Innovation + Job News

Though we're often told that it doesn't take much technology to create and run a business--even ordinary laptops can be very powerful tools--there are some ideas that require very robust computing to get off the ground.

High performance computing (HPC), as it's called, relies on the most powerful computers yet devised to process information that run-of-the-mill machines cannot. There's a real barrier for entrepreneurs who have ideas that rely on HPC, however, since the computers aren't the kind you can find at the local Apple store or Best Buy, nor are the costs the kind you can cover with a small business line of credit.

Enter the Ontario Centres for Excellence, a non-profit that helps academics and industry partners collaborate on commercialization projects, acting as a facilitator and co-investor. OCE runs a high performance computing program that makes researchers and supercomputers available to participating entrepreneurs and is currently accepting applications. Interested small- and medium-sized businesses can submit their research proposals by April 30.

"I'm looking for companies that are already exceptionally savvy," says Ron Van Holst, director of research development for the program, "but are looking to be able to do something…that can't be done right now."

Currently, he explains, there's a real deficit in the availability of HPC outside of academia. Many entrepreneurs, as a result, simply aren't familiar with the technology and what it can do. For that reason, Van Holst says OCE has found, "our best success with companies that have been launched out of universities," as the entrepreneurs are more likely to have been exposed to HPC already. That's also why OCE is speaking with some Toronto-area incubators, and hoping to expand the reach of high powered computing further in the coming years.

OCE is looking specifically for companies that want to work on agile computing (which speeds up the pace at which computer programs can run), medical applications, and improving infrastructure (like local transit systems).

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ron Van Holst, Director, Research Development,High Performance Computing, Ontario Centres of Excellence

Sumitimo Precision Products, a Japanese company dating back to 1961 that manufactures everything from hydraulic controls and environmental systems to micro technology (such as silicon etching systems), announced last fall that it would be opening a new facility in Mississauga that is set to become the headquarters of the company's aerospace division. And this month came news of progress on that front: the Mississauga site is now set to hire for 50 new positions with the help of the provincial government.

Ontario is providing SPP Canada Aircraft with a loan of $3.25 million. SPP is investing about $50 million in the facility overall.

Shinichi Nakamura, president of SPP Canada, highlighted the existing knowledge base in aerospace technology and manufacturing in Ontario when making this recent announcement. SPP's Mississauga facility will focus primarily on landing gear.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, about 40 per cent of the world's commercial landing gear is manufactured in the province. This has ripple effects on other local manufacturers. SPP currently sources about a third of its component parts for landing gear systems in Ontario, a number that will grow as this new facility hits its stride.

"From this base," Nakamura said in a press statement, "Sumitomo looks forward to offering an expanded suite of products and services to our North American aerospace customers."

Among the positions SPP is seeking to feel are logistics experts, procurement specialists, and account managers.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ministry of Economic Development and Trade

Lots of interesting opportunities have cropped up lately. Here are a few of the most promising:

Grocery giant Loblaw is currently looking for a senior developer and a more junior developer to work within its new eCommerce group. Both hires will work on the company's new product platform, set to launch later in 2013.

The Pembina Institute is Canada's best-known clean energy think tank. The non-profit is seeking a communications lead with at least two years of professional experience.

Ecommerce start-up Shopcastr, who we last wrote about in the summer, is hiring a UI/UX designer, to spearhead their design projects. Unusual skil required: "Can make a bitchin’ button."

For those with a good appetite, Postmedia is looking for someone to do front- and back-end development of their new experiment in food publishing called Gastropost.

Also on the hunt for a developer is TalentEgg, the innovative job board that matches up employers and students. They are looking especially for someone with PHP skills.

If the outdoors is more your speed, Evergreen is looking for an assistant camp director. Their camp is called Green City Adventure Camp and it focuses on the intersection of the environment with the city.

