.

It also proposes a renewal of the Regional Economic Growth through Innovation funding stream with $50 million in funding shared across Canada’s regional development agencies and support for economic development in official language minority communities (OLMCs), Indigenous communities and businesses, plans which align with FedDev Ontario’s overall priorities in southern Ontario. The Agency is committed to supporting businesses and communities in the region to create good jobs and help usher in a new era of economic prosperity for Canadians.

The i.d.e.a. Fund, an accelerator program launched by Innovation Guelph in partnership with Haltech, Innovate Niagara, WEtech Alliance, Innovation Factory and TechAlliance of Southwestern Ontario, celebrated the completion of its first cohort of innovative companies. Launched in 2022, the i.d.e.a. Fund targets companies with a focus on agri-innovation, cleantech and advanced manufacturing in urban and rural communities. With this first cohort, close to 120 companies received non-repayable contributions of up to $30,000 toward the development of growth plans based around talent attraction, securing further investment, product development and testing, market value assessments, commercialization of intellectual property and market diversification.

On March 23, Innovation Guelph held a virtual event celebrating this first cohort, and Minister Tassi was in attendance to provide remarks and congratulate several of the successful companies on their accomplishments and innovative technologies. Representatives from InnoviaGEO, Nova Institute, DATEC, Hope Pet Foods, MoxyPatch and SkyGauge Robotics also spoke about their experiences in the program and their successes to date.

“Canadians are looking for clean alternatives – which makes the i.d.e.a. Fund so exciting. I understand that there was an overwhelming response to the program and I am thrilled to know that a second cohort is coming this April. This will open more doors for more businesses in the region.”

- The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

In 2022, FedDev Ontario announced a $10-million investment for Innovation Guelph and its partners to deliver the i.d.e.a. Fund, to help Canadian businesses focused on green technology and clean innovation succeed through access to capital and mentoring to commercialize innovative technologies.

Minister Tassi joined promising entrepreneurs and investors to deliver keynote remarks at the Moonshots 2030 event, hosted by MaRS Discovery District and the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO). Minister Tassi spoke to the importance of Canada’s innovation economy, and highlighted Budget 2023 measures and investments focused on building a clean economy, fighting climate change, and creating new opportunities for Canadian businesses and workers. The event provided Canadian innovators, entrepreneurs and forward-thinking investors with unique networking opportunities and gave attendees opportunities to share stories, challenges and wins, and discuss solutions to gaps.

In addition, Krista Jones, MaRS Discovery District’s Chief Delivery Officer, Ventures and Ecosystems, announced the launch of two new MaRS programs focused on addressing challenges faced by start-ups and companies looking to scale, supported through the Scale-Up Platform which is supported by FedDev Ontario. Series A Funding Sprint is an investor readiness program aimed at supporting ventures in successfully raising their seed or series A funding through advisory services from a dedicated Capital Advisor, capital insights reports from MaRS, and access to networking and promotional opportunities. The Growth Acceleration Program will target ventures that currently have significant momentum and are looking to rapidly scale their operations and teams. Services of the program include validation of overall business plans including market fit, value proposition and sales processes.

FedDev Ontario invested over $50 million in 2019 to bring together three top innovation hubs — Communitech, MaRS Discovery District and Invest Ottawa – to implement the Scale-Up Platform to help innovative companies grow more quickly and support the creation high-quality, skilled jobs.

On March 2, FedDev Ontario partnered with Space Place Canada to present an exclusive event highlighting developments and opportunities in Canada’s space sector. The hybrid event, Opportunities in Space for Industry + Professionals: Lunar Gateway, Canadarm3 and New Space, provided more than 240 participants with information about opportunities available to industry, academia, and individuals in Canada’s growing space sector.

Presentations from participating businesses and organizations included advice and information from leading Canadian voices in the space sector, including Brian Gallant, CEO of Space Canada and former Premier of New Brunswick; Dr. Robert Zee, Executive Director of the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies’ Space Flight Laboratory; and Dave Mann, Head of Talent Acquisition at MDA, which is building the robotics for the new international Lunar Gateway. Space Place Canada, a not-for-profit organization, highlighted its plan to bring a 21st century physical public planetarium to Toronto to support STEAM (STEM+ Arts), education and experiences in Canada. Representatives from FedDev Ontario’s Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) unit provided information about the Agency’s funding programs and business services related to the aerospace sector, as well as information about Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits policy established to promote significant business opportunities for Canadian industry through federal defence and security procurement projects. FedDev Ontario’s ITB team provides advice and support to a wide range of southern Ontario’s manufacturing, research, and academic industry sectors and helps broker relationships between companies—including small-and-medium enterprises—and defence contractors.

FedDev Ontario and Space Place Canada are currently planning a follow-up event for July 2023, highlighting opportunities at other leading Canadian space organizations.

A replay of the event can be found on Space Place Canada’s YouTube channel.