Innovation + Job News

Toronto city councillors Pam McConnell and Denzil Minnan-Wong are not often on the same side of an issue, but the staunchly left wing McConnell and the vocally conservative Minnan-Wong got together recently to announce the launch of an innovative pilot project in a low-income housing project near the Moss Park neighbourhood on the downtown east side.

The one-year project will see low-income residents of Toronto Community Housing's building at 155 Sherbourne Street in McConnell's ward get free wi-fi throughout and around the building, and 30 laptop computers will be available to the residents to sign out and use. McConnell called the project, a collaboration between the City of Toronto and Toronto Community Housing, "vital."

"For some residents, this is their first real exposure to computers and the Internet, and this pilot is very exciting for them," McConnell said. "As they socialize with neighbours in the common area, they will be able to develop and improve computer skills, research job and training opportunities, and access information and services most of us take for granted."

The idea was brought to the city by Minna-Wong, after he saw a similar program in place in San Francisco. "I hope that we get a lot of positive input from this pilot so the City can explore the possibility of rolling this out to other Priority Investment Neighbourhoods," he said.

A representative from Toronto Community Housing said that the project will aid residents of the low-income housing project in connecting with educational and employment opportunities, and said the agency hoped the project would aid in efforts to provide innovative services to low-income residents across the city.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Jeffrey Ferrier, Toronto Community Housing

At Canada's largest grocery retail chain, innovation is not always driven by big ideas, according to human resources Executive VP Judy McCrie. "Often it is the small suggestions that have the greatest impact," she says. And a university-graduate hiring program at Loblaw Companies aims to help find those small suggestions. "Our grad@Loblaw colleagues are contributing some meaningful ideas that help us in our drive to ensure great customer service and quality value product offerings."

The program offers full-time jobs to recent university graduates, immersing them in the business through an 18-month process during which they work in stores, then in the merchandising department, then in various departments suitable to their education. Throughout, there is an emphaisis on idea generation, the company says. "We encourage a culture of innovation and mentorship with our grad@Loblaw colleagues to help foster new ideas within a foundation of best in class business practices," McCrie says.

Announced last year, the program aims to hire 1,000 graduates by 2014. The current round of recruiting is accepting applications until October 7 for positions beginning in January 2011.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Judy McCrie, Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Loblaw Companies

University of Toronto professor Albert H.C. Wong has received a $99,516 grant from the US-based brain and behaviour research fund NARSAD.

Wong, who works as a neuroscience research scientist and staff psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, will get the funding to support his research project entitled "Disc-1 Gene-Environment Interactions in Schizophrenia and Depression," which investigates variations in a schizophrenia gene.

Wong's was one of 42 grants totalling $4.1 million awarded by NARSAD late last month as part of its Independent Investigators grant program. Wong has previously received two other grants from NARSAD's Young Investigator program. Robert Post, who sits on the 116-member scientific council that awards the grants, says the money will lead to significant discoveries. "We identify those proposals we believe demonstrate the most innovative and promising paths toward better understanding and treatment of psychiatric disorders. As always, the committee was challenged in its selection process and ultimately extremely proud to recommend and support these 42 brilliant, dedicated scientists."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Barbara Wheeler, NARSAD

Applications are now open for Toronto's most innovative and passionate non-profit leaders to receive $5,000 grants to further their pursuit of leadership and management skills. The Toronto Community Foundation's Vital People grants aim to support people who are the driving force behind community organizing in the city.

"Every year the Toronto Community Foundation publishes the Vital Signs report, which diagnoses the issues that most need to be addressed in Toronto, and then most of the rest of our time is spent addressing those issues" says Toronto Community Foundation President and CEO Rahul K. Bhardwaj. "These grants go to the people behind those programs that really make a contribution."

The grants, Bhardwaj says, are used for a variety of purposes to further professional development, from leadership and management training to attending international conferences.

Applications are being accepted for this year's Vital People grants until September 29.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Rahul K. Bhardwaj, President and CEO, Toronto Community Foundation

One day in 2008, after spending too long collecting assorted pucks up off the ice after hockey practice, 12-year-old Christopher Wright asked his father to invent a device to make the task easier. His dad, Bill Wright, went home and came up with a prototype for a puck-lifting and storage device that proved to save time and wear and tear on backs and hands.

That product, tested on the ice at Pickering's Don Beer Arena, has been picked up for distribution by Canadian Tire. After signing a deal to become Canada's official retailer for National Hockey League equipment, the chain is making a significant push into the hockey market this year, and it expects the Wright's Pucker-Up innovation to be a hot seller, spectators were told at a media event at a Pickering Canadian Tire store on Sept. 10.

"From the mind of a child, to the ingenuity of his father," Mark Guinto of the Pickering mayor's office says by email, "this locally invented and tested product will be on Canadian Tire shelves across the country. And Mr. Wright didn't even have to go on the Dragon's Den to pitch it."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Mark Guinto, Public Affairs Coordinator, Office of the Mayor of Pickering

A new award from Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs) will give $10,000 to a research practitioner whose work is of interest to Canadian Investors. The Toronto CFA Society & Hillsdale Canadian Investment Research Award was announced last week to encourage the relationship between the investment business and academia.

"The launch of the award ... represents an opportunity for us to foster the relationship between the academic and business communities through the promotion of high-quality, practitioner-relevant research," says Sean Cleary, awards chair of the 7,000-member Toronto CFA Society.

Chris Guthrie, a CFA with Hillside, says his company sponsored the award to demonstrate the importance of innovation in the Canadian investment field. "It is Hillsdale's objective to demonstrate its commitment to applied research and to continue to enhance the quality of practitioner research," Guthrie said.

Nominations for the award are being accepted from global researchers -- both business professionals and academics -- until November 30. Details are posted at the Toronto CFA Society webiste.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Sara Maginn Pacella, Toronto CFA Society

As this year began, we covered the launch of online innovative lending institution CommunityLend, Canada's first (and still our only) peer-to-peer lending institution, which connects qualified borrowers and lenders through its website. Mere weeks later, we wrote that the company was adding to its team.

As of August 31, the company had facilitated overt $600,000 in loans (at an average loan size of $7,500), and had attracted over 2,000 registered members to the site.

As the company continues to grow, it announced late last month that it had appointed John Philip Green to the role of Chief Technology Officer. In announcing the hiring, CommunityLend CEO Michael Garrity notes that Green helped lay the company's foundation as a consultant when the architecture of the lending operation was being built in 2007. "Shortly after his consulting engagement with us, [Green] was lured away from Toronto to Silicon Valley to head up engineering for Internet start-up RapLeaf and then Affinity Labs, before founding his own start-up, Savvica. As John's experience and success grew, we had always wanted to find a way to bring him back to CommunityLend," Garrity writes.

Days later, the company announced a major expansion of its service into British Columbia.

Green started work at CommunityLend August 24. The former CommunityLend CTO, company co-founder Colin Henderson, will move into the role of Chief Operations Officer and retain his seat on the board of directors.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Michael Garrity, CommunityLend; StartupNorth

Startup Weekend is a Seattle organization that hosts conferences designed to help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into companies. The conferences have been a global success since their first event in 2007, held in over 100 cities in 25 countries around the world so far, according to the organization. They claim that over a third of the companies founded at their events are still going concerns after three months, and that 10% of them go on to raise seed capital.

On September 26, Ryerson University's StartMeUp Ryerson program will host a Toronto Startup Weekend, featuring guest speakers including Mike McDerment, CEO of Freshbooks, and Leila Boujnane, founder and CEO of Idee Inc. According to Startup Weekend Toronto organizer Chris Eben, writing on the Startup North blog, the event includes both "how-to" and networking components -- a place to find partners as well as develop ideas. "Startup Weekend is a great way to network with other passionate entrepreneurs and find potential co-founders. During Startup Weekend, you will not only meet some talented individuals, you will get to see how they work, helping you evaluate the potential for long term fit. Interaction and exchange of ideas between different teams is common which means your networking opportunities are not limited to your immediate team."

He adds on his own blog that he wound up hosting the Toronto event after tweeting about the need for one in this city. "Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken so long to get here. Toronto has a vibrant tech and startup community and given that these weekends are going on all over the world and gaining tons of momentum, why didn't someone jump on this before me?"

The event costs $75 to attend and offers a prize from the Ryerson Angel Network of $500 to the winning team formed around an idea at the event.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Chris Eben, Startup Weekend Toronto; Startup North, Ryerson University

"Since joining the Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) in July, the most common question I've had from my contacts in the venture capital and angel investing world is: 'Is the IAF going to be making new investments?'" writes Barry Gekiere, managing director of the IAF at MaRS. "The answer I want everyone to hear is: 'Yes!'"

The IAF announced on August 30 that it has a new endowment of $7 million in the fund to invest in innovative tech startups involved in the life sciences. According to the criteria for the grants, funding of up to $500,000 is available to early stage companies that have the potential to be global leaders. "The capital is used to achieve meaningful milestones," he writes, "including market validation and revenue traction in order to attract follow-on financing or even acquisition interest." The fund is endowed by the provincial government and is intended to prepare companies for further investment from venture Capitlaists or Angels. So far, the fund has invested in 34 companies, the majority of which, according to Gekiere, have gone on to get investment from other funders.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Barry Gekiere, Managing Director, Investment Accelerator Fund, MaRS

Last week, Ryerson University announced the Centre for Urban Energy (CUE), which university President Sheldon Levy called one of his schools "most significant research and commercialization initiatives." The centre will be a research and demonstration centre for sustainable, innovative technologies to provide for cities' energy needs.

The CUE will bring together academics and industry professionals from various disciplines to study problems and attempt to commercialize solutions. "The Centre for Urban Energy will be anchored by the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Science but will be a university-wide Centre drawing on a variety of experts across many academic disciplines," said Alan Shepard, Ryerson's provost and VP Academic. "We will also be reaching out and collaborating with other academic institutions in Ontario, across Canada and around the world."

The areas of focus for the centre almost all deal with sustainability, including areas such as reducing carbon footprints, alternative fuel sources, hybrid and electric vehicles and conservation. Initial funding for the project totalling $7 million is being provided by Toronto Hydro, Hydro One and the Ontario Power Authority.

"We're proud to partner with Ryerson on this unique initiative to forward the agenda for the next generation of electricity research and technologies in Toronto," said Anthony Haines, President and CEO of Toronto Hydro.

Colin Andersen, CEO of the Ontario Power Authority, said that the research is key to both the enviromental and industrial future of the province. "Innovation is how Ontario will remain a leader in conservation and clean energy, helping to provide Ontarians with cleaner air, high quality jobs and a vibrant economy," he said. "We know that visionary new energy technologies will play a significant role in our success, and the Centre for Urban Energy will help deliver them."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Suelan Toye, Ryerson University

Organizers are expecting 1,500 small businesspeople to attend Enterprise Toronto's 10th annual Small Business Forum October 19 at the Metro Convention Centre. The free, all-day event will be headlined by the recently appointed head of Google Canada, Chris O'Neill, who will discuss the online activity of Canadian customers.

The event features 18 speakers in total, as well as a trade show. Two new components this year being hyped by organizers are a Democamp where people can present business challenges for advice to a panel of experts, and a Digital Zone, where social media and mobile apps will be demonstrated.

While admission to he event is free, registration is required.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Shane Gerard, Senior Communications Coordinator, City of Toronto

Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) has announced another round of funding is available in its program to invest in cleantech development and demonstration. As Kevin Downing of MaRS notes, SDTC's Clean Tech program has been one of the few sources of funding for startups in the sector, filling a wide gap in funding for companies at the development and demonstration stage.

"SDTC is helping companies commercialize their new technologies, creating jobs and increasing the competitiveness and efficiency of the Canadian economy" said SDTC President and CEO Vicky J. Sharpe in the announcement. Pointing to the previous 17 rounds of funding, she noted, "SDTC investment of $478 million, combined with an active portfolio support strategy, has catalyzed an additional $2.4 billion in follow-on funding into some of the most promising high-growth Canadian companies." Currently 195 companies have received investment through the program, including more than 30 in the Greater Toronto Area. Sharpe went on to say that investment in sustainable technologies are pivotal to the country's economic future, and will make our traditional resource and manufacturing industries continue to be viable.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Patrice Breton Director of Communications, Sustainable Development Technology Canada; Kevin Downing, MaRS

Vaughan-based TeknoScan Systems Inc. will build a new manufacturing plant in the city to make its developmental technology for quickly scanning cargo containers for explosives at shipping ports. Over the next year, the new plant is expected to create 20 new jobs in engineering, manufacturing and sales.

The new plant will be financed in part with the help of a repayable grant of $1 million from FedDev Ontario, the federal government's local economic development agency. In making the announcement last week, Minister of State for Democratic Reform Steven Fletcher said, "Our investment in TeknoScan Systems Inc. is helping the company to expand its business and market its products around the world... This investment will create approximately 20 new jobs here in our community and commercialize state-of-the-art technology that will benefit world markets."

Sam Hyams, president and co-CEO of TeknoScan, said that global marketing of the GTA-born technology will be a big part of the immediate growth plans.  "Our goal is to develop and deploy a fast, cost effective system for screening the millions of containers that presently go unchecked," he said. "Designed to test for the presence of drugs and explosives in air samples, our technology offers the potential for 100% cargo screening sought after by security forces the world over. This investment will bring us significantly closer to achieving that goal."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Office of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for FedDev Ontario

Got an Innovation & Job News tip? Email [email protected].

Last month, the provincial government announced almost $7.6 million in research grants to support Toronto hospitals and schools. "I am proud of the tremendous talent we have in Toronto -- a research powerhouse in Ontario," Glen Murrary, minister of research and innovation said in his announcement. "Our government is helping them make discoveries that will lead to new companies and jobs, while ensuring a better quality of life for Ontarians and people around the world."

Twenty-seven different research projects at The University of Toronto and Ryerson University will receive grants under the Research Infrastructure Program. Meanwhile 22 individual researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, St. Michael's Hospital, the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto will get funding to hire research staff under the Early Researcher Awards program.

Among the Toronto projects in the Research Infrastructure Program (see full list here), Dr. Derick Rousseau will receive $264,401 in support of his research developing "nutraceuticals" -- foods with health or medical benefits -- and a team at U of T led by Dr. Irene Andrulis, Dr. Carol Swallow and Dr. Jay Wunder will get $390,188 in support of research that could lead to cancer diagnostic and therapeutic innovations.

A list of the medical researchers being supported through hospitals is available here.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Office of Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation

Got an Innovation & Job News tip? Email [email protected].

Earlier this summer, Markham-based electronic medical records innovator Nightingale was named 10th on PROFIT magazine's annual list of the fastest-growing companies in Canada. Last month, as the company reported its first-quarter results for fiscal 2011, the pace of growth showed no signs of slowing.

"Fiscal 2011 is off to an encouraging start, with more than 200 emergency medical records (EMR) seats sold across Canada in Q1, compared to only eight seats sold in Q1 of last year," said Sam Chebib, President and CEO, Nightingale. He attributed the sales increase to government funding encouraging doctors to adopt the healthcare innovation of EMRs.

The company also recorded its highest quarterly gross profit -- up 80 per cent year-over year since the year before.

Nightingale is hiring for seven positions now in the GTA, in order to achieve Chebibs stated goal for the year ahead of rapidly increasing sales and revenues.

Writer: Edward Keenan    
Source: Michael Ford, CFO, Nightingale Informatix Corporation

Got an Innovation & Job News tip? Email [email protected].