In The News

Toronto's tourism industry is beginning to recover from the recession, according to findings from a recent Toronto Tourism report. While car-borne travel from the United States is on the decline, international air travellers are arriving in the city in increasingly large numbers. The increase in air travellers is attributed to, among other factors, Toronto's many international festivals and successful efforts by Toronto businesses to forge overseas connections.

"Toronto hosted an estimated 9.9-million overnight visitors in 2010, a rise of slightly more than 3 per cent from a year earlier, but fewer than the 10.5 million who came in 2007. Domestic visitors accounted for more than two-thirds of all tourists, Americans made up one-fifth, and overseas travellers represented 13.4 per cent of the total."

"While the vast majority of tourists continue to come from other parts of Ontario, the city is becoming increasingly popular as a long-distance, international destination. The trend is most dramatic among developing countries: the number of visitors from Brazil more than doubled compared with 2009, while tourism from India was up 28 per cent and from China 26 per cent."

"Toronto's increasing popularity among visitors from the developing world is, in part, a function of rising incomes in these economic powerhouses, but it also indicates that city businesses have been successful in forging partnerships with the tourism sectors in those countries, Mr. Weir said. More international tour operators now include Toronto on their itineraries, while overseas airlines have added more to Pearson International Airport."

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original source Globe & Mail

Good Magazine writes on the group of Toronto artists that recently helped to beautify the city's many untended and unkempt planters. Funded by Toronto arts organization FEAST, 17 local artists and designers took part in "Outside the Planter Boxes" renovating and reviving over 30 planters in a 24-hour period.

"Public planter boxes are great in theory. They're a refuge for nature in the city. A way of cleaning our air and beautifying our streets. But in practice, many public planters are untended or empty, too big or too small for the plants they're meant to contain, or simply falling apart".

"Last month, Sean Martindale decided to do something about it in his home city of Toronto. With a grant from the arts organization Toronto FEAST, Martindale organized a project called Outside the Planter Boxes. He rounded up a group of local "artists, designers, gardeners and urbanites" to execute "planter interventions" in sites across the city. In the end, 17 participants made more than 30 projects in a single 24-hour period during the weekend of May 20."

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original source Good

A new survey conducted for the BBC by GlobeScan and the University of Maryland suggests that Canada is one of the top three places in the world to start a business. As reported by the Globe and Mail, Canada earned the its place in the top three (just behind Indonesia and the United States) due to its reputation as a country that admires entrepreneurs and risk-takers.

"More than 24,000 survey participants were asked a series of questions about their perceptions of how hard it was to start a business and the way innovation was valued in their country."

"The BBC survey said that Canadians generally took a favourable view of entrepreneurs, with 74 per cent of survey participants saying they believed people who started their own businesses were highly valued individuals.Similarly, 72 per cent of those surveyed said they believed innovation and creativity were also highly valued in Canada."

"With the high marks afforded to both Canada and the United States, the BBC noted in its survey summary that "North America has among the most entrepreneur-friendly culture of any region."

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original source Globe & Mail

As reported by the Times of India, Toronto will soon welcome five Indian Cabinet members for a two-day business and networking conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The Indian delegation will arrive in Toronto June 9th to attend the city's mini Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), a multi-sector networking event that fosters cooperation between India and Canada.

"Canadian Governor General David Johnston will join Vayalar Ravi, oversees Indian affairs minister, and his four cabinet colleagues in welcoming the Indian diaspora to the mini Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) here next week."

"Preneet Kaur, minister of state for external affairs, Ashwani Kumar, minister of state for planning and science and technology, Sachin Pilot, minister of state for communications, Jitin Prasada, minister of state for road transport, Sam Pitroda, adviser to the prime minister, and Arun Maira, member of the Planning Commission, are other top Indian dignitaries attending the two-day gathering at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre here from June 9."

"The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas "offers unparalleled opportunities for networking, advancing linkages across multiple sectors - business, innovation, healthcare and culture; fostering partnerships in the small and medium-sized business sectors, providing ideas for cultural, generational and gender connections and nurturing the rapidly growing relationship between Canada and India,'' says the Indian high commission."

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original source Times of India

A recent research study by Pixel to Product attempts to quantify Canada's burgeoning digital media economy. As reported by the National Post, the survey, which polled more than 200 Canadian companies and 1,050 individuals, found that Canada's tech industry consists mainly of small, relatively new businesses, with under 50 employees.

"The face of Silicon Valley North is a 28-year-old male graduate of a Canadian university, who makes between $40,000 and $80,000 per year and has been employed by a digital, advertising or marketing agency for between one and three years."

"Canada's digital industries are mainly small businesses, most of which are less than eight years old, have eschewed government financing and expect revenue to increase in the next year, according to the Pixel to Product research study, a new survey that attempts to paint an accurate portrait of Canada's digital media industry."

"Fuelled by the growth of the mobile application, digital marketing and social media industries, Canada has quickly evolved into a hotbed of technology innovation, and the report represents the most complete snapshot to date of the country's emerging digital economy."

"We learned that the Canadian digital media economy is strong," Justin Kozuch, lead researcher on the study, said in an interview."

"A lot of companies are looking to hire over the next year and there's a growing confidence in digital media. People are spending a lot more money in digital media and that kind of growth is very reassuring. Digital media is a much more stable industry than it was 10 years ago when it bombed out."

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original source National Post

Blog TO writes on the first Kensington Market Pedestrian Sunday of the season. The car-free street festival--a festival that takes place on the last Sunday of every month from June 26th to October 30th--features musicians, buskers and a variety of sidewalk fare.

"So Kensington Market for another season yesterday, and unsurprisingly streets in the area were jam-packed throughout the afternoon. More than just an occasion to walk around the market without the presence of vehicular traffic, Pedestrian Sundays feature performances by artists, musicians and store owners. Oh, and there's sidewalk fare, too � but some of the food lineups seemed to rival those at the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant for Doors Open."

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original source Blog TO

A 16-year-old Richmond Hill high school student has made a potentially game-changing discovery in the treatment of debilitating lung disease, cystic fibrosis. Marshall Zhang, an 11th grade student at Bayview Secondary, used the supercomputer system Canadian SCINET to figure out how certain drugs react with proteins associated with cystic fibrosis. As reported by DailyTech.com, Zang's discovery earned him a first place award at the 2011 Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge, a national science fair where students conduct research projects with mentors.

"Zhang grew interested in disease-related research after taking Advanced Placement Biology in the 10th grade. He wanted to work in a laboratory with real scientists, so he started getting in touch with local professors to see if he could participate in their research labs."

"While many biochemistry professors at the University of Toronto rejected Zhang's idea due to his lack of experience, Dr. Christine Bear, a researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children's Research Institute in Toronto, welcomed him to her lab."

"While working at Bear's lab, Zhang utilized the Canadian SCINET supercomputing network to see how new compounds reacted to the proteins associated with cystic fibrosis. Through a series of computer simulations, he found that a combination of different drugs could be used simultaneously without impacting one another to treat cystic fibrosis. In fact, these findings were tested on living cells proved to be effective."

"I have identified certain chemical structures that are key in the corrective effects of these molecules, as well as identified two molecular targets on the protein for future therapeutics," said Zhang."

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original source DailyTech.com

The Hollywood Reporter writes on how Toronto became the North American launch pad of Indian Cinema. This June Toronto will play host to 12th annual IIFA Awards, Indian cinema's largest award show. Toronto was chosen as the site for the three-day celebration not only because it boasts a large South Asian population, but because it is a lively city that embraces multiculturalism and diversity.

"Roy Thomson Hall, already an Oscar launch-pad for Hollywood studio pics each September at the Toronto International Film Festival, had suddenly become fan central for hard core Bollywood fans."

"They wouldn't come to Toronto if they didn't expect fans to blow the lid off of the Rogers Centre," the venue of the 12th IIFA Awards, insists Veronica Chail, the Toronto-based host of OMNI Television's national entertainment magazine show Bollywood Boulevard."

"The IIFAs are produced annually by Wizcraft International Entertainment outside India and in rising markets for Bollywood product."

"And OMNI Television, as the official Canadian broadcast partner of the 2011 IIFA Awards, plans wall-to-wall coverage of the Indian film awards to reach and grow its Canadian south-Asian audience."

"When it comes to Bollywood, you're not selling anything. You're not trying to convince anyone. The audience has a core interest," Alain Strati, vp of the OMNI Station Group, explained."

"To celebrate Bollywood ahead of the green carpet style watch at the IIFA Awards in Toronto, OMNI is launching a Best of the IIFAs series, co-hosted by Veronica Chail and Mohit Rajhans.Chail explains the four-part series showcasing Bollywood's leading men and women and greatest IIFA Award dance numbers will also showcase how Toronto embraces diversity and Bollywood."

"The world lives here," she said of Toronto's varied multicultural communities, which each September soak up TIFF's international film lineup."

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original source Hollywood Reporter

Five of Canadian financial institutions have made the list of the world's strongest banks, in a new survey conducted by Bloomberg Markets.The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is the highest ranking Canadian institution on the list --ranking 3rd--followed by Toronto-Dominion Bank at 12. In total Canada has five banks in the top twenty, more than any other country.

"OCBC is one of three Singaporean banks that make the top six in the Bloomberg Markets ranking. The other country that's prominent on the list is Canada. National Bank of Canada (NA) is No. 3, and the country has five banks in the top 20."

"No Crisis at Canada Banks"

"The extra cushion paid off when U.S. banks teetered on the edge of failure in the fall of 2008 and had to be bailed out with $700 billion from the Treasury."

"We all went into the downturn with very strong quality of capital," says Edmund Clark, CEO of Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), No. 12 on the strongest-bank list. Canada also suffered a much milder housing downturn than the U.S."

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original source Bloomberg Market Magazine

The Grid reports on Toronto's annual ToJam competition, a contest that has participants design videogames from scratch in only one weekend. The game-design marathon, now in its sixth year, attracts over 200 participants and brings together the best of Toronto's burgeoning software design scene.

"The premise of TOJam is that a bunch of people�over 200 this time, but fewer in previous iterations�bring their computers to a George Brown College building near King and Sherbourne on a Friday. The goal, by Sunday night, is for everyone to have created a complete video game from scratch�and that means art, music, code, and all."

"Anyone who's ever taken a course in computer science knows that a single weekend isn't enough time to make something as complex as a game. Even attempting to adhere to that sort of timetable would be a little insane. And yet, TOJam attendees keep finding ways; this was the annual event's sixth year."

"People continue to come out partly because the pressure-cooker environment sometimes yields brilliance, and also because of the networking opportunities. This year's guest list included a Superbrother; other local gaming luminaries have been known to participate.
Keeping things simple makes achieving that ridiculous deadline easier. But Bethke and his five teammates (his Golden Gear Games business partner Andrew Traviss, plus four graphic artists) weren't even doing that. Their game was going to be a feature-rich platformer with an elaborate back-story."

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original source The Grid

Toronto is the world's second most impressive city according to new survey by international consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The report, which graded 26 global financial centres, ranked cities based on business opportunities, culture, livability, and innovation. As reported by the Atlantic, Toronto's high ranking (second only to New York), is result of its ability to retain and attract talent, its business trip index, and its entrepreneurial environment.

 "New York City, Toronto and San Francisco were named the world's most impressive metros in a new survey of the global capitals of finance, innovation and tourism. The report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Partnership for New York City graded 26 metro powerhouses from Stockholm to Santiago on business opportunities, culture, livability, and innovation."

 "Toronto is a "beta" city, the authors say, because it's not considered a part of the conversation with London, Paris, and New York for greatest city in the world. But it has all the building blocks of a superlative international city, beginning with smart ideas about sustainability and innovation."
   
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original source the Atlantic

Toronto software company Freshbooks (featured in Yonge Street back in January 2010) goes to great lengths to attract and retain the best talent. As reported by the National Post, Freshbooks provides a flexible and familial office environment that keeps its 60+ employees happy and working hard.

"Small business owners, particularly those who require employees to have a specialized skill, can often find it difficult to compete with large companies when seeking to expand staff.That is because large companies can offer rewarding salaries, benefits and perks, while comparatively smaller companies need to be creative to ensure they can retain existing staff and recruit talent as its client base increases."

"One small company that has leveraged its creativity to retain and recruit talent is FreshBooks, an online invoicing and bookkeeping service for small businesses and independent professionals."

"Because employees at FreshBooks' downtown Toronto office are young, the company has made a conscious effort to provide a workplace environment that provides flexibility and few office rules, says Mike McDerment, chief executive and co-founder of FreshBooks."

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original source National Post

The Nashville Business Journal writes on what its city can learn from Toronto innovation expert, Ilse Treurnicht. Treurnicht, CEO of Toronto's MaRS Discovery District, recently spoke to a delegation of Nashvillians on strategies for attracting the right kind of people, investments, and small businesses to foster an innovative urban economy.

"The product on one hand doesn't match the demand on the other side," Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of Toronto's MaRS Discovery District, told a crowd of dozens of Nashvillians Thursday."

"Her organization exists to address that problem. It's no small effort � the massive complex is a key part of the city that encourages academic research, prepares ideas for commercialization and connects investors with products."

"The group that heard Treurnicht talk is traveling around Toronto to learn about a range of economic, political and social issues, as part of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce's Music City Leadership Study Mission."

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original source Nashville Business Journal

The CN Tower has announced the launch of EdgeWalk, its newest attraction that lets visitors walk hands-free along the outside of the tower's main pod - 116-storeys-up. Opening August 1, EdgeWalk participants will get a magnificent panoramic view of the city while attached to an overhead harness and guided, by trained guides, around the 150 meter platform.

"Trained guides will encourage visitors to push their personal limits, allowing those who dare to lean back over Toronto, with nothing but air beneath them," said a news release."

"During our 35th anniversary year we are excited to introduce visitors to the most exciting attraction in our history," said Jack Robinson, chief operating officer of Canada Lands Company, which owns the tower."

"Still under construction, the steel grated platform will be supported by 36 arms linked to separate rails for the tour guide and group of walkers. The support arms can be seen as a series of rods protruding from the roof of the 360 Restaurant.The walk will cost $175, which includes a video of the experience, taken by the guide. Tickets go on sale June 1. The attraction will be offered until October this year and reopen in May 2012."

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original source Toronto Star

This week Toronto officially launches Bixi, the city-wide bike-sharing program. The Toronto Star profiles four "Bixi believers", the Torontonians  who will be the first to take advantage of the more than 1,000 bikes at 80 locations now available to cyclists across the city.

"They are the believers -- the bicyclists that believe a bike-sharing program will work in Toronto, in spite of the city's lack of physically separated bike lanes and a relatively small launch area. The program has worked in other cities, after all."

"Protti, 29, and Watts, 28, like to keep things portable -- no mortgage, no car, no bikes to squeeze into their rented apartment. She's Italian, he's from Australia. By the time they arrived here two years ago, the couple had already lived in Vancouver and Montreal. They have tried Bixi in Melbourne and Montreal and signed up here as soon as the snow melted.Both expect to use Bixi every day, even though they will have to walk or take transit to the nearest bike station from their home near Bloor and Christie."

"In Montreal, where there is a network of physically separated bike lanes, Bixi works like a dream, said Protti."

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original source Toronto Star