City Building : Innovation + Job News

In 1984, the Edithvale Community Centre opened in a disused Willowdale Public School. Now, more than a quarter century later, it has finally grown up into a new, innovative $14.75 million building of its own. The new centre -- the first community centre opened in the city of Toronto since 2005 -- was officially opened this past weekend. The bill for its two-year construction was funded by levees on developers of condominiums in the area.

The new building features an innovative green design that includes low off-gassing building materials, an efficient ventilation system and motion sensitive light fixtures, in addition to a green roof. To serve the community, the facility includes a gymnasium, a banquet hall, lounges, a demonstration kitchen, fitness facilities and an elevated track. The U-shaped structure was constructed around a 50-year-old tree at the centre of the site.


Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation

A new park opened on the Toronto Waterfront this week will not only serve its neighbourhood as a public space; it also features an innovative underground UV treatment facility that will collect and treat stormwater from the surrounding area. The treated water will flow out through three "art features" in the park to form a river flowing back into Lake Ontario.

The design of the $30.6 million Sherbourne Common park has already won architectural awards. At the opening of the park, Councillor Pam McConnell was joined by provincial Minister of Innovation Glen Murray and federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. All three politicians lauded the park, noting both the park's likely future as a destination on the waterfront and the jobs its construction has created.

In addition to green space and the innovative urban river, the park features a pond that will allow public skating during winter and an area for concerts and public gatherings. Waterfront Toronto Chair Mark Wilson noted it was the largest of three new parks opened on the waterfront in the past two months. "Today we are opening another must-see park on Toronto's waterfront," Wilson said. "By combining required municipal infrastructure with excellence in design, architecture and public art, Sherbourne Common offers a new model for city-builders nationwide and a fabulous year-round destination."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Samantha Gileno, Waterfront Toronto

At the official opening of the Evergreen Brickworks on September 25, Mayor David Miller remarked, "our city has a reputation around the world as being a place of progress and excellence when it comes to environmental matters." The event he was there to mark should further that reputation, as the Brickworks officially set up shop as a sustainable innovation hub.

Billed as "Canada's first community environmental centre," the Evergreen Brickworks will act as both a proving ground for urban sustainable technologies and a gathering place for exploration, education and innovation on topics such as the green economy, ecology, transportation, water, energy and waste management. The facility in the Don Valley, just down the hill from Rosedale, has been under design and construction for eight years -- and has so far raised $46.5 million -- and is situated on the former site of the Don Valley Brickworks. The construction included the renaturalization of its grounds and the revitalization of on-site heritage buildings. Throughout the process, it has also become the site of the city's most popular farmers market.


Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Matthew Church, Evergreen

Environmentally friendly Xcelsior hybrid buses began zooming through the streets of Brampton this week with the launch of Zum, the city's first Bus Rapid Transit service at the new Brampton Transit Bramalea Terminal. Service along Queen Street in downtown Brampton to York University began this week, with further lines being constructed right through until 2021.

"Zum will not only bring jobs to our city through the construction, operation and maintenance of the service, but it will also make it easier for our citizens to get to their jobs, their schools, and their other commitments within Brampton and throughout the GTA," said Brampton mayor Susan Fennell in a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony. In addition to job creation, she noted the environmental benefits and the improvement to the quality of life of residents in her rapidly growing city.

The $285 million cost of the rapid transit construction is being shared equally by the provincial, federal and Brampton city governments.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Ian Newman, Office of the Mayor of Brampton

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

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

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

Last week, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) on Queen Street West announced that its newly renovated facility will be home to a Family Health Team (FHT), a healthcare innovation that brings together physicians, nurses, dieticians, social workers and other medical professions to provide holisitc health services to a community.

FHTs are a concept that the provincial government has focused on -- alongside Nurse Practioner-Led Clinics -- as being a key part of how Ontario will deliver health services in the coming years, and the province has committed to opening 200, including 30 announced last week. The FHT is the first to be housed in a mental health and addiction facility.

"What makes these Family Health Teams so valuable is that each one is developed with the needs of the community in mind," said Deb Matthews, minister of Health and Long-term Care in her announcement.

Dr. Catherine Zahn, president and CEO of CAMH, said it was exactly that community mindset that makes this so fitting, given the facility's overhaul as a central part of the community it sits in. "Locating a FHT here emphasizes the 'urban village' vision of CAMH's Queen Street redevelopment project, strengthening the model of community-based care for everyone in a welcoming and inclusive environment," she said.

Dr. Zahn expects the facility to serve as a model for the rest of the province. "The Queen West Village FHT will break new ground in providing primary health care to the community of which CAMH is so much a part, and will increase access to care for mental illness and addictions, province-wide."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Michael Torres, CAMH; Office of Deb Matthews, Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care

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A new $550,000 program in St. James Town called "Recipe for Community" will see the construction of sporting equipment, the beautification of parks, skills development programs, recreational leagues and small business support for residents of the at-risk community.

The program was announced last week by Mayor David Miller and Councillor Pam McConnell of the city, alongside partners from the Toronto Community Foundation (TCF), Toronto Community Housing (TCH) and Maple Lead Sports and Entertainment.

TCF Vice-Chair John B. MacIntyre, in the announcement of the program, said that it "will help make St. James Town a more vibrant neighbourhood -- a place in which residents are proud of where they live and feel connected to each other and their community."

The innovative social project in St. James Town is the extension of a pilot launched by TCF, TCH and the City with other community partners in Alexandria Park last year. Addressing a need for a sense of belonging and safety in communities that was articulated in the TCF Vital Signs Report in 2008, the program aims to use ideas from local residents to create a sense of pride and ownership in a community while building the skills of local residents and the livability of the neighbourhood.

The city says that the project at St. James Town will be evaluated as part of the city's Tower Renewal project, a legacy initiative long heralded by Mayor David Miller to improve the social and environmental conditions of concrete apartment towers across the city. If the St. James Town program is successful, a city release says, the model could become part of the Tower Renewal program all around Toronto.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: City of Toronto

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Parc Downsview Park needed someone at the helm with a background in business, according to the park's board chair David Soknaki, and that's what the innovative experiment in sustainable development will get from new President and CEO William Bryck. Bryck comes immediately from a post at Queen's University, prior to which he was an executive with private-sector firms including Markborough Properties and CB Richard Ellis Management Services.

The park, on the site of a former military base in North Toronto, is Canada's only national urban park. Sprawling over 572 acres, it has a unique mandate from the federal government to be self-financing, and is being developed as an experimental and environmentally friendly "Tree City" design created by Bruce Mau and Rem Koolhaus. In addition to allowing a naturalized park to "grow," along the lines of New York's famed Freshkills Park, the site has taken on tenants in a recreational and museum hub and will incorporate residential and commercial development on the site.

In a statement about his appointment, Bryck said, "this is more than an alteration of the landscape, but promises to become a tangible representation of life and living in the imminent future -- an inspiring prototype to be reveled the world over."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Lisa Hastings-Beck, Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Park Downsview Park

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In a surprising announcement late last week, Metrolinx, the Ontario government's regional transit authority, announced that it would build, construct and operate the planned rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport. Previously, the project was to have been built and operated by a private group led by Montreal's SNC-Lavalin, but negotiations on the project broke down over the province's refusal to provide an operating subsidy.

According to Metrolinx spokesperson Vanessa Thomas, the link will operate as a separate entity from the agency's existing Go Transit service, an express shuttle service running every 15 minutes using small, two-car trains. The project, expected to be completed by 2015, will create 10,000 jobs, Thomas says, directly related to professions and trades involved in the design and construction of the link.

Following up by email, Thomas notes that while the majority of the hiring is expected to be done by contractors, "Metrolinx is working with various agencies, construction associations and contractors to support apprenticeship programs that will promote career opportunities for people living in the City's priority neighbourhoods."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Vanessa Thomas, Media Relations & Issues Specialist, Metrolinx-GO Transit

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Even though the city of Toronto government has been actively pursuing its bike plan (though not actively enough, in the eyes of some), Toronto has been without a bike sharing program since the community-group-operated BikeShare folded up its operations due to a lack of funding in 2006. That situation is poised to change.

At a gala launch at the Gladstone Hotel on July 28, BIXI Toronto, operated by the Montreal-based Public Bike System Company working with the City of Toronto, launched its program to have a bike sharing program in place by next spring. In order to reach its goal of launching May 1, 2011, the program needs to sign up 1,000 members who'll pledge $95 each by November 30. Dan Egan, the city's manager of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, says that the program attracted 125 pledges within 24 hours of the program's launch. "I'm confident we'll reach our milestones and proceed on schedule," Egan says.

Public Bike System Company already runs a similar, award-winning program in Montreal, Boston, London, Washington, Minneapolis and Melbourne. The advance membership drive is intended to ensure the programs financial viability.

Egan says that the program will create jobs in Toronto for administrators and mechanics, although "we're not at that point yet," where he can say how many jobs there will be and when hiring will take place. New hires will be working directly for the Public Bike System Company and not for the city.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Dan Egan, Manager of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, City of Toronto

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Oshoma Momoh, a former Microsoft developer and manager who moved from Seattle to Toronto in 2005, says that he and his partner in life and business Katrin Lepik began thinking about how to bring "neighbourhood word-of-mouth" online a few years ago. "We realized there's more going on in this city, in every neighbourhood, than you could possibly track. It's the 'alone in the big city' problem ... and we were also thinking a lot about local and sustainable living, a real local lifestyle," he says over the phone.

The result of that thinking -- and over a year of design by Lepik and web development by Momoh -- is 5 Blocks Out, a new online community launched in July that allows members to share information about their neighbourhoods with their neighbours. People can sign up and share tips on places to play or eat or shop, share event notices or post "missions" that ask other members for specific information.

While the enterprise is a for-profit business ("or at least we certainly hope it will be," Momoh says), the couple have, in proud web business tradition, yet to settle on a business model. "If we can make it great for end users, then we're confident we can find some ways to make money from that without degrading the experience for users," he says. He notes that they don't want to start "yet another advertising company" but that their vision includes ways to connect small local businesses with a devoted group of people who "actually care about them."

Perhaps it's fitting that a couple who chose to relocate their established lives to Toronto should set up an ultra-local enterprise serving this "city of neighbourhoods." Momoh says that while being near Lepik's family was the driving force behind their moving decision, they also felt that "Toronto is really hitting it's stride -- we were excited that we could be part of the city as it is finding itself and gaining confidence."

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Oshoma Momoh, co-founder, 5 Blocks Out

Residents of 48 low-income housing cooperatives in the GTA (pdf list) will see improvements to their living conditions in the near future after an announced $6 million in investment from the federal government to be delivered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). But according to federal Member of Parliament Mike Wallace, who announced the investment on behalf of the Ministry of Human Resources and Skills Development, residents aren't the only ones who will benefit. "It will also help stimulate the local economy and create local jobs," he said.

According to CMHC spokesperson Dean D'Souza, there is no specific estimate yet of how many jobs the specific program will create in the GTA, though he notes that the total number of jobs created by the "Economic Action Plan" -- of which this is a part -- is 130,000 so far, and is expected to reach 220,000 by the end of this year.

The announcement was part of $1 billion in nationwide spending on social housing renovation and retrofitting.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Dean D'Souza, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

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According to BuzzBuzzHome Founder and President Matthew Slutsky, his company was born of frustration. As a developer and consultant to the new homes industry, he found that there was no way to search for properties under development. "If you're looking for resale homes, there's MLS," he says, "but, even though most people start their searches online, there was no central database like that for the new home development industry." So he and his business partner Clifford Peskin started one.
 
BuzzBuzzHome launched in June 2009 as a listing of all the condo and new home construction projects in Toronto -- and throughout Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. According to Slutsky, by the end of last summer, they were receiving about 5,000 hits per month, "and I thought that was pretty good." After that start, however, growth has been surging. This month, the company is on target to receive 60,000 visitors.

BuzzBuzzHome has grown its staff accordingly -- from the two founders, they've grown to now employ eight full-time staff and four full-time equivalent contractors. Slutsky sees more hiring on the horizon, especially if the right designer or social media marketer comes to their attention.

Slutsky says the company expects to grow in two ways: by attracting even more visitors to the site for its existing services as people learn that BuzzBuzzHome is available, and by expanding the areas they serve. He sees adding more provinces in the near future and, potentially, expanding into the US market.

Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Matthew Slutsky, President, BuzzBuzzHome

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