Ministry Overview

Mandate

The Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) supports the full cycle of research, innovation and entrepreneurship – from scientific discoveries to translating those discoveries into commercial use. Supporting and preparing our researchers, entrepreneurs and firms to succeed, create jobs of the future, and compete internationally, supports the government’s plan to invest in people, build modern infrastructure and support a dynamic and innovative business climate.

The Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure (MEDEI) works to strengthen job creation and growth at home while increasing competitiveness abroad. The Ministry collaborates closely with private and public sector partners to make Ontario a smart place to invest, develop key industry clusters, foster an efficient and streamlined business climate and grow a strong, innovative economy that is inclusive of people of all abilities. Strategic infrastructure investments underpin our quality of life and provide the foundation for business growth.

Ontario is a leader in accessibility. Our province’s goal is to be accessible by 2025. The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario (ADO) supports our province’s commitment to creating a more inclusive society where everyone has the opportunity to contribute to, and benefit from, economic growth and prosperity. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act has made Ontario the first jurisdiction in the world to mandate accessibility training and reporting. Accessibility has the potential to generate billions of dollars in new spending for Ontario’s tourism and retail sectors. MEDEI is focused on continuing to build partnerships and create more employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

The Ministry of Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure (MRI/MEDEI) further these mandates through five priorities:

  • Creating an innovative and dynamic business environment.
  • Building modern infrastructure and transportation networks.
  • Investing in people’s talent and skills.
  • Unlocking the value of provincial assets.
  • Supporting a fair society.

The following charts summarize the results, strategies, programs, activities and results of our work under these priorities, as well as key performance indicators. Further details follow.

Priorities, Key Results, Strategies & Major Programs/Activities

PrioritiesSupportive & Dynamic Business EnvironmentModernized Infrastructure & Transportation NetworksIncreased Talent & Skills Among OntariansA Healthier Population
Key Results
  • Prosperous Ontario
  • Streamlined regulatory environment
  • An accessible Ontario by 2025
  • Modern infrastructure
  • Job creation and productivity
  • Safe and sustainable buildings
  • Highly skilled workforce
  • Improved health care delivery in Ontario
Strategies
  • Attract and secure strategic investments that support productivity, innovation and exports
  • A modernized, transparent and accessible Ontario
  • Support entrepreneurs, build commercialization and stimulate an ideas economy
  • Maintaining a robust venture capital industry
  • Build and maintain safe modern infrastructure
  • Support leading edge research to boost Ontario’s research capacity
  • Deliver the renewed Youth Jobs Strategy in three areas: labour market connections, entrepreneurship and innovation
  • Translating research into improved efficiencies in health care service delivery
Major Programs/Activities
  • Proactively target investment opportunities and strategically generate and qualify leads
  • Manage and deliver economic development programs
  • Accessibility Directorate of Ontario
  • Supporting  businesses by reducing regulatory burdens and delivering better products and services, while enabling Ontario businesses to compete with leading jurisdictions
  • Enabling the growth of the social enterprise sector in Ontario
  • Provide supports to accelerate the start-up and growth of local “main street” businesses
  • Deliver on the Province’s Business Growth Initiative
  • Supporting long-term infrastructure planning
  • Realty transformation strategy
  • Forfeited Corporate Property
  • Fund leading-edge research in Ontario to develop talent, build infrastructure and cultivate new ideas
  • Encourage and support the next generation of entrepreneurs
  • Supporting research institutes to translate research outcomes into clinical applications and commercialization opportunities
Key Measures
  • # Jobs Created/Retained
  • $ Invested and leveraged
  • # New Businesses
  • $ Business savings from Burden Reduction Initiatives
  • $ federal funding leveraged
  • # jobs  created/retained
  • # of surplus properties put back into productive use
  • $ surplus realty sales revenue
  • Facility Condition Index (FCI) rating for core and transition assets
  • % Achievement of office space foot print reduction target
  • $ Invested and leveraged
  • # Youth Trained/Mentored
  • # Highly Qualified Personnel
  • $ Invested and leveraged
  • # Highly Qualified Personnel who enhance their knowledge
  • # Patents and Citations

Key Performance Indicators – MRI

Goals:

  • Investment Attraction and Development
  • Stimulating an Innovation Economy
  • Maintaining a Robust Venture Capital Industry
  • Cultivating an Internationally Recognized Research Environment
  • Building Entrepreneurs and Commercialization

Key Performance Indicators – MEDEI

Goals:

  • Investment Attraction and Development
  • Building and Maintaining Safe, Modern Infrastructure
  • Stimulating an Innovation Economy
  • A Modern, Transparent and Accessible Ontario

Ministry Programs and Activities

The following are the major programs and services delivered by the Ministries of Research and Innovation and Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure:

Global Competitiveness and Investment Attraction

The Ministries work with companies in key sectors to attract and encourage strategic investments in the province. This includes proactively targeting investment opportunities, ensuring early engagement, building strong relationships, tailoring value propositions and promoting the many strengths of doing business in Ontario.

The Investment Ready: Certified Site Program, launched in 2013, provides grants and international marketing assistance to land owners who undertake due diligence work on industrial land. The Investment Ready Program is the first province-wide site certification program in Canada.

  • It is a cost effective approach to increase Ontario’s competitive advantage in attracting domestic and foreign investment opportunities, creating jobs and strengthening relationships with municipalities across the province.
  • It actively promotes industrial properties, once certified, on a global scale to investment decision-makers.
  • The application process produces a growing inventory of available Ontario properties that have become a part of the Province’s suite of site selection services for priority investment opportunities.

As of March 2016, 12 industrial properties have successfully completed the program’s certification requirements and received an Investment Ready: Certified Site designation. One of these sites has already sold, retaining 300 jobs in Ontario and anchoring a Canadian company’s operations in rural Eastern Ontario.

MEDEI provides leadership in strengthening and broadening Ontario’s profile as a compelling jurisdiction for foreign investment and trade; assisting Ontario small and medium-sized enterprises and leading edge innovators to achieve business growth through international market expansion; attracting foreign companies to invest in the province with the goal of creating jobs in key strategic sectors; and forging mutually beneficial research, commercialization and business partnerships.

The Ministry’s Lead Generation and Client Account Management function manages and supports the contracted in-market investment attraction sales teams located in key international foreign direct investment (FDI) source markets. This Client Account Management Function serves as a one-window for incoming FDI inquiries from all sources. By developing key partnerships with federal counterparts and community partners across the province, the Ministry generates investment development opportunities.

The Jobs and Prosperity Fund (JPF) supports the recommendations of the Jobs and Prosperity Council to bolster innovation, increase productivity and increase Ontario’s reach in the global market. The JPF is a 10-year, $2.7 billion fund to support a dynamic and innovative business climate, and improve productivity and market access for Ontario companies and sectors. The JPF was officially launched on January 7, 2015 and provides support to key sectors such as advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defence, automotive and information and communications technology.

The Jobs and Prosperity Fund has four distinct streams with each stream having its own invitation-based application process. These streams are:

  • The New Economy Stream – to build Research and Development (R&D) capacity, improve private-sector productivity, performance and competitiveness, and support innovative businesses in expanding their market.
  • The Strategic Partnerships Stream – to help entrepreneurs, companies, research institutions, customers and investors work together to strengthen Ontario firms and our ability to compete globally.
  • Food and Beverage Growth Fund – to support food, beverage and bio-product manufacturing projects that will help create and retain jobs, strengthen supply chains, increase market access, and increase innovation and productivity.
  • Forestry Growth Fund – to help value-added and bio-product forestry projects improve productivity and innovation, enhance competitiveness, support new market access, strengthen supply chains and provide socio-economic benefits.

There are several Ministry programs (Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy, Next Generation of Jobs Fund, Strategic Jobs and Investment Fund (SJIF), Strategic Investments (SI) and the Ontario Automotive Investment Strategy) that were part of the government’s economic development strategy to stimulate economic growth and create a sustainable and globally competitive workplace for Ontarians and are now closed to new applications. The Ministry continues to fund existing contractual commitments under these programs.

As well, the Ministry uses a highly targeted multifaceted marketing program including advertising, media relations, direct and interactive marketing and social media to increase the awareness of Ontario’s economic business advantages.

Centre of Excellence For Business Support Programs Across The Government

MEDEI has historically focused on delivering its own programs such as the Strategic Jobs and Investment Fund and the Next Generation of Jobs Fund. Leveraging the capabilities and processes developed for these programs, the Ministry is now supporting other ministries in the delivery of their programs. The Ministry has partnered with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) to deliver the Food and Beverage Growth Fund of the Jobs and Prosperity Fund. Projects have been announced by OMAFRA which will have significant impact on the food and beverage sector as well as the associated communities and supply chain. As announced in the 2016 Budget, there will be efforts to align the regional programs between OMAFRA and the Ministry.

The new Forestry Growth Fund was just recently announced by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) and will be delivered by the Ministry in partnership with MNRF. The Ministry’s program delivery is continually improving with the goal of becoming a centre of excellence across the government.

A significant focus was placed on developing a quantitative scorecard along with a return on investment model which provides a consistent project assessment for the programs. This is the implementation of the Strategic Investment Framework that provides the basis for the Ministry’s economic development strategy. The Ministry’s processes are evolving to reflect the new Business Growth Initiative outlined in the 2016 Budget.

Regional Economic and Small Business Development

MEDEI leads regional economic development in Ontario through the Partnerships for Jobs and Growth Act, 2014, which is focused on key economic clusters, strategic investments in key regions of the province and managing relationships with stakeholders. Key programs, delivered at the local level through the Ministry’s Business Advisory Services 12 regional offices, include:
Eastern Ontario Development Fund

  • Continues to support projects that create and retain jobs, encourage the introduction of new technologies, assist private sector firms, communities and sector groups to pursue growth in new markets, improve their competitive position, and ultimately, contribute to the diversification of the economy of Eastern Ontario. This includes the 15 geographic areas east of Northumberland, Kawartha Lakes, Muskoka and Ottawa. The Fund provides grants and loans to businesses and not-for-profit organizations to support projects that will attract investment and support job creation in the region.

Southwestern Ontario Development Fund

  • Supports projects in the 18 geographic areas of Southwestern Ontario that create and retain jobs, encourage the introduction of new technologies, assist private sector firms, communities and sector groups to pursue growth in new markets and improve their competitive position within the region. The Fund supports the attraction and retention of employment, investment, and promotes innovation, and cluster development and collaborations in the region.

The Partnerships for Jobs and Growth Act, 2014 came into force on April 1, 2015, and provides a framework for government to work collaboratively with industry and other partners on cluster development. Clusters, which are geographically concentrated groups of interconnected businesses and related entities, can perform an important function in regional economic development by increasing productivity, innovation and competitiveness. By working with businesses and other entities to develop, publish and review plans with respect to the development of clusters, Ontario can promote the competitiveness of businesses and can strengthen the economy.