Finally--and also good for the nature lovers--the Riverdale Food Working Group is hoping to find someone with just the right energy to serve as a community animator and raise local awareness of food and food security issues.

Are you hiring or do you know of an innovative job opportunity in Toronto? Email Yonge Street's innovation and jobs editor Hamutal Dotan to let her know. 

Recently the federal government announced that it will be supporting two dozen innovation projects in and around Toronto, via the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.

"This investment will boost business innovation, skills and product development in the Toronto area," said Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear when announcing the investment, "creating new full-time jobs and greater economic diversity within the region."

FedDev's contribution to the projects comes via a variety of the agency's funds, and will total approximately $18 million, roughly $13 million of the total investment is in the form of repayable contributions. The recipient projects have leveraged this government money to generate up to $55 million more from private sector investors. According to FedDev estimates, the projects are expected to lead to the creation of more than 800 local jobs.

A sampling of investment recipients: 

• Education software company Top Hat Monocle, which also closed an $8 million round of funding in the summer, and anticipates creating 30 jobs over the next two years.


• Medical diagnostic start-up Xagenic, which is working on a lab-free platform that will enable rapid testing for infectious diseases.


• The Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow's ICT (Information Communication Technology) Skills, which will use the funds to reach out to youth and encourage interest in science and technology careers. This investment will enable them to reach nearly 30,000 more students.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Office of Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology

Welcome to Yonge Street's first ever job round-up, where we highlight a few of the most interesting job opportunities available in Toronto right now.

Community-oriented food organization Not Far From the Tree helps homeowners collect fruit from the trees in their yards, and sends much of the harvest to local agencies like food banks and shelters. NFFTT is looking for a project director to start this spring. It is the organization's primary leadership position.

Also for those with a green thumb, the Toronto Botanical Garden is looking for a new executive director to oversee all programs and fundraising. Candidates should have a background in horticulture as well as organizational leadership.

FreshBooks makes easy invoicing and accounting tools for small businesses and freelancers. The company is seeking an Android developer who will "make FreshBooks a world-class Android development centre."

Another organization on the hunt for a mobile developer: the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. The company needs someone to develop an Android and potentially also an iOS educational app. The app(s) will explain the benefits of citizenship to youth ages 16-24.

MaRS Discovery District, Toronto's best-known innovation centre, is hiring an investment manager for the Investment Accelerator Fund, which puts funds into early-stage technology companies. This business development opportunity is a mid-level position.

Major design firm DIALOG (550+ staff) does work in urban design, interior design, architecture, and engineering. They are seeking a graphic designer to work in their Communications and Creative Services departments.

The Ontario Power Authority is looking for specialist to help support their Conservation Fund, which is OPA's "vehicle for the incubation of innovative approaches to energy conservation and demand side technologies."

Finally, ebook and ereader company Kobo is looking for a front-end web developer to work on merchandising and marketing materials.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan

Ontario's new premier Kathleen Wynne gave residents a sense of her vision for the province via the Speech from the Throne, delivered last week at Queen's Park by Lieutenant Governor David Onley. As is typical for such speeches, it mostly focused on the broad strokes and big picture, but a few specific policies were included. Among them: an announcement that Ontario will be getting a new, $300 million venture capital fund.

The fund will aggregate money from several sources, starting with $50 million that will be coming from the province. The new Liberal minority government, Wynne wrote in her speech, is eager to "work with financial institutions and government agencies to ensure that small- and medium-sized enterprises have access to the capital they need to expand." The federal government will contribute an as-yet unspecified amount of money via its Venture Capital Action Plan (which has a total of $400 million available for dispersement nationally), and the remaining funds will come from private sector partners.

The new fund will be based on an earlier one, the Ontario Venture Capital Fund (OVCF), which dates back to the 2006 provincial budget. It is a "fund of funds" model--that is, a fund that is itself composed of several different venture capital funds. Full details are still being worked out, but the government anticipates that this venture capital fund will in turn attract more than $4 billion in investment.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ministry of Research and Innovation

"One in three people in their lifetime will develop a brain disorder," says Jordan Antflick, outreach lead for the Ontario Brain Institute. And right now, we don't do nearly a good enough job of helping many of them.

The Liberal government included a funding announcement for the OBI in the Speech from the Throne that was delivered last week, a sign of how important it is that we make progress on this front.

Created in 2010, the OBI is a non-profit, government funded project whose mission is to bring researchers, government, and the private sector together to help make Ontario a centre for commercialization and a leader in patient care when it comes to treating brain disorders. It began with a three-year funding commitment. After spending some time getting organized and off the ground, OBI pursued work in three areas: neurodevelopment, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy.

This new announcement, says Antflick, covers five years of funding, and will allow OBI to "move out of start-up mode." OBI will continue its work in those initial three research areas, and also be expanding to cover two new ones. Details of the precise funding amount or the brain disorders involved aren't public yet, but Antflick told us those two new areas will have to do with treating the elderly. The first tranche of funding was for $5 million a year.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Jordan Antflick, Outreach Lead, Ontario Brain Institute

In the years since compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs started appearing on hardware store shelves, we've all gotten used to the idea of switching to more energy efficient lightbulbs in our homes. Now, in several jurisdictions around the world, the old incandescent bulbs are being phased out by law. In Canada this process will culminate during 2014, as bulbs become subject to new energy efficiency regulations.

Hoping to help consumers become even more efficient, three University of Toronto alumni are preparing to launch a new bulb called NanoLight. It's a new form of LED bulb devised by applied science and engineering grads Gimmy Chu, Christian Yan, and Tom Rodinger.

It took the three entrepreneurs "probably about two or three years" to settle on the NanoLight's design, Chu told us over the phone from California. It uses 12 watts of energy to create the same light as a traditional 100 watt light bulb. A NanoLight will, he says, provide 30,000 hours of illumination. (You can learn a bit more about the technical details in this video.)

The three founders are in the last days of a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to help them launch the product--a campaign which has already raised more than 10 times the $20,000 they were aiming for. "The last thing you want to do is give up equity," Chu says when asked about choosing to crowdsource their start-up funding rather than pursue more established investment routes. With investors potentially calling the shots, Chu and his co-founders were worried, the entrepreneurs might "end up doing work you don't believe in."

The first NanoLights are expected to ship in May, and the trio's next goal is to build up momentum and generate orders. After that, Chu says, they hope to expand the product line to include dimmable bulbs, as well as bulbs in a range of colours and to fit different sockets. There is also "a solar product" already in the works, though Chu is saving the details of that for now.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Gimmy Chu, co-founder, NanoLight

The federal government is investing nearly $800,000 in Toronto-based Engineering Services Inc. to help it develop "a next-generation mobile robotics platform." The robotics and automation company develops technologies that can be applied in a variety of sectors, ranging from the medical to the military.

The robotics platform's main task is to develop ways to use automation to perform certain tasks in high risk environments, such as ones where the military or law enforcement are operating. The more robots can be used in such environments to perform key functions such as exploration and information-gathering, the safer those environments, and the people who work in them, may become. The repayable investment comes via the governments Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI), which supports research projects in defence, security, and aerospace.

"Canada is a world leader in robotics, and through targeted and repayable investments such as this one, we are helping cement that reputation," said industry minister Christian Paradis, upon announcing the investment. "Advanced economies have to become leaders in the high-value-added stages of production." The research and development will be done with help from University of Toronto faculty and students.

ESI was founded in 1982 by Dr. Andrew Goldenberg who joined the University of Toronto as a professor of mechanical and industrial engineering that same year. A researcher with a long history of work in robotics, Goldenberg spent the years just prior to that working on the development of the first Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), which most of us know more colloquially as the Canadarm--the jointed, robotic, arm-like mechanism that was used for decades to move shuttle payloads during missions in space.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Office of Christian Paradis

There's some good news coming out of the federal government: the University of Toronto has been awarded a total of $7.3 million over the next five years to support eight separate research projects. The money comes via the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), which is the federal government's primary agency for issuing scientific research funds.

