The City of Edmonton is giving $5 million to 17 organizations in a new program called the Edge Fund, aimed at supporting tech and innovation and diversifying the local economy.
Grants range from $100,000 to $750,000 in two streams: “Scale and grow” for larger projects and the “Start” stream for smaller amounts.
Zero Point Cryogenics, established in 2017 with expertise from the University of Alberta, is receiving $723,020 to scale up production of dilution refrigerators, used in quantum computing applications.
Chris Cassin, CEO of Zero Point, said they’ll use the funding to hire local and international talent with a background in instrumentation or electrical engineering technology.
“The reason we chose Edmonton is, first of all we have a deep history of quantum and low temperature physics at the University of Alberta,” Cassin said in an interview with CBC News Wednesday.
“A lot of the skills required for us to build our systems are very similar to the skills that exist in the oil and gas industry.”
They already work closely with NAIT to hire students for co-op terms and hope to retain them when they graduate, Cassin added.
Their product, ultimately speeding up computer processing and calculations, is used by academic institutions, governments, military and computing companies, Cassin said.
Cassin, grateful for the city’s contribution, noted that the city of Calgary started a $100 million fund in 2018 called the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund.
“If we want to attract and retain companies and grow as a city and move to potentially cleaner technologies, we need to attract and innovate,” Cassin said.
DiveThru, a mental health therapy agency that started as an app, is receiving $750,000 to open two more brick and mortar locations in Edmonton.
“These contributions really go a long way to allowing companies to establish themselves,” founder Sophie Gray told CBC News Wednesday.
“I think the City of Edmonton, the province as a whole, is really trying to invest in the small companies, into companies using technology.”
Gray said they’re still a young company, having opened the first location just south of Whyte Avenue in Feb. 2023.
“I think they want to see more of these companies growing and establishing themselves. And I think overall in the big picture, it’s a it’s a win-win for everyone.”
Start up stream
A number of companies are receiving $100,000 in the start stream, including OligomicsTx Inc. to develop and test a drug delivery technology that treats facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), a rare muscle-wasting condition.
Swift Charge receives $100,000 to manufacture and test the company’s electric vehicle (EV) fast-charger commercial prototype.
ZerOne Hockeyologyreceives $100,000 to upgrade the company’s digital infrastructure as a hockey development and training centre. It’s also a sport, rehabilitation and wellness centre for athletes, opening in July at the West Edmonton Mall.
ZerOne is collaborating with the University of Alberta’s Craig Chapman, a professor of kinesiology and neuroscience. Chapman is also the CEO of Gama — Gaze And Movement Analysis, a spinoff company at the U of A.
“We can do a lot with $100,000,” Chapman said, pointing to equipment in the lab that includes cameras, video screens and computers.
“I think it shows you where intelligent investment can reap really big benefit if it’s targeted at the right people at the right time.”
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said the fund is expected to spur more investment and local economy.
“These projects have the potential to create economic growth in some of the city’s key sectors and make our entire region more prosperous,” Sohi said in a press release.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
