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Results: 106 - 120 of 192
Judy Stafford
View Judy Stafford Profile
Judy Stafford
2020-11-24 16:29
Innovation definitely is a big piece of this new kitchen proposal that we have put together. We do want to look at where there are gaps and what the demands are. Maybe it's not innovative, but trying to get into institutional purchasing has been a nightmare. With a new hospital and a new school, there is so much opportunity to break into the institutional market, and seniors homes. For all of that, again, the regulations are just horrendous.
We definitely have looked at what other supports we can provide to farmers. We're working with Community Futures to do any business incubation. The regional district is putting together a food-processing innovation support service to also work with farmers on coming up with different products, or gaps in demand, and help them through the kitchen, for sure.
View Navdeep Bains Profile
Lib. (ON)
I understand. Thank you.
That means ensuring front-line workers receive the equipment they need to do their jobs, as professionals work tirelessly to find a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19.
We started the year with virtually no Canadian production of personal protective equipment and a precarious international marketplace, but after launching our “made in Canada” project and seeing industry step up to the plate, I am proud to say that we are now sourcing close to 50% of our personal protective equipment from Canadian companies.
More than 6,500 companies responded to our call to action to rapidly scale up domestic production of PPE. These firms are helping to keep front-line health care workers safe while also providing key manufacturing jobs through these difficult times.
On the vaccine front, we're seeing great progress on development projects right here in Canada. Through our investments in companies such as VBI Vaccines, Medicago and IMV, our government is growing Canada's capacity to find and produce a domestic vaccine for COVID-19.
Overall, this pandemic has made it clear that Canadian industries and its workers are strong, adaptive and resilient.
As we set out on the long road of economic recovery, we must also tap into the strength to build back a better, equitable and greener Canada. Our industries and entrepreneurs will have a crucial role to play and are already rising to the occasion. Our government is there to support them with strategic investments that spur innovation and help create good-quality Canadian jobs.
The innovation superclusters initiative, for example, has been an integral part of our “made in Canada” response, supporting projects ranging from large-scale disinfecting robots to personalized digital mental health care for front-line workers.
Moving forward, we're going to need to be strategic. With global industries moving towards sustainability, developing domestic manufacturing in electric vehicles and batteries will position Canada's auto industry as a global leader in a growing market and help us achieve our climate ambitions.
Similarly, the aerospace sector has always been especially adept at innovating and adapting. We must prioritize support for the supply chain, R and D in aviation and a procurement policy that benefits the entire country. That will position Canada's aerospace industry and workforce for continued success in a changing marketplace.
The increase in Canadians' online activity since March has also reinforced our government's commitment to addressing the concerns that Canadians have about their digital privacy.
This last week, I introduced Bill C-11 to enact the consumer privacy protection act. This legislation would give Canadians more control and greater transparency over the way companies handle their personal information.
I will be giving the Privacy Commissioner tangible authority to issue orders, and I will ensure Canadians have access to world-class privacy and data protection by imposing the highest fines set out in any G7 nation's privacy legislation.
Frédéric Seppey
View Frédéric Seppey Profile
Frédéric Seppey
2020-11-19 15:43
That's very nice. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The Agency is maintaining oversight of domestic production and imported food products while also supporting trade and the supply chain, including through the certification of exports.
The Agency also temporarily suspended certain non-food safety labelling requirements for foodservice products so that they can be quickly repurposed for retail sale. Also, in order to prevent meat shortages, the CFIA has been working with the provinces and territories to enable the interprovincial trade of meat produced in provincially regulated establishments. To assist in these efforts, the CFIA received an additional $20 million in funding to support its efforts. This will help the Agency continue its important work to safeguard Canada's food system and better support the production demands of Canada's food industry.
In conclusion, although COVID-19 has taken a financial toll on the food processing sector, given its agility and its resilience, the sector can play a major role in the economic recovery.
My colleagues and I are pleased to be with you today and to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
As we look beyond COVID-19, we expect that there will be a greater emphasis on innovation in the food processing industry. Business spending on research and development is vital to ensure that Canada's food and beverage processing sector responds to shifts in consumer demand with globally competitive products and processes.
With continued support of Canadian innovators, we can capitalize on emerging technology areas and changing consumer demands and realize incredible growth opportunities in the food sector.
The Government of Canada is making targeted investments towards innovative companies in the value-added food processing sector through the strategic innovation fund or the innovation superclusters initiative.
To further strengthen this sector and realize these recommendations, the Government of Canada also awarded up to $30 million towards the Canadian Food Innovators Network, through the strategic innovation fund, for the development of a network that will accelerate innovation and collaboration specifically in the food processing sector.
With respect to investments, we continue to invest in industry to build capacity in the value-added food and beverage processing sector at the intersection between market opportunities and Canadian potential.
The Government of Canada's investment in the Protein Industries Canada supercluster, known as PIC, is an illustration of these efforts. Through the Innovation Canada supercluster program, the Government of Canada recognizes the potential of Canada's existing strength in areas such as pulses and the growing global demand for value-added plant-based foods.
View Earl Dreeshen Profile
CPC (AB)
Thank you.
I know that every time we're looking at main estimates, we see the differential as to when it's coming in. Of course, we haven't had a budget for a long time, and normally these things are tied into that type of economic discussion.
ISED has also requested $259 million for the innovation superclusters initiative. In 2018-19, the actual expenditures were $5.6 million. In 2019-20, $183 million was requested, but the actual expenditures haven't yet been published.
Again, as we try to find out where this money is going and what is happening to it.... We hear a lot about all this money being spent on all these other programs. Some of these others that we're concerned about.... If we look at the article that was in the paper just a short time ago, where the Minister of Innovation says that the superclusters' long-term economic impact and benefits won't be evident for a number of years, I think that becomes a concern.
Why are the expenditures lower than planned, and has there been any increase since March 6, 2020?
Simon Kennedy
View Simon Kennedy Profile
Simon Kennedy
2020-11-19 12:45
Madam Chair, I can certainly speak to that.
The superclusters are designed to help nurture an ecosystem. Frankly, part of it is to build connections between organizations that might not necessarily have connected otherwise because the ecosystem might be weaker than would be needed for those organizations to come together.
For example, in the protein industry supercluster, we're trying to bring together organizations that actually, when they get together, can create really great value and build new businesses and do all kinds of exciting stuff, but because of the nature of the industries involved, they might not have bumped into each other on their own.
It's about cluster development. Countries all over the world, our peers, are doing this work. Building clusters takes time. We're actually now seeing that initial work pay off. I'm happy to come back to the committee with further details. It took a bit of time to get going, but it's really moving along now and there has been a real upswing in activity.
I'll come back to the committee, if that's okay.
View Dane Lloyd Profile
CPC (AB)
Thank you. That's a great segue to my next question.
A recent open letter from the Canadian council of innovators to the Prime Minister outlined that Canada is falling back disturbingly on the Bloomberg innovation index. We're now in 22nd place, behind Slovenia. I think most Canadians would be shocked to see that their country is not being innovative technologically.
Part of the reason CCI is pointing this out is that our government doesn't seem interested in partnering with homegrown information technology companies to develop those local Canadian innovators. Can you answer why our government doesn't seem to be partnering and trying to promote Canadian innovation?
Bill Matthews
View Bill Matthews Profile
Bill Matthews
2020-11-16 20:38
I can give a couple of reactions to that from a procurement perspective. There are existing tools out there that actually allow for Canadian innovation to be factored into procurement. You often hear from start-ups that—
Bill Matthews
View Bill Matthews Profile
Bill Matthews
2020-11-16 20:38
I am not sure I understand that part of the question.
View Dane Lloyd Profile
CPC (AB)
Well, in my experience, it seems like we've been seeing a lot of sole-source contracts to large American conglomerates. If there is no opportunity for Canadian companies to even bid or even present their services, how are any tools going to be useful for getting those companies business?
Bill Matthews
View Bill Matthews Profile
Bill Matthews
2020-11-16 20:39
I think we have a good range of contracts out there, Canadian and elsewhere, but we do have a sector dedicated to especially small and medium-sized enterprises who are looking to break in. That's what the OSME group does inside PSPC. There are other programs out there as well. There are existing programs that one can use and take advantage of and that try to assist Canadian industry where appropriate.
View Dane Lloyd Profile
CPC (AB)
How is this government looking on building the digital infrastructure? With COVID we know that it's even more necessary, now more than ever, with our EI systems being decades old. What sort of investments is the government looking at making to actually make sure we can operate as a technologically modern country?
Bill Matthews
View Bill Matthews Profile
Bill Matthews
2020-11-16 20:40
I think that question is probably best suited for Shared Services Canada and maybe some others. In terms of our role at PSPC, when there is a desire to upgrade or refresh or replace a system, obviously we would be involved in the procurement. If there is a competitive process, which for those large-type replacement projects there would be, we would have a role in the competition. But in terms of setting out the vision, that would likely be found elsewhere.
Paul Davidson
View Paul Davidson Profile
Paul Davidson
2020-11-16 16:27
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you for the invitation, for conducting the study and for the extraordinary work that all parliamentarians are doing during this challenging time.
I'd especially like to welcome the newer members to this committee. Of course, immigration is one of Canada's great competitive strengths, and the work of this committee is important in ensuring that this asset remains.
With me today is Wendy Therrien, who leads our public policy and public affairs efforts. She'll be particularly available for questions the committee may have.
As you may know, Universities Canada represents all 96 universities across the country. Taken together, Canada's universities are a $38-billion enterprise that is a significant driver of economic prosperity. Universities provide employment for over 310,000 people. In many cases, universities are the largest employer in their community. As well, we are the talent engines for Canada.
It's great to be here with my colleague, Denise Amyot. I very much support her comments earlier today. We work together, particularly on matters of immigration and success for international students.
Canada's universities are an integral part of the team Canada approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, from mitigating the risk to the search for a vaccine and cure and accelerating Canada's economy into recovery. We appreciate the challenge now facing the government and all of us: that of restarting the Canadian economy while continuing the health measures necessary to keep COVID-19 at bay.
We've greatly appreciated the steps the government has taken to support our sector, including ensuring international students can continue their studies, whether online or in person. As these measures take effect, I want to highlight the role that universities, and international students specifically, can have in our recovery from COVID-19.
Canada's need to attract skilled talent predates the pandemic. As our population ages and the labour force shrinks, our future prosperity depends on our ability to welcome immigrants from around the world. Universities are an integral part of Canada's immigration system, welcoming well over 200,000 international students per year. Once in Canada, these students are able to take advantage of government pathways to immigration.
Our institutions can be key partners in attracting, training and retaining skilled talent. At all levels of study, international students bring new perspectives, ideas and valuable human connections abroad. As students, they contribute over $22 billion to the Canadian economy annually.
As graduates, many become highly skilled individuals, contributing to local Canadian communities, or they return home with an appreciation for what Canada has to offer as a society and as a business partner.
While they are here, international students play a crucial part in our research and innovation ecosystem. Our ability to conduct research and to make new discoveries that strengthen our economy is dependent on a steady flow of international talent. International graduate students in particular are the arms and legs of our research enterprise.
However, as Denise was mentioning, international student recruitment has been hampered by COVID-19. Federal measures to accommodate online learning for international students and to provide a pathway for their safe return to Canada have been very helpful, but after five years of an average of 10% growth annually, international student enrolment at universities this year was down 2%. While these aggregate numbers might not seem so bad, given the circumstances, it's important to note that 51 universities saw a decline in international students compared to last year. Of these universities, 26 saw a decline of over 10% and 14 saw a decline of over 20%. This is having an impact not just for the universities, but also for grocery stores, car dealerships and families renting a room to international students. It is a loss that will be felt for at least the next four years.
The good news is that, given events in other countries, Canada's brand remains strong. We've seen federal investment in regaining traditional markets as well as in building our relationship with emerging markets, such as Vietnam and the Philippines. With these strategic investments, Canada can actually leapfrog competitor countries and build back stronger relationships with key sources for international students. As the speech from the throne outlined, these investments will ensure that Canada remains a destination of choice for top talent. These international students, many of them graduate students, will help grow our economy and stabilize the recovery of the post-secondary education sector.
We appreciate the work that all the members of the committee have done to help Canada recover from COVID-19 and we look forward to partnering to build a stronger Canada.
Thank you again for the opportunity to appear.
Stéphane Renou
View Stéphane Renou Profile
Stéphane Renou
2020-11-03 16:36
That's okay. We can still go forward. I will talk first.
Good afternoon, everyone.
If there are any questions in French, I'll gladly answer them.
I'll do the piece in English and then we can move on from there.
First, what is FPInnovations? FPInnovations is a private, not-for-profit organization. It's an applied research centre, so we don't do fundamental research. We are focusing on research that makes things happen in the sawmill directly, for real.
Our key mission is to help the forest industry be more competitive, and also to help it transform, to evolve. That's critical in the situation we are in now. The pandemic, the situation with COVID, has created a place in which we actually have shaken up the markets a bit and shaken up the industry, so it's all about relaunching and pulling forward more quickly so we can take our place in the bioeconomy.
What is that? What is the bioeconomy? To put it simply, it's creating an economy based on biology. For us, in the forest industry, it's about how we use trees, how we use the forest to create a more active economy.
How do we use a sustainable forest? We harvest trees and then we use them to build more with wood. We use fibre from the forest and put it in a multitude of products. So we can create products that help to capture carbon. We can create new products that actually reduce the load of carbon across the economy and we can create products that are biodegradable or that can be recycled more easily.
All that's a great concept, but if you really get down to it, what is it to have a bioeconomy? In the end, practically speaking, it means that, at a certain point in time, you should be able to look around you and see more things built of wood. You should also see—if you're in Prince George, Saguenay, La Tuque or Thunder Bay—biorefineries, bioproduct plants that transform chips of wood, the residue of wood, into bioproducts, the precursor chemistries that will create the new bioplastic. Concretely, that's what success in a bioeconomy means. It's not just a concept; it's creating those mills.
In Canada, we're actually at a tipping point right now. Other countries have moved more quickly than we have. In Europe you can now see biorefineries, complete plants, being built in the Nordic countries. In Germany and even in Brazil there have been some announcements recently.
In Canada we need to accelerate. We need to go faster. We need to create the context in which we can do that at scale. Scale is important. That's what we need to do.
But what's great about the bioeconomy? What is great about the forest industry? Something fundamental that we all need to remember constantly is that the forest industry does three things for all of us when we grow it. Of course it creates more economic impact for the regions; it creates more economic impact per se, and it also helps climate change. It's actually one of the rare sectors that help three things at the same time: the economy, regional growth and the carbon economy. It does all three at the same time, so anytime we grow, we can do this.
We actually put in the federal pre-budget consultations two asks. We tried to make them as clear and crisp as possible. Those are the missing pieces to accelerate the bioeconomy, to accelerate the scale-up of the bioeconomy
The first recommendation was to provide funding in the order of $10 million per year for five years to demonstrate and accelerate those scale-up elements and to help reduce the risk of scaling up. If you want to construct a large biorefinery tomorrow, it won't take an investment of $10 million; it could take as much as half a billion dollars, so we need to help the industry de-risk that path as quickly as possible so we can help their decision-making process.
We also need to really understand where to go. The bioeconomy needs multiple products that come out of the trees in multiple elements that we can form; we need to enter multiple supply chains. From the same wood, I'll have product that goes into asphalt, product that goes into plastic, and product that goes into insulation in construction. These are all different molecules going into all different markets that need to open at the same time, so reducing risk is important. That's the first recommendation.
The second one is to create a public procurement policy. We can pull on those markets, we can prime them, we can start them, and that starts with a public procurement policy.
Select the right market to enter, create the public policy and de-risk the industry capital investment with the right technical activity. That's what we need to accelerate. Is that possible? Is that real, or am I just talking in big terms? I will give you an example that we lived through this summer when we started a project to create masks to respond to the pandemic. We took the challenge with the help of NRCan to ask if it was possible to create a biodegradable mask tomorrow to produce at large scale.
Taking up the challenge, within three months we did a demonstration that this could be industrialized and put on a tissue machine in the order of weeks now, from the work we've done. Why or how could we do that? We could do that because we had the facility to scale up rapidly. I could pass from my chemistry lab, and in the afternoon I was on the pilot machine and I was running the pilot machine, and if it runs on the pilot machine, I can then go into a mill, and within one week I can produce millions of filtration media per day. That's what we need to do, more of those industrially focused activities in R and D to accelerate the scale up of products.
If we do that, then we can dream of the bioeconomy. We can dream of those plants being created in Prince George, in Quesnel, in Thunder Bay and in La Tuque. We can think about the future for an industry that is not under the stress of a rapidly transforming economy.
With this, Mr. Chair, I complete my presentation.
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