The largest grant comes via the Strategic Network Grants (SNG) program, which focuses on supporting research that is likely to have an economic impact on Canada within a decade, and specifically on large-scale collaborative projects that span organizations and disciplines. This $4.4 million grant will go to the Canadian Network for Aquatic Ecosytems, which includes researchers from 11 universities and several government departments, and whose lead researcher is the University of Toronto's Donald Jackson. The network will use the money to investigate how the loss of aquatic biodiversity will affect Canadians—how our services, economy, and industry are changing as a result of environmental stress in aquatic ecosystems. That, said the network in a statement announcing the grant, "will help inform policies on the development of Canada’s natural resources in regions where rapid economic development is underway."

Another $2.9 million will be distributed among seven other projects at the university via a separate grants program. Among the scientists awarded research funds: a chemical engineer studying innovative ways to process pulp and paper mill waste; a materials science researcher exploring efficient light harvesting; and an ecologist examining how to optimize marine protection areas.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Last year, after concluding that "Canada is weak at business innovation," the Conference Board of Canada announced that it was establishing a Centre for Business Innovation (CBI). The new centre's goal: "To learn why Canada is not a leader in business innovation…and to formulate public policies that will successfully stimulate business innovation." The CBI is hosting an innovation summit in Toronto later this month, at which they'll unveil the results of their first major study examining how Canada fares when it comes to financing innovation.

That report's key message: Canada has a large and strong public equity market, but unfortunately also "has a serious issue with innovation commercialization." As a nation we aren't particularly strong when it comes to riskier investments, in particular when it comes to financing research and development in a business context: "Canadian-based businesses would need to more than double their annual spending on R&D…to equal the business R&D intensity of the United States," the report finds.

In order to make progress, the report goes on, Canadian innovators "need practice tools to help them explain to investors both their innovative activity (e.g. innovation metrics) and the way it makes money (e.g. the business model and financial projections)." In short, we need to smooth the path to commercialization, and in order to do that we need to both provide new financial tools for innovation and develop a more sophisticated marketing culture around innovation. It's not that we lack the capacity for this--as the report points out, "Canada successfully funds risky ventures in mining and oil and gas development."--But we need a broader culture of business innovation, and Canadian innovators need to improve their capacity to sell innovation to potential investors. The CBI will turn to the practicalities of accomplishing that in future reports.

"Financing Innovation by Established Businesses in Canada" is available online [PDF] (free, but registration required).

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Conference Board of Canada

Toronto is known for its cutting edge academic and medical research facilities, but the path from the lab to the marketplace isn't always short or direct.

In 2008, with the goal of making the most of the findings coming out of those facilities, 16 leading institutions including Ryerson University, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and OCAD University joined forces to create MaRS Innovation, a collective commercialization agent. (The MaRS Discovery District, the innovation centre for entrepreneurs, is also a member, though they are often confused, MaRS DD and MaRS Innovation are two separate organizations.)

MaRS Innovation was started with the help of a five year, $15 million federal investment, and this month they were glad to announce they've been awarded a new $15 million grant. The new round of funding comes from the federally run Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program.

MaRS Innovation was created, says president and CEO Raphael Hofstein, "to address a very interesting challenge for Canada, which is 'how do you turn outstanding research into something that directly helps the economy?'"

The initial five year period of support, he goes on, was to establish a foundation for the organization. "Now in the next three or four years, we will build the tower on top of the foundation." The first five years gave them a good start, he explains, but it's "a bit of a challenge" as far as the timeline for development with still-emerging technologies. By the end of this second five year period, MaRS will have "meaningful operations"--businesses that have emerged from the research innovations coming out of the member institutions. This funding program, he concludes, "is a game-changer."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Raphael Hofstein, President and CEO, MaRS Innovation

The municipal government unveiled a new economic development plan at City Hall last week. It hopes the plan will improve conditions for businesses that are thinking of setting up shop in Toronto as well as businesses that are already here, but face bureaucratic hurdles to success. Titled Collaborating for Competitiveness: A Strategic Plan for Accelerating Growth and Job Creation in Toronto, the plan is very much interested in sweating the small stuff: its focus is on streamlining zoning processes, maintaining infrastructure, and raising our city's profile--the nitty-gritty, daily details.

Among the report's key recommendations: 

- Reduce the time it takes to review development applications for employment uses.
- Maintain the current commitment to reducing the ratio of residential to non-residential property tax rates.
- Request the Province to conduct property tax assessments based on current (employment) use rather than highest market value use. Effectively, this would stop the assessment process from penalizing developers who want to retain property for employment uses rather than building lucrative condos.
- Conduct outreach "to identify and assist Toronto-based manufacturers seeking global product mandates."
- Establish a wider network of incubators and accelerators.

The ideas contained in this report are smaller-scale than ones found in some other recent economic development strategies. In 2010, the Toronto Board of Trade issued a sweeping report that was much broader in scope, for instance, including recommendations on everything from environmental policy to attracting immigrants. The emphasis on employment land use in the City report is well-timed, as Toronto is also in the middle of an Official Plan review, and a consideration of how to preserve employment lands in the face of increasing development.

Collaborating for Competitiveness will be debated at the next city council meeting, on February 20 and 21. The full text of the report is available online [PDF].

Writer: Hamutal Dotan

The Business Development Bank of Canada wants to give you money--one of you, at least. The BDC has just opened applications for its 2013 Young Entrepreneur Award.

Canadian entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35 are eligible to enter. Eleven finalists will be selected, one from each province plus one from the territories, by a panel of judges in each jurisdiction. Those finalists will move on to compete for the grand prize of $100,000, and a second prize of $25,000 in consulting services, with the winners chosen by the public, who will vote on BDC's website.

The BDC Young Entrepreneur Awards are meant specifically for businesses at a critical juncture; judges are looking for "turning point projects that will propel small- and medium-sized businesses to new growth," BDC explains in a video guide to the awards.

To apply, you must create a short original video (just one to two minutes, no fancy camera work expected) explaining your turning point, and your approach to tackling it effectively. There's no specific constraint on what counts: it could be a new marketing strategy, an equipment purchase, or some advice that will help set up export operations. The key is that it's something that you haven't been able to do yet, but that the judges are convinced could mark a fundamental moment of growth for your company.

All applications must be received by noon on April 2.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Business Development Bank of Canada

Innovation requires, first of all, innovators: people with the creativity and talent to come up with plans and projects, products and services, that hadn't quite occured to anyone else before. And innovation in the globalizing world requires increased flexibility, knowledge of foreign markets, and the capacity to adapt to changing technologies and circumstances.

Enter a new immigration initiative from the federal government. Announced last week, the Start-Up Visa Program is a pilot project that will run for five years, with 2,750 visas available each year for immigrant entrepreneurs and their family members.  The goal is to attract entrepreneurs and entice them to start new businesses -- and by extension creating new jobs -- here in Canada. To be eligible, applicants must have some funding from Canadian backers lined up: a minimum of $75,000 from an angel investor or $200,000 from a venture capital firm. If accepted, applicants will become permanent residents. The Start-Up Visa Program is the successor to the defunct Federal Entrepreneur Program, a previous immigration stream that the government halted in 2011.

"Recruiting dynamic entrepreneurs from around the world will help Canada remain competitive in the global economy," said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney when announcing the program. In order to help support the program, the government will be working with Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) and the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), who will help line up potential investors.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism