Canada’s youth (those aged 15-24) face significant employment challenges despite their skills and education. During December 2015, Ontario’s youth unemployment rate held at approximately 13%,more than double the unemployment rate of adults (those aged 25 to 54) and seniors (those aged 55 and older). To earn money and build skills, youth in Ontario are now…
The Organizations and Collaborations stream of Growing Forward 2 (GF2) Ontario is specifically designed to address challenges faced by the agriculture and agri-food industry within Ontario by supporting key partnerships across the province. Not-for-profits (such as industry organizations) and collaborations (partnerships involving at least two organizations, or organizations and industry or academic partners) can apply…
Accessing and capitalizing on export expansion opportunities will be a critical strategy for businesses this year. A weakened Canadian dollar has increased the number of trade and export opportunities available for Canadian entities, and Canadian businesses must be willing to pursue these new markets to capitalize. Many small and mid-sized Canadian businesses that are new…
Northern Ontario’s keen focus on profiting from natural resources has helped and hindered the area’s economic development. While these industries have led to wide scale investment for northern Ontario, the global market for natural resources has deteriorated over recent years and has reduced the amount of incoming business investments. However, northern Ontario is slowly beginning…
Canadian businesses looking to scale their operations and grow into new export markets can access CanExport funding for marketing and sales projects. Available for startups to medium-sized businesses, CanExport supports projects such as modifications to product packaging, conducting market research, and participating in international trade shows. Businesses can receive cost-sharing support from CanExport for up…
Last week, British Columbia’s Premier Christy Clark announced that the province’s public schools will begin to teach computer coding classes to students in kindergarten to Grade 12. Starting in September 2016, they’ll join New Brunswick and Nova Scotia as the first provinces in Canada to embrace technical education for young students. The goal of this…
Following a profitable year in 2015, can Canada’s manufacturing industry continue to exceed expectations and repair economic damage caused by diminishing oil values? 2016 is shaping up to be a cautiously optimistic year for Canadian manufacturing. Led by a surging automotive industry, Canada has reasons for being hopeful that the manufacturing sector will help our…
Small businesses in Canada’s evolving food and beverage manufacturing industry have new opportunities to grow their business in export markets. Increasing worldwide demand for high-quality Canadian products, in addition to a weakened Canadian dollar, has created additional opportunities for manufacturers to develop international relationships. A popular export expansion strategy is to participate in trade shows…
Attracting and retaining skilled labour is an increasingly difficult challenge that many Canadian businesses must overcome. In 2014 nearly 60% of businesses responding to a Management Issues Survey by Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) indicated it was one of their primary concerns. To eliminate this challenge, the Canadian government is now offering increased assistance through…
The Automotive Supplier Innovation Program (ASIP) was created as part of the Economic Action Plan 2015. This Canadian government funding program will provide up to $100 million over five years (2015-2020) to encourage automotive suppliers to develop new innovative products and processes that will make Canada more competitive on a global scale. This program was…