Accessibility

Through the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario, MEDEI is at the forefront of the government’s plan to make Ontario accessible for people with disabilities by 2025.

Key programs include:

  • Supporting the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council and the Standards Development Committees (ASAC and SDCs). ASAC advises the Minister on a variety of accessibility initiatives related to achieving the purpose set out in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), while SDCs develop new accessibility standards and conduct reviews of existing standards after they are enacted.
  • Support provided for ASAC and SDCs includes coordinating the process to appoint or invite members, conducting policy research, analyzing issues, gathering input from stakeholders and logistical / secretariat support for meetings. A review of the Customer Service Standard was completed in 2014 and a review of the Transportation Standard is currently underway by an SDC.
  • Providing support as future reviews of existing accessibility standards are undertaken by SDCs, including the planned reviews of the Transportation, Information and Communications Standard and the Employment Standard and the development of a new accessibility standard for health care, currently scheduled to begin this year.
  • Reviews of AODA and government responses to all reviews. Additionally, the Directorate obtains necessary approvals to make changes resulting from the reviews, and provides support for the Minister’s tabling of the AODA Annual Report in the Legislature.
  • Raising awareness about Ontario’s accessibility standards and supporting businesses and other organizations with compliance through communications and outreach such as the Enabling Change Program, which funds umbrella organizations to educate an industry/sector on their obligations under the AODA.
  • The Directorate uses a modern approach to oversee AODA compliance with accessibility standards by utilizing a range of compliance and enforcement tools. In 2015, the Directorate continued monitoring compliance with accessibility requirements that are in effect and provided assistance to organizations that were found to be non-compliant. Enforcement action was pursued where warranted.

Infrastructure Planning

MEDEI is responsible for leading the development of the province’s long-term infrastructure plan and prioritizing the government’s infrastructure investments to support Ontario’s economic development priorities.
The Ministry develops policy to refine the government’s Alternative Financing and Procurement model.

The Ministry leads negotiations with the federal government on cost-shared infrastructure programs under the new Building Canada Fund.

The Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund provides small, rural and northern municipalities with stable, annual funding to build and repair critical infrastructure.

The Ministry is leading the creation of a new Natural Gas Access Loan and Natural Gas Economic Development Grant to expand natural gas to underserved communities across Ontario, with support from the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Realty Planning, Development and Management

The Ministry is mandated to set the government’s policy direction for one of the largest realty portfolios in Canada:

  • As of March 31, 2015, the Government Real Estate Portfolio contains 4,416 owned buildings and 152,868 acres of land.
  • The Forfeited Corporate Property portfolio is estimated to contain tens of thousands of potentially forfeited corporate properties.

The Ministry has a policy-led, three-point plan to transform the government’s approach to realty management and is focused on:

  • Ensuring safe and sustainable buildings.
  • Right-sizing the portfolio.
  • Providing for an efficient and effective delivery model.

The Ministry is responsible for acquiring, managing, and disposing of realty assets, as well as overseeing its realty delivery agent, the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation (Infrastructure Ontario) in the support of the government’s policy and program delivery.

In this role, the Ministry and Infrastructure Ontario provide expert real estate advice and services to all of Ontario’s ministries and some agencies. Today, the Ministry is achieving a number of Ontario’s environmental and policy objectives through asset optimization, effectively managing and deploying realty assets as well as reducing liabilities. The provision of accessible justice and social infrastructure and workspaces for Ontario public servants is a core function.

The Ministry’s realty is used to support delivery of government programs and policies and when it is no longer required for government purposes, its value can be recycled through reuse and redevelopment or can be sold to generate revenue, provide a social benefit, and be put back into productive use by the private sector. The management, redeployment and sale or transfer of properties is part of a broader, long-term strategy set out by the government to manage the Province’s realty assets in the most efficient and effective manner. To implement the strategy, Infrastructure Ontario develops asset plans, portfolio plans, sales plans and demolition plans for the diversity of realty and follows streamlined and targeted processes for optimal results.

The Ministry is responsible for the oversight of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation. Its mandate is to carry out the tri-government Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Initiative to revitalize and transform Toronto’s waterfront into beautiful, sustainable new communities, parks and public spaces, and to foster economic growth in knowledge-based, creative industries.

Youth Jobs Strategy

The Youth Jobs Strategy announced in the 2013 Ontario Budget is a government initiative that promotes employment opportunities, entrepreneurship and innovation for youth in Ontario. The province renewed the Strategy in 2015 for an additional two years. The Ministries commitments under the Strategy focus on three areas:

Youth Skills Connections Fund

  • Funding projects that create partnerships between industry, employers and training institutions to bridge the gap between the abilities youth have and the skills industry needs to thrive.

Ontario Youth Entrepreneurship Fund

  • Offering programs that harness the ideas, energy, and drive of Ontario youth and connecting young entrepreneurs with the tools, opportunities, and support required to start or grow their own businesses.

Ontario Youth Innovation Fund footnote 3

  • Youth Business Acceleration Program supports the development of technology companies by young entrepreneurs.
  • SmartStart Seed Fund provides initial investment seed stage grants of up to $35,000 to enable promising youth-led ventures to reach early milestones in creating and growing their start-ups.
  • Youth Investment Acceleration Fund supports the growth of emerging technology companies led by young entrepreneurs by providing investment capital of up to $250,000.
  • The newly launched innovation and technology commercialization focused initiatives, Campus-Linked Accelerators (CLA), and On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities (OCEA), provide funding to post-secondary institutions to create, improve and expand the culture of entrepreneurship among students and youth in their regions. These programs aim to promote and support entrepreneurial activity in Ontario’s universities and colleges by:
    • Reducing barriers for student and newly graduated entrepreneurs with entrepreneurial aspirations and providing experiential learning opportunities for the next generation of innovators.
    • Assisting young people to find work or launch their own businesses and ensure employers have access to the skill sets they require to build their businesses.
    • TalentEdge (Internship and Fellowship) Program provides opportunities for post-secondary students, PhD fellows and recent graduates to work on collaborative R&D projects between their academic institution and industry. Companies gain access to highly skilled young people, giving universities and colleges the opportunity to establish a greater working relationship with industry.

Innovation

The Ministries promote innovation in Ontario through initiatives that promote and aide entrepreneurs and companies with high-growth potential transform leading ideas and discoveries into tomorrow’s technologies, products and services. Some key programs include:
Commercialization and Innovation Network Support (CINS)

  • Providing funding for a suite of commercialization support services delivered through MaRS, the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), the Regional Innovation Centres (RICs), and other members of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE). The programming provided is a vital component in the delivery of Ontario’s innovation agenda, and it includes educational and funding programs which ensure new business generation in the province.
  • Funding under CINS also includes continued Ministry support for the Communitech Hub, an accelerator for digital media and mobile companies that serves as the physical focal point for the Waterloo region’s innovation and technology commercialization eco-system.

Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy

  • A provincial initiative to transform the forest products industry in Northern Ontario. The Centre is an independent, not-for-profit corporation that partners closely with other relevant organizations to provide support to turn research and innovative business opportunities into operational realities.

Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund (NVCF)

  • A $300 million venture capital partnership between Ontario, the federal government and institutional investors that helps companies access the capital they need to grow and create jobs. Using a fund-of-funds model, similar to the Ministry’s successful Ontario Venture Capital Fund, NVCF had already made commitments to nine venture capital funds and invested directly in eight companies.

Entrepreneurship

The Ministries lead entrepreneurship and small business development by providing information, expertise and support to entrepreneurs and early stage businesses. Key initiatives include:
Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs – a collaborative initiative that connects a full-spectrum of government programs, services and resources to help companies start, grow and succeed across client groups in Ontario’s economy:

  • Innovation and Technology based companies
    • Regional Innovation Centres (RICs) provide specialized assistance in 18 regions across the province to accelerate start-up and growth of entrepreneurial talent and globally-competitive innovative companies with value-added advice, access to capital, market intelligence, mentoring, and peer networking.
  • “Main Street” small businesses
    • Small Business Enterprise Centres (SBECs) provide support through 57 locations across the province to keep the new business pipeline full; foster sector and cluster development; and support growth of local businesses, notably businesses operating for less than five years.
  • Business Advisory Services (BAS) – focused on helping existing and aspiring high-growth firms grow their businesses in the province and abroad.
    • ONE Network, RICs and SBECs provide support to a range of social entrepreneurs and social enterprises.

Entrepreneurship Programs – support initiatives that contribute to the diversity and growth of local/regional economies by reducing barriers to success for early-stage entrepreneurs and small business owners in their community including:

  • Training, mentorship networks, and micro-financing opportunities.
  • Projects that connect municipal strategies to entrepreneurs’ emerging needs and leverage activities supporting business development and self-employment ventures.
  • Partnership funding and collaborations that will enhance the investments made in the ONE and Youth Jobs Strategy initiatives.

Youth Initiatives – an ongoing suite of programs, resources, and partnerships that support the next generation of entrepreneurs including:

  • Summer Company provides students aged 15 to 29 with hands on business training, mentoring and up to $3,000 to start and run their own summer business. MEDEI is also collaborating with the Ministry of Education to explore the opportunity for students to earn up to two cooperative education credits while participating in the Summer Company program.
  • Make Your Pitch competition encourages high school students to pitch a business idea for a chance to win business mentoring, networking, and Summer Company support.
  • Entrepreneurship Learning Stream funds projects delivered by not-for-profit organizations that will develop the pipeline of young entrepreneurs and enable youth to successfully pursue entrepreneurship as a career. Builds on the success of Youth Jobs Strategy investments beyond the strategy timeframe.
  • Future Entrepreneurs and Business Plan Wizard are resources for students and teachers (Grades 7 to 10) that support the Province’s commitment to the Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship (ICE) curriculum.

The Ministries also support promoting Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) adoption and e-commerce opportunities among Ontario small and medium enterprises to enable them to compete in the global economy.

High Growth Small and Medium Enterprises

The Ministries provides support for Ontario’s existing and aspiring high growth firms through “hands on” business development expertise and services.

Business Advisory Services

  • Through its 26 senior business advisors in twelve offices across Southern Ontario, the Ministry works directly with existing and aspiring high growth firms producing tradable goods or services. Through in-depth consultations and potential application of a range of public and private sector resources, business advisors help companies grow their domestic and export sales, improve their competitiveness and productivity, source capital for expansion and develop plans for continued advancement.

Business Development

  • Energy Connections, Wisdom Exchange, Leading Growth Firm Reports and Probe for Innovation and Manufacturing provide help by connecting growing small and medium enterprises directly to opportunities in new markets, providing tools to increase productivity and sustainability and delivering resources to improve Small-Medium Enterprises (SME) executive development.

Research

MRI supports and promotes research in Ontario by leading key strategies and programs that ensure Ontario is globally competitive in the creation and adoption of new ideas and technology. Key programs include:

Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence

  • Provides researchers with the support to undertake cutting-edge research and promotes research excellence in Ontario by supporting transformative, internationally significant research of strategic value to the province. The Fund focuses on scientific excellence and strong commercialization potential and targets new, leading edge research initiatives.

Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure

  • Supports the modernization, development and acquisition of new research infrastructure. The Fund ensures researchers have the funds to invest in state-of-the art equipment and facilities which enable research institutions to attract the best talent and create capacity to conduct world-leading research.

Early Researcher Awards

  • Assists promising, recently-appointed Ontario researchers build their research teams. It helps Ontario research institutions attract and retain the next generation of top research talent.

Ontario Brain Institute (OBI)

  • Plays a catalytic role by providing strategic direction for Ontario brain research and bringing together multi-disciplinary, patient-centered research teams. OBI also ensures standardization of clinical data to accelerate discovery, improve patient care and foster healthcare efficiencies.

Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR)

  • An independent, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to research on the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. OICR translates research results into prevention, better patient care, and the commercialization of new technologies and therapies into economic development opportunities.

Clinical Trials Ontario

  • An independent not-for-profit organization that provides a streamlined approach to conducting multi-centre clinical trials in Ontario, while maintaining the highest ethical standards for participant protection.

Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine

  • Combines government, philanthropy, and commercial partners to sustain Ontario’s competitive advantage in regenerative medicine and deliver on the health and economic promise of stem cells.

Perimeter Institute

  • A research centre for scientific research, training and educational outreach in foundational theoretical physics. It is one of the largest and most prominent research centres in theoretical physics in the world.

International Collaboration Programs

  • Provide a means for Ontario researchers to foster mutually-beneficial collaborations in strategic markets, strengthen Ontario’s R&D/ commercialization capabilities and translate Ontario’s innovations into solutions that cultivate future opportunities for international trade.

Highlights Of 2015-16 Achievements

The Ministries of Research and Innovation and of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure are committed to creating a strong, vibrant and innovative economy. The Ministry of Economic Development Employment and Infrastructure attracted over $4.5 billion of direct investment which will result in the creation / retention of over 21,000 jobs. The following highlights the achievements of the Ministries for the 2015-16 fiscal year:

Attract and Secure Strategic Investments that Support Productivity, Innovation and Exports

Business Growth Initiative

  • As announced in the 2016 provincial Budget, Ontario will commit $400 million to the Business Growth Initiative over the next five years to increase the province’s global competitiveness and leverage Ontario’s highly skilled workforce to compete through innovation.
  • The BGI will focus on three key areas: making significant investments in innovation and research & development, including the commercialization and adoption of new disruptive technologies; helping Ontario’s small and medium-sized firms get access to the capital, resources and expertise they need to grow into larger, globally competitive exporters; and establishing new tools to build a smarter regulatory environment that will remove unnecessary red tape and make government rules easier to follow.

Jobs and Prosperity Fund (JPF) – New Economy Stream

  • March 21, 2016 – Ontario announced it is partnering with Mitsui High-tec to build the company’s first manufacturing facility in North America, and the very first facility in Ontario producing motor cores for electric and hybrid vehicles. Ontario will invest up to $2 million to support Mitsui High-tec’s new facility in Brantford, leveraging an overall project investment of about $38 million. The partnership will secure 48 new highly skilled jobs and strengthen the province’s auto supply chain.
  • March 17, 2016 – Ontario announced it is partnering with Baylis Medical Company to support an R&D expansion project at the company’s Mississauga manufacturing plant that will increase exports, create 84 new jobs and retain 194 positions. Ontario will invest up to $4.22 million to support Baylis' $32.5 million expansion into a new state-of-the-art facility that will double the company’s environmentally controlled rooms and R&D spaces. This expansion will allow Baylis to almost double its exports over the next seven years and help the company reach new international markets, including Australia, Brazil, China and South Korea.
  • March 16, 2016 – Ontario announced a new grant of up to $15 million to Sandvine, an Ontario-based global leader in networking equipment, to support the development of emerging, cloud-based technologies that will create 75 new jobs and retain 267 existing jobs in Waterloo, and strengthen the province’s reputation as a knowledge-economy hub. The total eligible cost of the project is $169 million over seven years.
  • March 8, 2016 – Ontario announced it is investing up to $16 million in Huawei Canada to support a major research and development (R&D) expansion project called 5G Ontario. Huawei Canada will invest $212 million to create hundreds of R&D jobs for Ontario’s highly skilled workers and further solidify the province as a global hub of the knowledge economy. Huawei will create 250 new R&D jobs in the province as it establishes new research laboratories in Markham and Waterloo and expands its existing research facility in Ottawa.
  • July 31, 2015 – Ontario announced a grant of $42.1 million to support a $421 million investment for equipment and technology upgrades at Toyota’s Cambridge assembly plant and a new metal stamping line at the Woodstock assembly plant. The project will help to create 25 new and retain 6,221 highly skilled jobs and also secures Toyota’s manufacturing operations in Ontario through to 2021.

Jobs and Prosperity Fund – Strategic Partnership Stream

  • February 24, 2016 – Ontario announced a partnership with IBM Canada and Ontario Centres of Excellence to help up to 500 small and medium-sized enterprises create jobs, embrace next-generation technologies and compete in the global marketplace. Ontario will invest up to $22.75 million in the IBM Innovation Incubator (I3) Project and IBM will contribute $24.75 million. This project is expected to leverage over $410 million in private-sector investment.
  • September 8, 2015 – Ontario announced it has been selected to be the home of Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s first JLABS Incubator outside the United States. A grant of $19.4 million to JLABS @ Toronto will help strengthen Ontario’s growing life sciences sector. Up to 50 promising young life sciences and health sector businesses at the facility will have access to leading-edge labs and equipment, including JLABS’ inaugural device and digital prototype lab, and access to scientific, industry and capital funding experts. JLABS @ Toronto is a partnership between the University of Toronto, MaRS Innovation and the Province. It will leverage Ontario’s highly-skilled workforce and advanced science and technology sector, providing the tools and resources needed to help life science start-ups thrive.

Jobs and Prosperity Fund – Food and Beverage Growth Fund

  • This program is offered by MEDEI in partnership with and on behalf of OMAFRA.
  • December 7, 2015 – Ontario announced a $5 million investment to help Parrish & Heimbecker Limited build the first greenfield site flour mill in Ontario in 75 years through a $46 million investment, which will create 16 new jobs while retaining more than 200 jobs in Ontario. This project includes the construction of a new bulk mill on Pier 10 in Hamilton harbour, with access to railway, truck and vessel transportation. In addition, it is expected that it will increase export opportunities, and strengthen the province’s food and beverage processing sector.
  • November 25, 2015 – Ontario announced it is investing $1 million to help the Super-Pufft Snack Corporation purchase and install a new canister crisp line. Super-Pufft will invest almost $9 million in the new line which will increase the company’s productivity and improve their competitiveness. The funds are expected to create 34 new jobs while retaining 304 current jobs in Ontario.
  • October 7, 2015 – Ontario announced it is investing $1.5 million to help Lassonde Industries purchase and install a new high-speed, Tetra Pak packaging line that will improve efficiencies and allow the company to fill up to 24,000 juice packages per hour - 18,000 more per hour than they can currently fill. The funding will help to create 15 new jobs and also secures 114 positions at Lassonde’s Rexdale facility through a $9.5 million total investment.

Communities in Transition Program

  • The Ministry continued to collaborate with Ontario communities and industry sectors to respond to local, sector or regional economic challenges by creating new opportunities and attracting new investment. Since 2006-07, the government has supported over 65 projects across the province with a total contribution of $25 million.

Examples of Key Investment Attraction

  • As announced in the 2016 provincial Budget, Ontario will commit $400 million to the Business Growth Initiative (BGI) over the next five years to increase the province’s global competitiveness and leverage Ontario’s highly skilled workforce to compete through innovation.

A Modernized, Transparent and Accessible Ontario

  • In September 2013, MEDEI released a three-year, $25 million Social Enterprise Strategy to help make Ontario the best jurisdiction in North America to start-up or scale-up a social purpose business. The Strategy will increase the number of social enterprise start-ups, leverage private sector impact investment to help social enterprises scale-up and create 1,600 sustainable new jobs by the end of 2016, particularly for persons with disabilities, Aboriginals, newcomers to Canada, youth-at-risk and other vulnerable populations.
  • Provost Moran’s review of the AODA was tabled and made public in February 2015, and the government issued a formal response to her recommendations in June 2015. Many of Moran’s recommendations informed the development of an Accessibility Action Plan, also released in June 2015, which outlined steps the government will take to achieve a more accessible province over the coming years.

Build and Maintain Safe and Modern Infrastructure

  • The Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act, 2015 received Royal Assent on June 4, 2015 and will come into force on May 1, 2016.
  • In summer 2015, MEDEI consulted with communities across the province to ensure local priorities inform Moving Ontario Forward, a ten year initiative that includes about $15 billion for transit, transportation, and other priority infrastructure outside of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
  • The Ministry, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, continued to implement the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF), which provides $100 million per year to help small, rural, and northern communities build and repair core infrastructure. Half of the funding is allocated annually using a fair and transparent formula. The remaining funding is flowing through an application-based process.
  • As of February 2016, more than 135 critical infrastructure projects have been approved through the application-based component of the OCIF and 426 communities are receiving formula-based funding.
  • On February 22, 2016, the Province announced that the OCIF will be increasing from $100 million per year to $300 million per year by 2018-19. Approximately $200 million of this will be formula-based.
  • As part of the roll-out of the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund, the Ministry launched an intake to identify projects for the federal government’s Small Communities Fund. Through the Small Communities Fund, Ontario and Canada will each provide $272 million to support projects in communities with populations under 100,000. In 2015-16, more than 88 critical infrastructure projects were approved through the Small Communities Fund.
  • In July 2015, Ontario made its second submission to the federal government under the Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component of the Building Canada Fund for projects focused on components of building the provinces Regional Express Rail network. This submission nominated five priority transit corridor projects and reiterated the Province’s commitment to the Scarborough Subway and the Ring of Fire.
  • The policy-led, three point plan to transform the government’s approach to realty management is delivering measurable results, including:
    • Over $375 million in net revenue through 347 asset sales since 2007.
    • Reduction of over half a million square feet of office space over the past 2 years saving $19 million per year.
    • An increasingly efficient and modern portfolio of buildings and lands to support program and policy delivery.
  • On December 10, 2015 the Forfeited Corporate Property Act, 2015 and the Escheats Act, 2015 along with changes to a number of other Acts were approved to come into effect on December 10, 2016. This legislation sets out a framework to manage forfeited corporate property designed to achieve the following outcomes:
    • Reducing the number of corporate properties that forfeit to the government of Ontario.
    • Returning forfeited corporate properties to productive use in a timely and efficient manner.
    • Increasing corporate accountability for costs associated with forfeited property.
    • Providing greater transparency and certainty in the management and disposition of forfeited corporate property.

Translate Research into Improved Efficiencies in Health Care Delivery

Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine

  • Launched in 2014 to bring together government, philanthropy, and commercial partners to sustain Ontario’s competitive advantage in regenerative medicine and deliver on the health and economic promise of stem cells.
  • The Institute will act as an umbrella organization for all stem cell and regenerative medicine activity in Ontario.
  • The 2015 Ontario Budget committed $25 million over five years to support the institute starting in 2015-16.

Clinical Trials Ontario

  • Created Streamlined Research Ethics Review System that supports the timely, efficient and effective review of multi-centre clinical research in Ontario.
  • This system enables any single qualified Research Ethics Board to provide ethics review and oversight on behalf of multiple research sites involved in a clinical trial, while also harmonizing processes and reducing the time and effort required to conduct research across multiple sites in Ontario.
  • In 2015-16, the first full year of operation, 13 Research Ethics Boards were qualified and over 45 research sites became a part of this system.

Support Leading Edge Research to Boost Ontario’s Research Capacity

  • In 2015-16, Ontario’s flagship research programs adjudicated competitions and in the process engaged the support of external panel members. All submitted research proposals undergo a rigorous, best-in-class, independent peer-review ensuring support for the best projects with the greatest likelihood for success.
  • Through the Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure Fund, the Ministry committed $112 million toward 49 large infrastructure projects.
  • In 2015-16, Compute Ontario, a not-for-profit corporation with a mandate to support advanced research computing in Ontario, submitted a bid to the Canada Foundation for Innovation which resulted in two of the four national sites being located in Ontario – one at the University of Waterloo and the other at the University of Toronto – and will potentially lead into the first major upgrade in the consortia’s advanced computing infrastructure since 2007.

Implement the Renewed Youth Jobs Strategy in Three Areas: Industry Skills Development, Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The following results have been achieved after an additional investment of $44.4 million in 2015-16, for a total investment of $144.4 million since 2013.

  • Reached over a quarter of a million students through entrepreneurship outreach and learning activities across the province, including 332 Make Your Pitch video submissions.
  • Boosted entrepreneurship activity at 95% of post-secondary institutions.
  • Trained 7,450 youth to address skill gaps and gain employment capacity while securing employment for 1,600 newly-trained youth.
  • Served over 41,000 young entrepreneurs through training, expert advice, and mentorship, creating over 4,700 jobs through self-employment or business creation and growth, which helped students launch nearly 2,470 summer businesses.
  • Leveraged over $162 million in funding from industry and other sources and developed over 1,570 prototypes and 70 patents by young entrepreneurs.

Support Entrepreneurs, Build Commercialization and Stimulate an Ideas Economy

Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs has helped the province’s entrepreneurs and companies:

  • Create more than 16,000 jobs, retained more than 18,000 jobs, while training over 4,000 highly qualified personnel.
  • Lever 6,000 new businesses firms, and leverage over $1.7 billion in investment.
  • Market over 5,000 new products and services, and developed over 3,000 prototypes.
  • Supported potential high growth firms through its Business Advisory Services, resulting in; over 2,300 business consultations, 2,832 new jobs created, over 5,750 jobs retained, over $426 million in new sales, including over $232 million in international exports, over $171 million in inter provincial sales to the Alberta oil sands, over $542 million in new investment projects, over $46 million in funding from public sector debt, tax credits and grants and private sector sources.
  • Accelerated Ontario’s shift towards a knowledge-based economy by helping technology-based entrepreneurs and companies to start and grow, and accelerate the commercialization process (i.e. bringing an idea-to-market).
  • Provided consultations with high growth firms or aspiring high growth firms resulting in over 2,900 new and retained jobs, over $339 million in total new investment projects and over $190 million in international and inter-provincial export sales.
  • ONE is a network comprised of over 130+ organizations and post-secondary institutions dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs across all sizes, sectors and stages.
  • Ontario Centres of Excellence is a member of ONE. Over the past 6 years, OCE has seen its costs for delivering programs as a percentage of total funding decrease. This is a result of an ongoing commitment to efficiency and streamlining measures.
  • Through ONE, Ontario supports 18 Regional Innovation Centres that help to launch and grow new companies. For example, with the support of Communitech in Waterloo, over 2,299 new companies have been created since the hub was launched in 2010.
  • MaRS is a member of ONE. An independent study performed by the Centre for Spatial Economics shows that companies that have worked with MaRS since its inception now account for roughly 6,600 direct jobs.‎ In addition, as one of  North America’s largest urban research parks, MaRS Centre hosts over 2,000 meetings, workshops, conferences and networking events each year, attended by approximately 100,000 people
  • Ontario is home to two of the largest start-up ecosystems in the world: Toronto and Waterloo.

Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs has helped “Main Street” businesses,by working with Small Business Enterprise Centres, to produce the following year-to-date results in 2015-16:

  • Advanced “main street” businesses through Small Business Enterprise Centres resulting in the start-up of 3,446 businesses, 1,006  business expansions and the creation of over 6,000 jobs in 2015-16.
  • Handled over 80,000 person-to-person general business inquiries and recorded almost 2.4 million online contacts, including social media contacts.
  • Conducted over 15,000 one-on-one consultations of which more than 9,600 were repeat consultations, additionally delivering over 2,000 seminars and workshops to more than 32,141 business clients.
  • Hosted 419 major small business events attended by 17,290 participants, including Aboriginal related and e-business events.

Maintain a Robust Venture Capital Industry

Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF)

  • Invested over $93 million directly into 27 Ontario-based portfolio companies and levered $232 million in third-party capital.
  • For the twelve-month period ending February 2015, the portfolio companies on an aggregate basis recorded revenues of $284 million; incurred expenditures of approximately $257.5 million in research and development, and supported 639 full-time careers.
  • The OETF has invested over $93 million in 27 companies.

Ontario Venture Capital Fund LP (OVCF)

  • Under OVCF, Ontario’s commitment of $90 million has leveraged over $1 billion in third-party capital.
  • Between 2008 and 2015 Ontario-based companies in the OVCF portfolio, on an aggregate basis, and recorded approximately $1.16 billion in revenue.
  • With respect to OVCF’s Ontario-based portfolio companies achieved the following as of December 31, 2015, on an aggregate basis have recorded revenues of $1.16 billion; dedicated expenditures of $257.5 million in research and development and employed 2,864 individuals.

To date the Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund LP has announced commitments to nine leading Canadian venture capital funds and invested in eight companies totalling over $230 million.

Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services (CROPS)

As outlined the 2011 Budget, the government is reforming public service delivery to help eliminate the deficit while protecting education and health care. As a part of the CROPS review there are three recommendations MRI/MEDEI are actively addressing as outlined below from the 2015-16 Annual Report:

  • 12-1, Place more emphasis on achieving greater value from existing assets in asset management plan reporting requirements than is currently proposed in the Long-term Infrastructure Plan for certain organizations (e.g., universities, municipalities, etc.). In 2015-16, the Ministry continued its work with Cabinet Office and other ministries to analyze recommendations from the Community Hubs report.
  • 12-7, Subject ministries to market prices for the use of government real estate. In 2015-16, the Ministry continues to work with ministries on funding strategies.
  • 12-8, Consolidate the real estate and accommodation function now resting in line ministries and locate it centrally at the Ministry of Infrastructure. In 2015-16, the Ministry continued its ongoing discussion with ministries to address accommodation and real estate issues.

Ministry of Research and Innovation / Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure Organizational Chart

  • Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure - Brad Duguid | Minister of Research and Innovation - Reza Moridi
    • Parliamentary Assistant – Marie-France Lalonde (reports to Minister Duguid)
    • Parliamentary Assistant – Daiene Vernile (reports to Minister Moridi)
    • Deputy Minister – Giles Gherson (Reporting to Minister Brad Duguid and Minister Reza Moridi)
      • Executive Assistant – Trish Dyl
      • Legal Services Director – Carolyn Calwell
      • Communications Director – Clare Barnett
      • John Marshall, Assistant Deputy Minister, Open for Business
        • Katie Gibson Director, Social Enterprise
        • (Acting) Anne Bermonte, Director, Open for Business
      • Victor Sverino, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy and Strategy
        • Guy Poirier, Director, Policy and Strategy
        • Steve Romanyshyn, Director, Strategic Policy
        • Akin Alaga, (Acting) Director, Sector Strategy
        • Hugo Cameron, Director, Trade Policy
      • (Acting) Gregory Wooton, Assistant Deputy Minister, Investment and Industry
        • (Acting) Joanne Anderson , Director, InfoTech, Life Sciences  and Services
        • Brian Love, Director, Business Advisory Services
        • (Acting) George Cadete, Director, Advanced Manufacturing
      • Bill Mantel, Research, Assistant Deputy Minister, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship
        • Allison Barr, Director, Research Branch
        • Carrie Burd, (Acting) Director, Entrepreneurship
        • (Acting) Rachel Simeon, Director, Commercialization
        • John Marshall, President and CEO, Ontario Capital Growth Corporation
      • Robert Burns, CAO, Corporate Services
        • Betty Morgan, Director, Service Management and Facilities
        • Dan Keating, Director, Human Resources
        • Lawrence Wagner, Director, Business Planning and Finance
        • (Acting) Kevin Perry, Business Planning and Finance
        • (Acting) Richard Kikuta, Director, Investment Funding and Coordination
      • Ann Hoy, Assistant Deputy Minister, Accessibility Directorate of Ontario
        • Mary Bartolmucci, Director, Standards Policy and Coordination
        • Alf Spencer, Director, Outreach and Strategic Initiatives
      • Karen Maxwell, Assistant Deputy Minister, Infrastructure Policy and Planning
        • Elizabeth Doherty,  Director, Intergovernmental Policy
        • Sarah McQuarrie, Director, Strategic Initiatives, Planning and Analytics
      • Bruce Singbush, Assistant Deputy Minister, Realty
        • Margaret Allan, Director, Realty Management
        • Trevor Bingler, Director, Realty Policy
        • (Acting) David McIntosh, Director, Office Transformation

Agencies, Boards and Commissions

Accessibility Standards Advisory Council

In Fall 2015, the mandate of ASAC was expanded to allow for the establishment, activity and on-going operation of multiple Standards Development Committees.

Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC)

The Ontario Capital Growth Corporation was established to, receive, hold, administer and otherwise deal with the interest of the Government of Ontario in the limited partnership known as the Ontario Venture Capital Fund LP. OCGC is responsible for acquiring, managing and otherwise dealing with a portfolio of investments in businesses that the Corporation considers to be emerging technology businesses. Additionally, OCGC participates in the formation of one or more funds, to acquire interests in the funds, and to hold, administer and otherwise deal with those interests, where each fund meets the following criteria:

  • Receives funding directly or indirectly from, among others, one or more of the following; the Government of Canada, the Corporation, and private sector entities.
  • Goals include promoting the creation of a globally competitive venture capital industry, increasing the supply and effective deployment of early-stage investment capital, and increasing the supply of top-performing fund managers to manage venture capital investment, in Ontario and Canada.
  • Invests in one or both of the following; other funds that supply venture capital to companies, and innovative companies that require venture capital.
  • Managed by a private sector fund manager and perform any additional objects specified by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Ontario Capital Growth Corporation Financials

Table detailing revenue and expenses from 2014 to 2017 for the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation
($M)2016-17
Estimated
2015-16
Interim
2014-15
Actuals
Revenue48.115.020.1
Expense1.611.37.4

Notes: 1. 2015-16 numbers based on draft financial statements. Numbers subject to adjustment without notice.
2. 2014-15 revenue numbers are from 2014-15 audited financial statements of the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC).

Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation

The Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation (Infrastructure Ontario or IO) is a Crown agency established under the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation Act, 2011.

Infrastructure Ontario’s mandate is to provide a range of advice and services, as set out in the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation Act, 2011, to support the Ontario government’s initiatives to modernize and maximize the value of public infrastructure and realty. Infrastructure Ontario fulfills its mandate through the following roles and activities, subject to written direction from the Minister, as required:

Modern Procurement and Project Manager
  • Infrastructure Ontario is dedicated to the renewal of the Province’s hospitals, courthouses, and other essential public assets. Ensuring appropriate public control and ownership, Infrastructure Ontario uses Alternative Financing and Procurement to rebuild vital infrastructure, on time and on budget.
Infrastructure Lender
  • Infrastructure Ontario provides Ontario municipalities, universities and other public entities with access to affordable loans to build and renew public infrastructure.
Commercial Project Advisor
  • Infrastructure Ontario leverages private sector partnerships and investments for revenue generation, liability/cost reduction and efficiency in government services and investments.
Real Estate Manager
  • Infrastructure Ontario also provides management services for the provincially-owned and leased realty portfolio, one of the largest real estate portfolios in Canada. The portfolio includes a wide variety of properties, ranging from detention centres to office space, courthouses and heritage buildings, and land holdings across the Province.

Infrastructure Ontario administers the Ministry’s General Real Estate Portfolio (GREP) and the Transmission Corridor Program.

Table detailing revenue and Expenses from 2014 to 2017 for the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation
($M)2016-17
Estimated
2015-16
Interim
2014-15
Actuals
Revenue56.589.8134.0
Expense64.368.0104.1

Ontario Research Fund Advisory Board (ORFAB)

The ORFAB reviews and assesses Ontario Research Fund and Early Researcher Award funding proposals, and makes recommendations to the Minister. The Board also provides strategic advice to the Minister on the research agenda to keep Ontario competitive and prosperous.

Government Organizations

The Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure has oversight of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (Waterfront Toronto) jointly with the federal government and the City of Toronto. One third of Waterfront Toronto’s finances are consolidated onto the ministry’s books.

Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation

Waterfront Toronto was established by the federal government, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto to transform underutilized industrial lands along Toronto’s waterfront into sustainable new communities, promote economic growth in knowledge-based creative industries, create parks and open spaces, and provide continuous waterfront access to the public.

Waterfront Toronto is responsible for developing and implementing a coordinated and comprehensive waterfront vision and in ensuring that the public and private sectors are engaged in revitalization efforts.

Table detailing revenue and Expenses from 2014 to 2017 for the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation
($M)2016-17
Estimated
2015-16
Interim
2014-15
Actuals
Revenue(15.0)(21.9)(38.6)
Expense(15.2)(22.1)9.1

Detailed Financial Information

Title: Ministry Allocation of 2016-17 Base Spending in Millions Pie Chart - Description: Ministry Administration totalling 20.5 million Statutory Appropriations, 0.7 million Economic Development, Investment and Industry, 352.5 million Policy and Strategy, 49.1 million Trade and Marketing, 19.2 million Infrastructure Policy and Programs, 5 million Realty Programs, 68.5 million Accessibility Directorate of Ontario, 15.1 million Research and Innovation, 537.8 million Capital Assets, 16.8 million Capital Expense, 803.4 million

Table of Ministry Allocation of 2016-17 Base Spending
Ministry Allocation of 2016-17Base Spending ($M)
Ministry Administration$20.5
Capital Expense$803.4
Capital Assets$16.8
Research and Innovation$537.8
Accessibility Directorate of Ontario$15.1
Realty Programs$68.5
Infrastructure Policy and Programs$5.0
Trade and Marketing$19.2
Policy and Strategy$49.1
Economic Development, Investment and Industry$352.5
Statutory AppropriationsS0.7

Table 1: Ministry Planned Expenditures 2016-17

Table detailing the Ministry’s planned expenditures for 2016-17

Operating Expense*

1,067,699,900

Capital Expense*

803,403,700

Total Expense

1,871,103,600

Operating Assets

122,000,000

Capital Assets

16,808,900

*Excludes the following Consolidation Adjustments
- Consolidation Adjustment – Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation
- Consolidation Adjustment – Hospitals
- Consolidation Adjustment – Colleges
- Consolidation Adjustment – Ontario Capital Growth Corporation
- Consolidation Adjustment – General Real Estate Portfolio
- Consolidation Adjustment – Transmission Corridor Program
- Consolidation Adjustment – Waterfront Revitalization Corporation

Ministry of Research and Innovation
Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure

Table 2: Combined Operating and Capital Summary by Vote

Table detailing the ministry’s combined operating and capital summary by votes/programs
Votes/ProgramsEstimates
2016-17
$
Change from Estimates
2015-16
%Estimates
2015-16*
Interim Actuals
2015-16*
$
Actuals 2014-15*
$
Operating Expense
Ministry Administration Program
20,492,600  20,492,60020,492,60020,097,514
Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure Program509,366,80032,535,7006.8476,831,100457,881,100328,003,088
Research and Innovation Program537,840,500(32,973,700)(5.8)570,814,200575,959,900525,656,570
Less: Special Warrants      
Total Operating Expense to be Voted1,067,699,900438,000)(0.0)1,068,137,9001,054,333,600873,757,172
Special Warrants
Statutory Appropriations
699,028  699,028699,0286,204,392
Ministry Total Operating Expense1,068,398,928(438,000)(0.0)1,068,836,9281,055,032,628879,961,564
Consolidation and Other Adjustments - Hospitals(11,595,300)8,641,900 (20,237,200)(11,420,500)(18,991,730)

Consolidation and Other Adjustments - Colleges

(1,795,000)(1,795,000) >(2,375,000)(2,699,001)
Consolidation and Other Adjustments – Ontario Capital Growth Corporation(45,443,400)(102,500) (45,340,900)4,974,200(10,683,107)

Consolidation & Other Adjustments - Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation

63,281,200(5,500,000)(8.0)68,781,20067,013,300104,117,000
Consolidation & Other Adjustments - General Real Estate Portfolio42,748,70019,397,40083.123,351,300(37,776,600)(27,917,000)

Consolidation & Other Adjustments - Transmission Corridor Program

(15,164,600)3,789,400 (18,954,000)(22,081,100)(1,749,224)
Consolidation & Other Adjustments - Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation6,712,5001,196,70021.75,515,80010,342,50013,622,667
Total Including Consolidation & Other Adjustments1,107,143,02825,189,9002,31,081,953,1281,063,709,428935,661,169
OPERATING ASSETS      
Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure Program122,000,00066,000,000117.956,000,00039,500,000320,408,400

Less: Special Warrants

      
Total Operating Assets to be Voted122,000,00066,000,000117.956,000,00039,500,000320,408,400
Special Warrants
Statutory Appropriations
      
Ministry Total Operating Assets320,408,400320,408,400320,408,400320,408,400320,408,400320,408,400
CAPITAL EXPENSE
Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure Program
720,086,300359,304,70099.6360,781,600132,614,900118,482,360
Research and Innovation Program83,317,4002,222,9002.781,094,50081,094,50088,622,300
Less: Special Warrants      
Total Capital Expense to be Voted803,403,700361,527,60081.8441,876,100213,709,400207,104,660
Special Warrants
Statutory Appropriations
2,000     
Ministry Total Capital Expense803,405,700361,527,60081.8441,878,100213,711,400207,104,660
Consolidation & Other Adjustments - Hospitals(15,480,300)(3,792,700) (11,687,600)(10,348,400)(18,844,820)
Consolidation & Other Adjustments - Colleges(19,600)5,015,800 (5,035,400)(1,294,500)(3,054,953)
Consolidation & Other Adjustments - Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation1,029,000(771,000)(42.8)1,800,0001,029,0002,005,000

Consolidation & Other Adjustments - General Real Estate Portfolio

(99,535,900)(48,209,400) (51,326,500)33,745,700(42,580,000)

Consolidation & Other Adjustments - Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation

(833,300)3,692,200 (4,525,500)(6,199,379)(4,454,934)
Total Including Consolidation & Other Adjustments688,565,600317,462,50085.5371,103,100230,643,821140,174,953
CAPITAL ASSETS
Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure Program
16,808,900(24,692,100)(59.5)41,501,0006,001,0002,484,000

Less: Special Warrants

      
Total Capital Assets to be Voted16,808,900(24,692,100)(59.5)41,501,0006,001,0002,484,000

Special Warrants

      
Ministry Total Capital Assets16,808,90024,692,100)(59.5)41,501,0006,001,0002,484,000
Ministry Total Operating and Capital Including Consolidation and Other Adjustments (not including Assets)1,795,708,628342,652,40023.61,453,056,2281,294,353,2491,075,836,122

* Estimates, Interim Actuals and Actuals for prior fiscal years are re-stated to reflect any changes in ministry organization and/or program structure. Interim actuals reflect the numbers presented in the 2016 Ontario Budget.

For additional financial information, see:
Budget Estimates
Public Accounts of Ontario 2013-14
2016 Ontario Budget
Or
For information please contact:
Business Planning and Finance Branch
Ministry of Research and Innovation
Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure

Tel: (416) 325-6421
Fax: (416) 327-4239

Legislation

Statutes Administered by the Minister of Research and Innovation

Community Small Business Investment Funds Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 18 in respect of Part III.2 and in the application of the provisions of Part I, Part IV and the regulations to or in respect of an investment corporation registered or previously registered under Part III.2
Ministry of Economic Development and Trade Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M. in respect of research and innovation matters
Ontario Capital Growth Corporation Act, 2008, S.O. 2008, c. 19, Schedule O

Statutes Administered by the Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, S.O. 2005, c. 11
Attracting Investment and Creating Jobs Act, 2012, S.O. 2012, c. 10
Burden Reduction Reporting Act, 2014, S.O. 2014, c. 12, Sched. 1
Development Corporations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. D. 10
Electricity Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 15, Sched. A, in respect of Part IX.1
Forfeited Corporate Property Act, 2015, S.O. 2015, c. 38, Sched. 7
Green Energy Act, 2009, S.O. 2009, c. 12, Sched. A, in respect of section 10, and in respect of subsection 8(2) which is shared with the Minister of Energy
Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act, 2015, S.O. 2015, c. 20, Sched. 18
Ministry of Economic Development and Trade Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.27 in respect of economic development, employment and trade matters, other than trade matters relating to:

  • international trade promotion, marketing and representation in support of businesses expanding internationally for the purpose of maximizing Ontario’s global trade opportunities and promoting Ontario as an investment destination, and
  • business and investment related immigration matters
  • Ministry of Infrastructure Act, 2011, S.O. 2011, c. 9, Sched. 27 except for clause 7(1) (b) with respect to growth management and clause 7(1) (c) and subsection 7(4) with respect to growth management and growth plans

Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 32
Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation Act, 2011, S.O. 2011, c. 9, Sched. 32
Partnerships for Jobs and Growth Act, 2014, S.O. 2014, c. 12, Sched. 2
SkyDome Act (Bus Parking), 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 8, Sched. K
Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 28
Water Opportunities Act, 2010, S.O. 2010, c. 19, Schedule 1, in respect of Part II

Appendix: Annual Report 2015-16

2015-16 Achievements

The Ministry of Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure provided leadership in fostering a competitive business climate to attract jobs and investment to Ontario. The Ministries supported the following government priorities:

  • Creating an Innovative and Dynamic Business Environment.
  • Building Modern Infrastructure and Transportation Networks.
  • Investing in People’s Talent and Skills Among Ontarians.
  • Unlocking the Value of Provincial Assets.
  • Supporting a fair society

Attract and Secure Strategic Investments that Support Productivity, Innovation and Exports

In 2015-16, the Ministries contributed to economic growth by attracting the following investments:
Jobs and Prosperity Fund (JPF)

The Jobs and Prosperity Fund (JPF) was announced in the 2014 Ontario Budget and was officially launched on January 7, 2015. The JPF helps to support the creation of a dynamic and innovative business climate; improve productivity and market access for Ontario companies and sectors. As part of the 2015 budget, eligibility was extended to the forestry sector and an additional $200 million was added to the fund, bringing the total to $2.7 billion.

The Strategic Investment Framework (SIF) was introduced in January 2015 to guide and evaluate potential investments made under the Jobs and Prosperity Fund (JPF). Taking a broad and longer-term perspective, the SIF places a premium on transformative, innovation-driven investments from key anchor firms. These firms will catalyse broader economic activity, including strengthening local supply chains, encouraging collaborative research, providing exposure to international and diaspora networks and fostering new start-ups.

Projects Previously Announced (also funded under JPF)

  • Linamar (January 12, 2015 – Guelph)
  • Honda (November 6, 2014 – Alliston)
  • Open Text (April 25, 2014 – Waterloo)
  • Cisco Systems Canada Co. (December 13, 2013 – Toronto)
  • Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited (September 19, 2013 – Oakville)
  • Ubisoft (July 6, 2009 – Toronto)

Strategic Jobs and Investment Fund and Strategic Investments

Though closed to new applications in 2014, the Strategic Jobs and Investment Fund (SJIF), has continued to support innovative projects that will create high value-added jobs and support cluster development. Strategic Jobs and Investment Fund (SJIF) and Strategic Investments (SI) have committed Ontario support of over $865 million, leveraging business investments of over $11.8 billion and helping to create and retain over 31,000 highly skilled jobs.

SJIF Announced Projects 2014-15
Table showing Strategic Jobs and Investment Fund  announced projects for 2014-15
CompanyLocationOntario Grant Funding ($M)Total Investment Commitment ($M)Jobs Created/ Retained

Taro Pharmaceuticals

Brampton

$7

$247

535

Heroux-Devtek

Cambridge

$7.05

$54.20

90

Announced in 2014-15 $14.05$301.20625

Eastern Ontario Development Fund

During 2015-16, the Eastern Ontario Development Fund (EODF) announced support to 6 projects with a total investment commitment of $27.6 million. Since the Fund was established in 2008, the government has invested more than $85 million in over 140 projects leveraging a total investment of approximately $800 million. These investments support the creation of over 3,700 new jobs and retention of over 14,400 jobs.

EODF Announced Projects 2015-16
Table showing Eastern Ontario Development Fund announced projects for 2015-16
CompanyLocationOntario Grant Funding ($M)Total Investment Commitment ($M)Jobs Created/Retained
Ritz PlasticsPeterborough$0.2$2109
Synagri LP.Chesterville$0.37$4.631
Tri-County Plastics Ltd.Brighton$0.27$2.747
3M Canada Company

Brockville

$0.55

$5.5

113

Hanon SystemsBelleville$0.86$8.6413
City of PeterboroughPeterborough$1$4.2N/A
Announced in 2015-16 3.327.6713
Southwestern Ontario Development Fund

During 2015-16, the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund (SWODF) announced support to 16 projects with a total investment commitment of approximately $129 million. Since the launch of the fund in October 2012, the government has invested almost $88 million to more than 63 projects leveraging a total of over $1 billion and supporting the creation of over 4,000 new jobs and the retention of over 19,000 existing jobs.

SWODF Announced Projects 2014-15

Table showing Southwestern Ontario Development Fund announced projects for 2014-15
CompanyLocationOntario Grant Funding ($M)Total Investment CommitmentJobs Created/
Retained
Hammond ManufacturingGuelph$1.5$15.34379

Ontario Drive and Gear Limited

New Hamburg$1$12.7152
Ball Service Group Inc.Kitchener$.21$2.136
Ground Effects Ltd.Windsor$0.76$10.2281
Cambridge Bass Inc.Cambridge$0.39$4.8126
Tenneco Canada $1$10.3492
Kodiak Group Holdings Co. $0.48$4.880
Upland Technologies Inc.Cambridge$0.51$5.134
Walinga Inc.Guelph$0.44$4.4202
Precision Resource Canada Ltd.Cambridge$0.41$8.2349
Canada Tubeform Inc.London$0.28$3.756
Tri-Mach Group Inc.Elmira$0.34$3.472
Grand River Foods Ltd.Cambridge$1.3$13365
Starlim-Stemer GroupLondon$1.5$20184
Eclipse AutomationCambridge$0.2$2.4188
Steel TechnologiesWoodstock$0.85$8.590
Announced in 2015-16 $11.2$128.93086
Communities in Transition Program

The Ministry continued to collaborate with Ontario communities and industry sectors to respond to local, sector or regional economic challenges by creating new opportunities and attracting new investment. Since 2006-07, the government has supported over 65 projects across the province with a total contribution of $25 million.

Examples of Key Investment Attraction

As announced in the 2016 Ontario Budget, the Eastern Ontario Development Fund, the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund and the Communities in Transition Program will be better integrated with the Jobs and Prosperity Fund to help improve the coordination of regional support programs.

Examples of Business Growth and Investment Attraction Initiatives
  • On July 31, 2015, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) announced that it would spend $421 million to launch the next generation Lexus RX 350 and 450 vehicles at its Cambridge, Ontario assembly plant. A new metal stamping line at the Woodstock plant will double capacity and increase productivity for a range of high-grade steels and lightweight alloys--a first for the company in North America. Equipment and technology upgrades at the Cambridge plant will prepare the facility to produce the next generation of Lexus vehicles. Ontario will provide a conditional grant of up to $42.1 million, directly leveraging the $421 million investment from Toyota, and will help to create new, highly skilled jobs, and secure additional jobs in Toyota’s Ontario manufacturing operations.
  • Mitsui High-tec Inc., a Japan-based manufacturer will establish a new North American motor core manufacturing facility in Brantford, Ontario. The company will utilize proprietary stamping, lamination and annealing technologies to produce advanced, high-efficiency motor cores that are used for electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. The province will be providing a grant of $2M thereby leveraging an investment of $55 million and creating 48 jobs. 100% of the initial production will be exported to the US.
  • Paytm, is India’s leading mobile internet company, and is India`s largest mobile marketplace. They provide mobile bill payment services to consumers and B2B services. In June 2015, the company invested approx. $35 million and hired 50 people. Paytm chose Ontario over California’s Silicon Valley as the company’s new North American HQ and R&D facility.
  • Established in 2001, Sandvine Corporation is a home-grown, broadband network solutions provider of tools that enable telecommunications providers to efficiently manage their subscriber networks. The company has over 250 customers in more than 90 countries including Comcast, NTT Communications and Telefonica. Currently, 85% of its revenue is generated from overseas markets. Sandvine received approval on March 2016, for a $15 million grant, part of an eligible project investment of $169.3 million, to support an R&D project that will create 75 new jobs in Ontario and retain 267 jobs.
  • NetSuite is a leading Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) vendor headquartered in San Mateo, California. NetSuite enables companies to manage their key business operations in a single system, including financials, supply chain, accounting, customer relationships, and E-commerce, payroll, and HR and talent management. In 2013, Netsuite Inc. acquired TribeHR of Kitchener, now NetSuite Canada Development Inc. With the support of a Jobs and Prosperity Fund grant contribution of $12.4 million, as part of an eligible project investment of $103 million, Netsuite will establish a ‘Big Data R&D Centre’, which is to create more than 260 ICT sector jobs, over the next 5 years.
  • JLABS – Ontario invested $19.4 million towards JLABS @ Toronto to help strengthen Ontario’s growing life sciences sector. JLABS @ Toronto, a partnership with the University of Toronto, MaRS Innovation, MaRS Discovery District and the Province, will leverage Ontario’s highly-skilled workforce and advanced science and technology sector, providing the tools and resources needed to help life science start-ups thrive. JLABS@Toronto is Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s first JLABS incubator outside the United States.
  • Business Services – A total of 402 jobs were created and retained and a total of $28.95 million was invested by three (3) new or expanded call centres.
  • Minister’s Mission to the Paris International Airshow – Minister Duguid led the Ontario delegation to the Paris International Airshow in June 2015, meeting with seven leading global aerospace companies, furthering investment opportunities and discussing key issues. Eighteen Ontario companies successfully exhibited at the Airshow as part of the Ontario booth. Ontario also hosted the successful Ontario dinner and a networking reception. In addition, Ministry staff met with Canadian and global companies, jurisdictions and associations throughout the week long event.
  • Premier’s Mission to California – California Trade Mission: The Premier led the trade mission to California. The mission focused on attracting venture capital, Life Sciences and ICT. Executive-level corporate calls helped further develop a significant investment opportunity with Autodesk and NetSuite.

Ontario Wine and Grape Strategy

As part of a multi-ministry Wine Secretariat leading the development of the new Ontario Wine and Grape Strategy, the Ministry successfully integrated its previous two VQA wine transfer payment programs (the VQA Wine Support Program and the Wine Strategy Program) into a new, consolidated one-window VQA wine program, which is now delivered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This effort supported both the wine and grape industry’s requests for one window delivery and the Ontario Government’s focus on reducing duplication of policy and program delivery.

Partnerships for Jobs and Growth Act, 2014

The Act, developed during 2014, came into force on April 1, 2015 and makes Ontario the first jurisdiction in North America to provide a legislative framework for the development of economic cluster-specific competitiveness strategies (“cluster plans” under the Act).

A Modernized, Transparent and Accessible Ontario

Open for Business

Ontario’s Open for Business (OFB) program is aimed at lowering business costs in the province through modernized regulations and making government faster, smarter and more streamlined for business. Some of the key results achieved include:

  • Under the Business Growth Initiative, Ontario announced a renewed and strengthened mandate for Open for Business; five new regulatory modernization programs and instruments are being introduced:
    • A Red Tape Challenge, an online platform, to engage the public, business and stakeholders to identify and eliminate burdens.
    • A Regulatory Centre of Excellence to champion and build capacity on international best practices for regulatory quality, simplicity, alternatives to regulation and cost benefit analysis.
    • A Regulatory Modernization Committee to oversee and enhance the regulatory challenge functions of the renewed mandate.
  • On June 30, 2015, Ontario published Building a Better Business Climate for Ontario: 2015 Burden Reduction Report, as legislated in the Burden Reduction Reporting Act, 2014. The report features an estimated savings of $44 million dollars and 2.3 million hours to business from burden reduction activities across government to streamline administrative and regulatory processes.
  • Ontario is halfway to achieving its target of reducing burdens to save business $100 million by the end of 2017 as committed in the 2015 Budget.
  • From November 2015 to March 2016, Open for Business collaborated with Toronto on eight projects to reduce time, money and effort Toronto businesses spend complying with provincial and municipal requirements.
  • Open for Business partnered with the MaRS Solutions Lab to apply design thinking to examine the growth of the sharing economy, in particular on the accommodation and transportation sectors in the City of Toronto, with the final report expected to be released March 2016.
  • Since 2010, there have been 11 OFB Roundtables completed. OFB Roundtables aim to address the top five priority issues for a business sector within 60 days.
  • The Ministry is working with Québec, as part of the Ontario-Quebec Trade and Cooperation Agreement, to renew our commitment to identify opportunities to eliminate or harmonize regulatory requirements and remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to trade, investment and labour mobility between Quebec and Ontario.
  • Open for Business has completed foundational research to support burden reduction efforts, including creating inventories of all provincial regulations and legislation impacting businesses in food manufacturing and auto parts sectors to support  the Red Tape Challenge.
  • Working with the Standards Council of Canada, Open for Business has identified outdated references to standards in regulations and worked with affected ministries to develop action plans to update them.
Internal Trade Renewal negotiations
  • During the August 2014 Council of the Federation meeting, Premiers committed to undertake a comprehensive renewal of the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), Canada’s internal trade framework. Since December 2014, in support of the Premiers’ direction, Ontario has been chairing negotiations with the provinces, territories and federal government. As the province’s lead negotiating ministry, MEDEI has played a central role in developing an ambitious and equitable renewed agreement that will liberalize trade within Canada, and reduce the burdens shouldered by Ontario businesses when operating across provincial and territorial lines. Negotiating parties have committed to reaching an agreement in principle by March 31, 2016.
Social Enterprise

The Ministry launched a Social Enterprise Strategy for Ontario to enable the growth of the social enterprise sector and position Ontario as the leading social enterprise jurisdiction in North America. Thriving social entrepreneurs contribute to economic growth and job creation, while addressing pressing social and environmental challenges.

  • The Ministry is partnering with community organizations and private investors to pilot innovative social financing tools, including the Ontario Catapult Microloan Fund. Catapult offers loans of $5,000 to $25,000 to early-stage social entrepreneurs, as well as focused business mentorship support. As of January 2015, eight Ontario social ventures had received financing under the program. One of these ventures, Peekapak, has since gone on to raise over $150,000 in investments from the private sector.
  • A call for proposals for the $4 million Social Enterprise Demonstration Fund (SEDF) was initiated in March 2014. The Fund is being deployed in partnership with community-based non-profit intermediary organizations with matching funding from other sources, including private investors. The SEDF aims to build new capital pools that will expand financing opportunities for social enterprise, and create jobs. The eleven successful intermediary organizations were announced on February 19, 2015. The Ministry’s $4 million investment leveraged more than $6 million in funding from other sources.
  • In supporting the valuing Abilities Strategy, the Ministry is currently consulting with financial institutions to explore a Community Loans Pilot Project, which would give small business owners discounted commercial loan rates if they commit to hiring people with disabilities or others who face employment barriers.
  • The Ministry is working with the Canadian Community Economic Development Network-Ontario (CCEDNet-Ontario) to support the collection of baseline research to produce a more complete picture of Ontario’s social enterprise sector, including statistics on for-profit social enterprises.
Accessibility

Ontario is the first jurisdiction in Canada with legislation that sets out a clear goal and timeframe for accessibility through the identification, prevention and removal of barriers in key areas of daily living.

  • The Directorate continues the implementation of the five accessibility standards enacted under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). In 2015-16, a number of requirements under the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation came into effect.
  • To mark the anniversary of the AODA, The Directorate worked with its partners to hold ten community accessibility events across the province, which included a screening of a video on accessibility accomplishments and keynote speeches by high-profile accessibility champions.
  • With its partners the Directorate supported communities across the province to recognize 101 Ontarians for their passion and commitment to accessibility and inclusion with a one-time AODA 10th Anniversary Champion Award. Their accomplishments ranged from fundraising to building an accessible playground to starting an accessible sailing program.
  • The Directorate launched a refreshed website, ontario.ca/accessibility, to make it easier for companies and organizations to understand what they have to do – and when. The website includes an online feedback page to help us improve accessibility in Ontario.
  • Twelve sections of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act were repealed effective December 1, 2015. Sections of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act that are not addressed by the AODA or its regulations will remain in effect.
  • The Transportation Standard Development Committee has been established and the review is underway. The ADO and its partner ministries (Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing) are working to support the Standards Development Committee in its review. The Committee’s review is expected to be completed by spring 2017.
  • In December 2015, MEDEI launched a marketing campaign to increase awareness and understanding of the employment standard among businesses and non-profits with 50 or more employees that were required to comply with the standard starting January 1, 2016.
  • As part of the “promote the cultural shift” mandate of the 2015 Action Plan, the Directorate launched a comprehensive public engagement to develop a made-in-Ontario, third-party accessibility certification model for businesses, in Fall 2015. As well, also in Fall 2015, the Directorate worked with Ryerson University’s Policy Innovation Platform to organize and run the “Hackcessibility” event, a policy “hackathon” designed to bring students, academics and others together to design ways of enhancing the conversation on accessibility through digital and social media.

Build and Maintain Safe, Modern Infrastructure

  • Measurable results have been noted from the policy-led, three point plan that aims to transform the government’s approach to realty management. Notable achievements include over $375 million in net revenue through 347 asset sales since 2007, reduction of over half a million square feet of office space over the past 2 years saving $19 million per year and an increasingly efficient and modern portfolio of buildings and lands to support program and policy delivery.
  • The transaction for the sale of the LCBO’s head office lands is expected to close in 2015-16. This sale will ensure that Ontarians get greater value from this public asset.
  • Other real estate assets continue to be reviewed under a longer-term revitalization plan, including the former Lakeview generating station property in southeastern Mississauga and the Seaton lands in Pickering.
  • Continued delivery of the Transmission Corridor Program, which generates revenue towards retiring the stranded debt of the former Ontario Hydro.
  • The Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services (the Drummond Report) called for encouraging more efficient use of current space and development of a strategic plan for the Province’s realty portfolio. After successfully launching the transformation of the way government manages its realty, as committed in the 2012 Ontario Budget, further progress was made with the approval of the Accelerated Demolition Program in 2014-15.
  • The Ministry led multi-ministry effort to create a comprehensive legislative framework for the management of forfeited corporate property in Ontario. This resulted in the approval of the Forfeited Corporate Property Act, 2015 and the Escheats Act, 2015 along with changes to a number of other Acts on December 10, 2015. This legislation, which comes into effect on December 10, 2016, sets out a framework to manage forfeited corporate property designed to: 
    •  Reduce the number of corporate properties that forfeit to the government of Ontario
    • Return forfeited corporate properties to productive use in a timely and efficient manner
    • Increase corporate accountability for costs associated with forfeited property
    • Provide greater transparency and certainty in the management and disposition of forfeited corporate property
  • The Ministry, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, continued to implement the permanent Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund, which provided $100 million in 2015-16 to help small, rural, and northern communities build and repair critical infrastructure. Half of the funding is allocated annually using a fair and transparent formula. The remaining funding is flowing through an application-based process.
    • To date, more than 135 critical infrastructure projects have been approved through the application-based component of the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund.
    • On February 22, 2016, the Province announced that the Fund will be increasing from $100 million per year to $300 million per year by 2018-19. $200 million of this will be formula-based.

Translate Research into Improved Efficiencies in Health Care Delivery

Ontario Brain Institute (OBI)

It is estimated, one in three Ontarians will be directly affected by a brain disorder within the course of a lifetime. OBI is tackling this challenge through its integrated approach to brain research and care. OBI is leveraging the infrastructure, talent, and the existing excellence of Ontario’s neuroscience community. OBI also creates partnerships to break down silos between clinicians and researchers, between institutions, between industry and researchers, between patient advocacy groups and researchers, and between disciplines and methodologies. Recent highlights include:

  • Data sharing through the Brain Centre for Ontario Data Exploration (Brain-CODE) to help accelerate brain research including clinical, imaging and neuropsychology assessments. Tests from over 1500 patients living with a variety of brain disorders which will allow researchers to observe commonalities across and between disorders.
  • Funding the development of 17 Primary Care Memory Clinics across Ontario. Memory clinics provide primary care-givers with the necessary training to diagnose and manage cases of dementia. Evidence shows that only 9% of patients seen in a memory clinic need to be referred to specialty care (neurologist/gerontologist) versus 82% of patients who are not seen at a memory clinic.
The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research translates cancer research findings into improved health outcomes and, through the Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust (FACIT), better economic benefits for Ontario. Recent successful outcomes include:

  • Researchers working through the International Cancer Genomic Consortium (ICGC) recently discovered widespread differences in how genome sequencing and analysis is performed worldwide and as a result have recommended guidelines to harmonize and improve the process. OICR was instrumental in creating the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) whose goal is to analyze the genomic changes in 50 different tumour types by sequencing 25,000 tumour genomes worldwide.
  • Launched an intervention study to develop better approaches to cancer screening. The first initiative to complement Ontario’s Colon Cancer Check program led to a 14% net increase in the uptake among people eligible for screening who did not respond to their initial invitation. Due to this increase in cancer screening, it is estimated that 425 colon cancer deaths will be averted per year.
  • Established the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization that supplied medical isotopes used to diagnose and treat more than 10,000 cancer patients, launched 12 clinical trials to validate the clinical value of new imaging probes, created more than 70 jobs in Hamilton, worked on over 30 projects funded by industry and developed novel imaging agents.
  • Co-developed provincial guidelines and additional confirmatory studies with Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care for new gene-based tests that provide the most cost-effective information for guiding treatment decisions. These gene-based tests can identify approximately 40% of patients with colon cancer not likely to respond to expensive chemotherapy and 22% of patients with early breast cancer who can avoid chemotherapy and related adverse effects.

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research continues to host the international secretariat of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. The alliance was formed to help accelerate the potential of genomic medicine to advance health by creating a common framework of harmonized approaches to enable the responsible, voluntary, and secure sharing of genomic and clinical data.

The Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine

Launched in 2014 to bring together government, philanthropy, and commercial partners to sustain Ontario’s competitive advantage in regenerative medicine and deliver on the health and economic promise of stem cells. The institute will act as an umbrella organization for all stem cell and regenerative medicine activity in Ontario. The 2015 Ontario Budget committed $25 million over five years to support the institute starting in 2015-16.

Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO)

CTO has created a Streamlined Research Ethics Review System that supports the timely, efficient and effective review of multi-centre clinical research in Ontario. This system enables any single ‘CTO Qualified’ Research Ethics Board (REB) to provide ethics review and oversight on behalf of multiple research sites involved in a clinical trial. This system, launched in March 2015, provides significant benefits to sponsors, investigators, institutions and REBs by harmonizing processes and reducing the time and effort required to conduct research across multiple sites in Ontario. All REBs participating in the system are reviewed through the CTO REB Qualification Program, a program unique to Ontario. Several REBs in Ontario have already become CTO Qualified, and it is anticipated that most REBs serving academic hospitals will be qualified by early 2016. Key features of the CTO Streamlined System:

  • Supports a single REB in providing research ethics review and oversight to multiple research sites for both industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated studies.
  • A web-based platform, CTO Stream that enables research ethics reviews, document management and communication across multiple REBs and institutions. After the protocol and overall study documents are approved, individual research sites can be approved for participating in the trial in days versus the two to five months or more it can currently take.

Support Leading-Edge Research to Boost Ontario’s Research Capacity

Since 2004, through the Ontario Research Fund and Early Researcher Awards programs over $1.69 billion in investments has leveraged an additional $3.52 billion, and over 625 industrial and institutional partnerships have been created. As a result there have been over 115,000 opportunities for highly qualified personnel to significantly improve their skills and knowledge. In 2015-16, the Ministry through the:

  • Ontario Research Fund - Research Excellence – Launched round 8 in June 2015. A total of 94 applications were received.
  • Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure committed $112 million to 49 large infrastructure projects.
  • Early Researcher Awards – Launched round 11 in April 2015. A total of 233 applications were received.
  • The International Collaboration Programs supported three types of activities in 2015-16:
    • Joint funding programs with India, Israel and China – which resulted in the launch of two new call for proposals with China and Israel worth $2 million and management of 32 ongoing collaborative international R&D projects in China, India and Israel.
    • Science and technology missions to Japan & South Korea, South Africa and Israel/Jordan and Premier’s missions to China and India which resulted in a total of 47 new partnerships worth over $100 million and 88 new jobs.
    • Partnership development activities for four thematic workshops which served to foster new collaborations with international researchers.

Implement the Renewed Youth Jobs Strategy in Three Areas: Industry Skills Development, Entrepreneurship and Innovation

With additional funding of $44.4 million in 2015-16 across three funds (Youth Skills Connections, Ontario Youth Entrepreneurship Fund, and Ontario Youth Innovation Fund) the following has been achieved:

Youth Skills Connections

  • Youth Skills Connections invested $5.5M in industry partnership projects. Investments from the first two years continue to show results. To date, funding has supported the training of 7,400 youth and enabled 1,600 to secure employment with industry partners.

Ontario Youth Entrepreneurship Fund

  • Summer Company received a top-up investment of $2.6M to help 865 students launch their own summer business in 2015 and support the program launch in advance of summer 2016.
  • Make Your Pitch business competition was renewed for two more years with an investment of $500,000 in 2015-16. The contest is in its fourth year and has received a total of 428 video entries from across Ontario and over 85,000 online votes from the public. Since 2013, 18 youth have been named, Make Your Pitch winners, from a total of 57 contest finalists.
  • Starter Company invested a further $6.8 million into training, mentorship and start-up grants for young entrepreneurs and youth-led businesses. In 2015-16, over 1200 youth participated in the program leading to the creation and expansion of more than 780 businesses and over 903 jobs. footnote 1
  • The Entrepreneurship Learning Stream invested $3.5 million in 25 projects focused on experiential learning, self-employment, and small business creation. Over the next year, these projects are expected to engage over 40,000 students and support 500 youth to create 300 businesses.

Youth Business Acceleration Program (Youth BAP) invested $2 million to support the development of technology companies by young entrepreneurs. To date Youth BAP has served over 1,500 unique clients. The impact of these clients include:

    • Creating 657 new jobs and retained 467 jobs.
    • Launching 63 new companies.
    • Leveraging over $84 million in investments by clients ($74 million of which is from the private sector).
    • Generating sales revenue of over $20 million.
  • Smart Start Seed Capital Fund received an additional $7 million funding to seed stage grants of up to $35,000 to enable promising youth-led ventures to reach early milestones in creating and growing their start-ups.
    • Over 148 businesses have received investment with additional applications in the pipeline. footnote 2
  • Youth Investment Accelerator Fund invested $7 million to continue support for emerging technology companies led by young entrepreneurs. The fund provides investment capital of up to $250,000 for second-stage growth needs.
    • 18 companies have received investments supporting over 191 jobs.

Ontario Youth Innovation Fund

  • Campus-linked Accelerators invested $20 million to support Ontario’s colleges and universities in creating, improving, and sustaining campus-linked entrepreneurship programs and accelerators for students and youth in their regions.
    • 42 institutions have been engaged.
    • Over 4,000 post-secondary students have been involved in entrepreneurship activities on campus.
    • Supported 745 new start-ups.
    • Created 1329 jobs.
    • Leveraged $41.6 million from other government and industry.
  • Talent Edge did not receive any funding in 2014-15 but continued to implement internships and fellowship opportunities to work on collaborative R&D projects between academic institutions and industry. Over 800 graduates and PhD placements were provided. footnote 4

Support Entrepreneurs, Build Commercialization and Stimulate an Ideas Economy

The Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) helped the province’s entrepreneurs and companies by:

  • Assisting existing and aspiring high-growth SMEs to achieve over $426 million in sales, $232 million of which are export sales.
  • Creating/retaining more than 22,800 jobs.
  • Helping to launch over 9,500 firms 2,500 innovation/technology-based entrepreneurs and firms; 7,000 “main street” entrepreneurs and firms.
  • Training over 4,000 highly qualified personnel.

Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) has helped potential high growth and high growth firms through its Business Advisory Services, resulting in:

  • Over 2,300 business consultations.
  • 2,832 new jobs created and over 5,750 jobs retained, over $426 million in new sales, including over $232 million in international exports.
  • Over $171 million in inter provincial sales to the Alberta oil sands.
  • Over $542 million in new investment projects.
  • Over $46 million in funding from public sector debt, tax credits and grants and private sector sources.
  • ONE is a network comprised of over 130+ organizations and post-secondary institutions dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs across all sizes, sectors and stages.
  • Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) is a member of ONE. Over the past 6 years, OCE has seen its costs for delivering programs as a percentage of total funding decrease. This is a result of an ongoing commitment to efficiency and streamlining measures.
  • Through ONE, Ontario supports 18 Regional Innovation Centres that help to launch and grow new companies. For example, with the support of Communitech in Waterloo, over 2,299 new companies have been created since the hub was launched in 2010.
  • MaRS is a member of ONE. An independent study performed by the Centre for Spatial Economics shows that companies that have worked with MaRS since its inception now account for roughly 6,600 direct jobs. In addition , as one of  North America’s largest urban research parks, MaRS Centre hosts over 2,000 meetings, workshops, conferences and networking events each year, attended by approximately 100,000 people.
  • Ontario is home to two of the largest start-up ecosystems in the world: Toronto and Waterloo.

Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) has helped “Main Street” businesses,by working with Small Business Enterprise Centres, to produce the following year-to-date results in 2015-16:

  • Facilitated the start-up of 3,446 businesses and 1,006 business expansions.
  • Created 6,053 jobs.
  • Handled over 80,000 person-to-person general business inquiries and recording almost 2.4 million online contacts, including social media contacts.
  • Conducted over 15,000 one-on-one consultations of which more than 9,600 were repeat consultations.
  • Delivered over 2,000 seminars and workshops to more than 32,141 business clients.
  • Hosted 419 major small business events including 147 Bridges to Better Business events: 31 e-business events, 26 Women’s events, 3 Aboriginal events and 10 Francophone events attended by 17,290 participants.

Maintain a Robust Venture Capital Industry

Through the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF), invested over $93 million in 27 companies.

  • Through the Ontario Venture Capital Fund (OVCF), Ontario’s commitment of $90 million has leveraged over $1 billion in third-party capital.
  • Between 2008 and 2015 Ontario-based companies in the OVCF portfolio, on an aggregate basis:
    • Recorded $1.16 billion in revenue;
    • Dedicated $257.5 million to research and development, and employed 2,864 people.
  • To date the Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund (NVCF) has announced commitments to nine leading Canadian venture capital funds and invested in eight companies totalling over $230 million.

Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services (CROPS)

As outlined the 2011 Budget, the government is reforming public service delivery to help eliminate the deficit while protecting education and health care. As a part of the CROPS review there are three recommendations MRI/MEDEI are actively addressing as outlined below from the 2015-16 Annual Report:

  • 12-1, Place more emphasis on achieving greater value from existing assets in asset management plan reporting requirements than is currently proposed in the Long-term Infrastructure Plan for certain organizations (e.g., universities, municipalities, etc.). In 2015-16, the Ministry continued its work with Cabinet Office and other ministries to analyze recommendations from the Community Hubs report.
  • 12-7, Subject ministries to market prices for the use of government real estate. In 2015-16, the Ministry continues to work with ministries on funding strategies.
  • 12-8, Consolidate the real estate and accommodation function now resting in line ministries and locate it centrally at the Ministry of Infrastructure. In 2015-16, the Ministry continued its ongoing discussion with ministries to address accommodation and real estate issues.

Table 3: Ministry Interim Actual Expenditures 2015-16

 

Ministry Interim Actual Expenditures
2015-16 ($M)

Operating Expense*

1,063.71

Capital Expense*

230.64

Staff Strength (as of March 31, 2016)

589.95

*Interim actuals reflect the numbers presented in the 2016 Ontario Budget.
**Ontario Public Service Full-Time Equivalent positions.

Excludes the following Consolidation Adjustments:

- Consolidation Adjustment – Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation
- Consolidation Adjustment – Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation
- Consolidation Adjustment – Hospitals
- Consolidation Adjustment – Colleges
- Consolidation Adjustment – Ontario Capital Growth Corporation
- Consolidation Adjustment – General Real Estate Portfolio
- Consolidation Adjustment – Transmission Corridor Program
- Consolidation Adjustment – Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation