In The News

The Next 36"--a competition that challenged four person teams of Canadian university students to create a new mobile app--culminated last week in a pitch session by the top nine competitors to wealthy Toronto investors. BlogTO writes on the pitch session (called "Venture Day") and what Toronto's most promising up-and-coming app entrepreneurs have to offer.

"Last Monday nine Toronto start-ups gathered on the lower level of MaRS to persuade wealthy investors to fork over some money - lots of it."

"As I stood at the back of the packed room listening to pitch after pitch I couldn't help but admire these guys. Almost all of the start-ups were pre-revenue (and in many cases still pre-launch with zero users/customers) yet valuations were being floated in the million dollar range. Some had already raised money. Others had plugged-in advisors ranging from the Managing Director of Facebook Canada to the founder of ATI Technologies. Some will succeed but many will likely fail."

read full story here
original source BlogTO

The Toronto Star's Christopher Hume writes on the legacy of the Bell Lightbox, the 2-year old TIFF headquarters that's transforming Toronto's downtown.

"There’s no need to shed any tears for Yorkville just yet. Though it lost much of the film festival when TIFF moved downtown last year, it can still count on the enduring power of vanity to keep its wheels turning. And if the ’70s ever become fashionable again, the old Village will be the place to be."

"Meanwhile, down at King and John, the Bell Lightbox, TIFF’s elegant new funhouse, continues to change the face of the downtown neighbourhood. It’s not that Yorkville — or at least, the larger Yorkville area, including the Royal Ontario and Gardiner museums and the Royal Conservatory — is any less a cultural hub, but some of that energy has shifted south."

"The city also provides a study in the domino effect, how one change leads inexorably to another. TIFF is a catalyst as well as a result. And as the area draws ever closer to critical mass, it becomes a self-sustaining mix of culture, entertainment, commercial, corporate and domestic forces."

"That’s why the neighbourhood is no longer simply an Entertainment District, a Financial District or any other such designated enclave. It now incorporates elements of both. In that sense, it belongs to everyone."

read full story here
original source Toronto Star

Toronto-based app developer Polar Mobile has signed on to build over 300 apps for Nokia Corp's newest smartphone. The deal is the largest in Polar Mobile Group's history, and will give the successful startup its greatest opportunity so far to expand into global markets.

"For Polar, the deal is a means to expand globally. Although Nokia's share of the North American smart phone market is relatively tiny, the company is still the world's largest producer of handsets, and maintains a significant presence in regions such as Asia and the Middle East, where Polar has been trying to gain a foothold."

"For Nokia, Polar's one-size-fits-all approach to app-building, which results in an extremely quick turnaround for the development of mobile software, helps the phone maker quickly build a library of apps for its various operating systems. Most importantly, Polar's existing base of Windows Phone apps is a boon to Nokia, which will soon stake its future on Microsoft's mobile operating system."

"We need to increase [the size of] our app store with quality apps," said Richard White, general manager of Nokia's Canadian operations. "This is obviously a great way to go about doing that."

read full story here
original source Globe & Mail

Toronto scientists are behind a groundbreaking discovery that links a defective gene in humans to autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and lupus. The research, led by Mount Sinai's Dr. Katherine Siminovitch, is an important first step in finding new treatments for a number of often debilitating diseases.

"For a period of five years, the researchers have tried to figure out as to how the mutant gene PTPN22 increases the risk for rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, lupus, Graves disease and other autoimmune disorders."

"Dr. Katherine Siminovitch, a Senior Investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital and a University of Toronto Professor said, "Our findings are particularly exciting because the study sets a new precedent for studying arthritis and other autoimmune disorders".

read full story here
original source Top News USA

Toronto's newest tourist attraction, an $130-million aquarium to be constructed at the base of the CN Tower, officially broke ground on August 17th. Blog TO hosts renderings of the ambitious project (expected to be completed by 2013) that will feature a 96-metre-long moving walkway through a "shark lagoon" and will be able to accommodate as many as 13,500 sea creatures.

check out renderings here
original source Blog TO

The USA Today--with the help of Toronto transplant Richard Florida--has complied a list of North America's best cities for exploring urban neighbourhoods. Toronto, the only Canadian city to make the list, is lauded for its eclectic and "artsy" Queen West district.


"The western edge of this major traffic artery now boasts an array of restaurants, bars and shops. Visitors come for music venues, including the Drake Hotel and the Gladstone, which turns its first floor tavern into a weekly "Art Bar," where artists and designers mingle."

read full story here
original source USA Today

Scientific American Worldview--a magazine devoted to the future of biotechnology--has released its third annual survey of the world's countries "with the best overall capabilities to generate innovation in the biotechnology industry". Canada ranked 4th among 48 countries, receiving high scores across all  five categories�IP (intellectual property) protection, Enterprise Support, Intensity, Education/Workforce and Foundations.

check out the full score card here
original source Scientific American Worldview

The Thompson Toronto, Toronto's newest luxury hotel, has received a rave review in the New York Times Travel Section. The hotel, described "as sleek [and] modern with a cosmopolitan appeal", is applauded for its "happening" location (on Wellington just south of King), its many amenities (including a spectacular wraparound rooftop patio), and its formal and efficient service.

"The aesthetic at the 102-room Thompson Toronto, opened in June 2010, is retro-modern, and the rooftop pool is a party spot in its own right, complete with bouncers and guest lists. The hotel has a branch of Scarpetta, the New York chef Scott Conant's modern Italian restaurant; a lobby bar that serves cocktails with ingredients like elderflower and Campari; and a 40-seat screening room (sure to get some use during the Toronto International Film Festival). Construction has begun on an adjacent Thompson residence tower. "

"The Thompson is a sleek, modern hotel with a cosmopolitan appeal, particularly for those whose trip includes a bit of see-and-be-seen. With rooms starting at 250 Canadian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars, it's an easy way to buy into the jet set."

read full story here
original source New York Times

Toronto is home to over half-a-dozen successful mascot companies, the largest concentration of mascot companies in the world. A Macleans feature looks at how Toronto became the global leader in this niche, but highly profitable, industry.

"Toronto is the mascot mecca of the world," says Christina Simmons, president of Loonie Times Inc., one of the half-dozen mascot companies in the city."

"Why Toronto? "I think we just put more TLC into them," says Simmons. Unlike mass-produced mascots made overseas, Toronto's mascots are conceived by bona-fide artisans. Take Sugar's Costumes Studio, founded in 1980 by Peter deVinta, an Italian immigrant who comes from a long line of tailors. (His father, Joseph, now 91, was a master tailor in Italy who worked for top military generals.) A medium-sized firm, Sugar's makes upwards of 400 mascots a year. Some are famous, like the Blue Jays' Ace, and others obscure, like the Calvary Chapel's California Nuts for Jesus: PJ, Al, Wally and Hazel. DeVita just shipped Nahkool, a date palm tree and mascot of a town in Bahrain."

"The companies hire from nearby schools, like OCAD University and Seneca College, who pump out sculptors, designers and sewers. "When you're making a custom character like the Honey Nut Bee, you need a fashion design graduate so they can do the pattern drafting and do the math to look like the design," says Mike Chudleigh, president of 1-800-Mascots, another local firm."

read full story here
original source Macleans

The National Post reports on efforts by a group of French-speaking Torontonians hoping to create the city's first "French Quarter". The group--the Toronto chapter of the Association of Francophone Communities Ontario (ACFO)--are hoping to transform the area around College and Sherbourne into a vibrant strip that would showcase francophone culture, film, art and cuisine.

"It's an idea that has been kicking around for at least 10 years, according to Jean-Pierre Bou�, president of the Toronto chapter of the Association of Francophone Communities Ontario (ACFO). The group has partnered with local French radio station Choq-FM and, with funding from Canadian Heritage, is asking francophones in the GTA what they think about reviving a French district that used to be on Carlton, between Yonge and Parliament streets. Their response will determine if the group pursues it."

"Mr. Bou� said the original idea was to have it cover a rather large chunk of downtown, from University Avenue to the Don Valley Parkway, from Carlton to the lake. Now, they envision anchoring it around Sacr� Coeur Church, the city's first Frenchspeaking Roman Catholic parish established in 1887, at the corner of Carlton and Sherbourne. College Fran�ais is a few blocks west, at Mutual Street, while the Centre francophone, Boreal College and TFO, the province's only French-language educational public television network, are all at Yonge and Carlton."

"Mr. Bou�, who owns Lafayette Bistro on Queen Street, says part of the challenge is francophones have not settled in a specific place in Toronto. "When an Italian family comes to Toronto they ask where are the Italians and they go where they are," he said. French people will go in the opposite direction of their own kind, he says, because they're independent. "But I can tell you that after a while you are desperate for a confit de canard [duck confit] and you would be delighted if you could find an area where there is not one, but six, seven, 10 restaurants where you can choose."

read full story here
original source National Post

The Dallas arts & culture publication D Magazine, writes on what other cities can learn from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's innovative methods for drawing in young adults. Thirty-five percent of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's audience is younger than 35 years old, a figure attributed in large part to the organizations attempts to reach out to younger audiences with after-work concert series, lobby parties, and the "tsoundcheck" program, a program which offers $14 tickets for 18 to 35 year olds.

"Classical music has been characterized in the past few years by labor disputes, bankruptcy scares, and aging audiences. So what is the Toronto Symphony Orchestra doing right? The LA Times' Culture Vulture reports that thirty-five percent of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's audience is younger than 35 years old, and classical music has become part of the normal cultural diet of the city's younger professionals. It is not that the TSO has not seen its share of hardship, but tough times helped the TSO right the ship and emerge as a model for other cultural organizations"

"In 2001 the choice was make massive changes or fold. Choosing the former, and, frankly, with nothing left to lose, the TSO actively reached out to new audiences by fitting programming into their schedule instead of demanding the reverse."

"The musicians have noticed."

"There's been a complete shift in the nine years I've been playing with the symphony", said horn player Gabriel Radford. "For us on stage, that has a tremendous impact. Things seem to come alive. At the end of a show, when you've put in all that work, it's great."

read full story here
original source D Magazine

The Toronto Star writes on the Record Jacket Corp., a record-sleeve manufacturing business founded  last spring by Torontonians Paul Miller and Alex Durlak. The Bloor St. and Lansdowne Ave. shop (one of only two record- jacket companies in Canada), has sold 15,000 sleeves since its launch last April.

"Co-owners Paul Miller and Alex Durlak, both 30, and sole employee Jason Cousineau, have tattoos and facial hair. Giant Mac screens sit on the office desks. Close friends, Miller and Durlak bonded over a mutual love of art, music and record collecting."

"In 2010, a chance to buy the machine arose, and they decided to combine talents and clients to tap into a vinyl production market that, in Canada, had all but disappeared."

"The new venture is one of only two record jacket companies in the country. There are just five vinyl manufacturing plants in North America. Record Jacket sells to music distributors and record labels as well as to individual independent bands. They've sold 15,000 sleeves since April."

read full story here
original source Toronto Star

A Globe & Mail slideshow features Toronto's "hottest young entrepreneurs". All under 30, the 15 featured entrepreneurs--from computer program designers to jewelry manufacturers--form the core of Toronto's young small business community.

"Young, talented and brimming with entrepreneurial zeal: The Report on Small Business presents some of the most exciting, fresh-faced business owners in the T-Dot. "

read full story here
original source Globe & Mail

PopMatters raves about Torontonian Stuart Henderson's newest book "Making the Scene: Yorkville and Hip Toronto in the 1960s". Yorkville in the 60s was Toronto's preeminent (counter)culture hub -- the hangout place of, among others, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Gordon Lightfoot. In "Making the Scene", Hederson examines the hippies and hipsters who once made Yorkville their stomping ground and who helped redefine what it meant to be "cool" in Toronto.


"In fact, this book astutely charts the transformative effect of Yorkville as a community, revealing it be a place that was greatly changed over the course of a few scant years. In the '50s, the area was a bit of a no-man's land of cheap row houses that attracted both an artistic clientele that would go on to open high-end boutiques in the area, and a displaced immigrant working class, which brought the concept of the coffee house to the region. While Yorkville would eventually be home to literally a couple dozen of these coffee houses by the mid-'60s, when they started to crop up they became home to quiet, intimate folk performances and to a youth market looking for somewhere to hang out. (The legal drinking age in Toronto at the time was 21; it is now 19.)"

"The book serves as a preserver of heritage, considering that the Yorkville of today looks absolutely nothing like the Village of the '60s. That, perhaps, is Making the Scene's greatest strength: offering a detached, non-sentimental and objective account of one of Canada's most lively countercultures and the impact that resonates to this day, despite the fact that the only coffee house you might find near the area today would be a Starbucks. And even though Henderson's observations about what constitutes hip culture might be heady, it's an appropriate examination as one comes to realize through the reading of this book that Yorkville was, in many ways, an act: a place to perform (not only as a musician, but as an individual searching for identity and an authentic experience) and a place to see or be seen. Yorkville, then, is a metaphor for any hip community in the world today, a place that made and remade itself over a turbulent decade of radical change. That, and the take-away of the historical and cultural importance of this little strip of downtown Toronto, is the conduit for some essential reading � no matter if you were there during Yorkville's heyday or not."


read full story here
original source Pop Matters