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.

OES welcomes three new speakers to our agenda!

Thought leaders (listed below) from each of these organizations will be joining us at the 6th Annual Summit.

Big Impact Infrastructure

Fausto Natarelli – Director, Ministry of Transportation
Bringing knowledge from the Windsor Border Initiatives Implementation Group

A Knowledge Driven, Creative Economy: Our Pathway to Prosperity

Dr. Diana Pliura – President, ALBRY Inc. & Entrepreneur In Residence, The Health Technology Exchange (HSX)
HSX supports the growth of a dynamic, prosperous Ontario medical and assistive technologies industry sector.

Sara Diamond – President, Ontario College of Art and Design
OCAD is Canada’s “University of the Imagination”

Check out the preliminary agenda to find out more!

Blog submitted by Sara Diamond – President, Ontario College of Art and Design

We have a terrific opportunity in Ontario to leverage creative industries; introduce design thinking and methods to traditional industries and use the digital revolution to leap forward.  Ontario cultural industries, representing content, services and platforms, are economically important, with an 8% growth rate since 2000; billions of dollars of profit each year and high-paying knowledge-industry jobs, and with a strong ethnic diversity that can reach global and Canadian markets. Technology strengths include micro-electronics for display technologies, animation, mobile technology and applications. While the GTA is the powerhouse, through effective clustering these industries have positive impacts on local economies. Migrating into Ontario are two international gaming companies, Electronic Arts and UbiSoft; their presence is testimony to existing capacity in Ontario—they will stimulate the further development of Canadian gaming companies. 

Here are three proposals:

Ontario has the fourth most powerful design labor force in North America and Ontario has top ranked PSE design programs.  We have the talent, but too few Ontario manufacturers hire this talent base. Studies show that manufacturing industries that take advantage of design knowledge thrive. They develop unique intellectual property; they diversify products effectively; they find business efficiencies and anticipate consumer trends and demand. Designers can look at existing technology and imagine new applications. Designers have the skills to collaborate with workers on the shop floor who are an under utilized source of creative ideas for new products and processes for their industries. Let’s create incentives to bring design companies, designers and design researchers together with the manufacturing sector to help traditional industry thrive. 

Core industrial sectors, such as financial and health services are going digital, and mobile. This transition requires fastidious attention to the interface between humans and the technology working in the background.  That is a cultural problem.  Significant profits can be made by bringing together creative industries, service industries, and the mobile sector.  Ontario has capacity in these areas, but requires action on policy and investment to ensure that companies are internationally competitive.  

Digital media is booming and can continue to boom, with national as well as international markets. Digital media is rooted in traditional cultural knowledge and production. While technology platforms, content enablers and creative content have often developed side by side, without strategic integration, there is growing success in intertwining capacities, through clustering related industries together, providing research capabilities to industries through our post-secondary sector and creating efficiencies within production and distribution.  Ontario firms need capitalization to grow to the next stage, as well as business development support and cross-sector match-making.

We can have our Silicon Valley, and more.

As an example of Ontario talent Xenophile Media, Toronto, continues to win prestigious international Emmys!

Ontario Students developing their talent: OCAD/Telus Design Collaboration.

Sara Diamond
President, Ontario College of Art and Design

This year, the Summit is planning to go green, travel, and get creative. Well not exactly, but we are featuring three critical discussions:

• the Green Economy and the Great Lakes region,
• Tourism and Investment strategies, and
• the Knowledge-driven Economy.

Leaders of the province will come together to identify the best approach to weather the current economic storm and build capacity to seize growth opportunities when the storm ends.

Ontario is in the midst of a major economic transition and we must redefine our strengths in a new economy. While we are losing manufacturing jobs on both sides of the Great Lakes, we can work with our neighbours to build a “green corridor” to create jobs and investment opportunities. By bringing tourism and investment dollars to the province, we can strengthen the economy of Ontario. We can generate wealth and innovation by moving beyond industries with the “traditional players” in manufacturing and resource sectors, and explore the potential of knowledge-intensive, creative industries.

Ontario needs a strong vision for growth and we are confident that by working together we will get there from here. Share your thoughts in the comments.