As transit networks across the province are in an ongoing cycle of unavoidable updates, expansions and repairs, funding sources are becoming more difficult to find. Transit City, a major Toronto transit project to expand and update the current rail system, is currently under discussion between municipal and provincial politicians and Metrolinx, all partners in this project, to finalize details on funding and a reasonable timeline for completion. The Province has committed $8.15 billion to this project which is slated to be completed over ten years, a revision to the original completion time of eight years. Transit infrastructure renewal is essential for the long term economic growth of Toronto – indeed many communities - and their ability to attract and retain business investment.

A report released on Wednesday by the Toronto Board of Trade outlines sixteen revenue generating ideas that could provide funding for transit within the City of Toronto, including parking surcharges, gas taxes and road tolls. The study estimates that the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) will need about $2 billion annually to fund the Metrolinx vision.

Studies like this are a great start to finding solutions, but Toronto and other municipalities across Ontario will have to continue to take a serious look at how transit is funded across all networks and develop an innovative plan to generate necessary funding to support the ongoing needs of transit infrastructure. Recently at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting, delegates from across Ontario gave their support to the exploration of alternative funding sources in light of the enormous need for transit and transportation infrastructure. The OES will be taking a critical look at alternative forms of funding for infrastructure projects in the transportation of goods, as this is vital to the future success of business within the province.

What is the best way to fund transit infrastructure in the province? Share your ideas on how to fund this investment in the future of the province.

It seems fair to say that the predominant subject of conversation over the last two years has been the recession. The mood has understandably been fairly negative, not just in Canada but around the globe. Media are full of stories of businesses downsizing or shutting down, jobs being lost, financial markets fluctuating in unprecedented ways and now, most concerning of all, entire countries on the brink of bankruptcy. Without downplaying these negative effects, how about injecting some positivity into the mix? As history has proven so many times, recession doesn’t always have to be all doom and gloom.

Do you know what the following companies have in common: General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, CNN, MTV? They were all born during recessions. Even Apple’s i-Pod emerged from the dot.com recession. So what are these companies doing right? They know 3 things:

• Innovation is key to remaining competitive. During recessions, most companies cut back on R&D and marketing spending. To retain a competitive edge, don’t do what everybody else is doing. Stand out!
• Being proactive is the winning formula. They have put the “I” back into Innovation by asking themselves how they can make a difference and contribute to economic prosperity. Lead the market, don’t react to it. Throw the adage “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” out of the window.
• Collaboration is key. Business leaders and those they need to collaborate with, more often than not, have the same agenda and ambitions. Yet somehow they speak different languages. This “Tower of Babel” needs to disappear if we are to move forward.

Following the above logic, the OES has turned its attention to business-university partnerships. Perhaps you are thinking:

• What is the value of such partnerships? How can applied research be transferred successfully to the private sector?
• Our company has experience partnering with universities and I’d like to share some of my ideas to improve the situation.
• How can I establish a research partnership? I heard it can be a tremendously complicated process. Where do I go for information?
• How can we all make the current environment even better for both businesses and universities?

If you want answers and wish to share some of your experiences, join us in Sudbury, London or Vaughan for our “Connect to Innovate” workshops.

Send us your thoughts before the first workshop on May 26th! Take our Innovation Poll.

Picture by: theonlyone

The following is a guest editorial by David Bradley, President of the Ontario Trucking Association.

After all the debate, the studies and public hearings, the future of the new, publicly-owned bridge at Windsor-Detroit currently rests with the Michigan Legislature. By June 1st, we will know whether the so-called DRIC (which stands for Detroit River International Crossing, though I think we should start calling it the Gordie Howe Bridge) project will be built, or whether it will be relegated to the backburner and, perhaps, never constructed – at least not in most of our lifetimes.

While it took a while, and we had our own political battles on this side of the border, all three Canadian levels of government are now solidly behind the project and the Province of Ontario has already embarked upon construction of the freeway linkages to the site of the new bridge.

Last year, the Michigan legislature enacted a law mandating the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to provide two things to state legislators by May 1, 2010 – (1) “Investment grade” traffic data; plus (2) Indications from the private sector of a serious interest in partnering to build all or parts of the DRIC project. Another complicating factor is that Michigan does not have the legislative authority to enter into public-private partnerships (P3s); so a legislative fix is needed for that as well. A successful P3 arrangement could remove any need for taxpayers’ money to be used to build the bridge. This point has been made by Canada’s transport minister, John Baird and by MDOT director Kirk Steudle. The law indicates the Michigan legislature intends to approve or disapprove the DRIC by June 1st. That is not a lot of time.

The people who do not want DRIC to proceed, point to the fact that the Ambassador Bridge folks say they want to twin their bridge. But, saying you want to build a second span and actually getting the approvals to do it, are two different things. As it stands now, the Ambassador Bridge does not have the approvals needed to proceed. If it were to file a serious application, it might get them, in time. Then again it might not.

For example, the US Coast Guard recently announced it was terminating the Ambassador Bridge’s permit application process. The reason given was that, despite several meetings between the Coast Guard and the Ambassador Bridge representatives, there had been no movement by the Bridge on a number of critical issues that the Coast Guard identified last June.

As a representative of private sector associations, in principle I have no problem with privately-owned infrastructure. If we were being offered two efficient crossings, I’d say the more the better. But that is not what the opponents of DRIC are proposing. Under their plan, the Ambassador Bridge would retain its monopoly as the sole bridge crossing between Windsor and Detroit. We do not support this situation. It would not resolve the problems associated with a lack of freeway-to-freeway access that currently exists. It would not provide the redundancy needed to keep the border open in the event of a security breach.

DRIC is the only actionable project at the moment. It must be built – for economic and for security reasons.

There is a lot at stake for Canada, for Ontario, for Michigan and for the United States. Sure, trade has fallen off due to the recession but it is beginning to shows signs of rebounding. We need to think ahead.

According to the US Final Environmental Impact Statement, DRIC will create more than 40,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction period. It will bring billions of dollars in investment to the area and help secure the future prosperity and relevance of the region where there is perhaps more integration of manufacturing processes than anywhere else in the world.

During at speech given at an automotive industry dinner on March 15th in Michigan, Chrysler Group CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said his company “supports the partnership between the governments of Michigan and Ontario, as well as Canada and the United States, as they work toward securing a new gateway at Detroit/Windsor. The automotive industry continues to support the proposed Detroit River International Crossing, or DRIC. This proposed new crossing would add redundancy and unimpeded access from Ontario’s highways to Michigan’s interstates… In the coming months, the Michigan Legislature will consider a bill to authorize construction of the new DRIC bridge. It is my sincere hope that the Legislature will pass the bill by the June 1st deadline. 12 The need for an additional crossing to handle current and future trade flows is widely acknowledged and it is imperative that this new crossing be completed as soon as possible. It’s important to our collective future!”

Truckers agree. A recent survey of OTA trucking company members found that, while there are some improvements needed at all the major border crossings between Ontario and the US, by far the highest priority is the construction of a second bridge at Windsor-Detroit. 73% of respondents ranked Windsor-Detroit as the most important border crossing in terms of overall economic impact. Almost 60% said they expect that crossing to have the most delays and the most congestion when the economy recovers. When asked what border crossing ranked highest in terms of needed infrastructure improvement, 68% said Windsor-Detroit.

When asked what specific infrastructure improvements are most urgently required at Windsor-Detroit to avoid future congestion problems, 79% said a second bridge is required, compared to 14% who wanted additional FAST lanes and 4% who called for customs plaza improvements. When given a choice between DRIC and a second span at the Ambassador Bridge, again, the trucking industry was very clear in terms of which option it supports with 71% favouring the building of the DRIC crossing. 84% of respondents said that building a second, publicly-owned bridge at Windsor-Detroit is either extremely important or very important to the long-term economic well-being of Ontario. Given the amount of trade flowing between Michigan and Ontario by truck (some $26 billion even in last year’s down economy) the same is no doubt true for Michigan’s long-term economic prospects. In 2009, 83% of Michigan’s $14 billion in exports by all land modes to Ontario was moved by truck.

While up until now, the voice of the opponents of DRIC seems to have garnered most of the attention, given the economic enormity of this issue I expect things to heat up in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned.

Photo by:  mcclouds

While the debate rages on south of the border about the $938 billion health care reform bill signed into law today by President Obama, Ontario companies may wish to consider how this monumental change to U.S. health care policy could benefit their own business activity in the United States market.

The White House notes that affordable health coverage will now be extended to 31 million additional Americans who previously had to go without.  The bill also requires availability of coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.  If the U.S. Senate approves House changes to the bill that would take effect in 2014, individuals will be required to purchase health coverage or face fines.

As Diane Francis argues in her commentary today in The National Post, the changes do not solely respond to a moral imperative, but also address rising and unsustainable health care costs in the U.S. – affecting overall economic conditions in the world’s largest consumer market.  As Francis simply characterizes it, “That’s good news for Canada and others who rely somewhat on a successful United States.”   The U.S. consumer will no longer be as concerned about a big “what if” scenario, prompting individuals to stockpile money to pay for a serious illness down the road.  That’s money that otherwise would be invested back into the economy.  Of course, this argument assumes this is indeed happening with such regularity as to affect overall consumer spending levels.  Either way, the decline in U.S. household consumption since 2008 is unmistakable and anything to improve that situation is a positive thing.

Perhaps the most direct area of opportunity for Ontario arising from U.S. health care reform lies in the increased opportunities for Ontario’s exporting life sciences and medical devices sector.  From advanced biophotonics to diagnostic equipment and surgical tools, Ontario is already competing on the world stage with a solid reputation for innovative product development and expertise.  According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, our medical devices industry already boasts over 600 companies with 22,000 employees and revenues of $4 billion annually.  The expansion of the U.S. health care market can only be good news for these companies and the growth of this knowledge-intensive sector in Ontario.

Ontario’s economy has experienced some dramatic changes over the past year and a half. A strong Canadian dollar, high oil and energy prices, a weakening US trading partner, and intensifying global competition have all had a significant impact on business. These changes have only reinforced the need to diversify export markets. Expanding into the international marketplace has proven to be beneficial to businesses individually and the broader business climate as a whole.

Taking the plunge into new markets can be risky for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and it can be difficult to find the resources necessary to make the expansion. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has developed a program, Export Market Access (EMA), with funding from the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada to help SME’s export to new markets and expand within current markets. Since its inception in 2008, the program has helped over 220 companies and given out over 2.3 million dollars.

EMA helps with some of the costs associated with reaching new export markets in four categories: direct contact, marketing tools, market research and foreign bidding projects. The contributions made by the EMA program make it possible for many SME’s to launch themselves into markets that would otherwise be unattainable.

Making these export markets available allows for a stronger more stable customer base for these SME’s. If we continue to invest in business within the province, the Ontario economy will emerge stronger and more diverse. For more information on the EMA program, please visit the website at www.exportaccess.ca.