In the midst of the global pandemic, when it seems the world is standing still, people and businesses are still focusing on the future.
One group is playing a big role to help companies and entrepreneurs build ocean-based business ideas that will create jobs and bring new money to the economy.
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, born in 2018 from a marriage of private investors and government funding and based in Atlantic Canada, is setting out to increase the value of this nation’s ocean economy by $14 billion and 3,000 new jobs over the next 10 years.
Ocean industries in Canada contribute about $30 billion a year to the economy and make up 1.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Kendra MacDonald, chief executive officer of the Ocean Supercluster, said the goal is to build ocean enterprises to three per cent of GDP, putting Canada on par with the average for marine industries in other countries.
Kendra MacDonald, executive director for Oceans Supercluster. – Contributed
There’s some serious money at play.
The federal government has $153 million invested. Private companies will also supply funding and in-kind contributions for individual projects.
“There’s no question, we will continue to see the automation-digitization of the ocean, whether it is increased data collection or more remote operations.
“I think there will continue to be a tremendous amount of opportunities in ocean tech . . . bringing digital solutions, whether it’s for fishery, aquaculture, transportation and shipping or offshore industries.”
Kraken on a plan
Kraken Robotics is one example of a project boosted with support from the Supercluster.
Bill Donovan is senior program manager for Kraken, which has offices in St. John’s, N.L., and Dartmouth, as well as in Toronto, Germany and Massachusetts.
The project has two components, he said. One is providing data as a service to the fishing industry, using underwater robots to collect information on things like water temperature and salinity and currents, seabed topography and marine life.
Partners for that component are Ocean Choice International and Nunavut Fisheries.
“Through our project we will do some offshore survey missions to collect data that’s of specific interest to our fishing partners,” said Donovan.
Using remotely operated vehicles underwater, the company will collect information on things like water temperatures, salinity, ocean currents, seafloor topography and marine life within a 5,000-square-kilometre area.
From the data they collect, they will provide analytics, information that will help the companies create efficiencies in their fishing operations.
Kraken already has a strong foothold in the underwater robotics field. Its Catfish vehicle is already being sold commercially, primarily to military and defence operations.
It is working on the creation of an automated underwater vehicle that will solve a problem for companies operating offshore oil rigs.
Regular inspection and maintenance of an offshore drilling platform currently depends on remotely operated vehicles. Transporting the operator and machine by supply ship to a drill site can take days, depending on weather.
And when something goes wrong underwater, that delay could turn a small problem into a bigger one.
Kraken’s idea is an automated vehicle that would be docked permanently underwater at the drill site, ready to get to work as and when needed.
The plan is for a machine that could sit on the ocean floor, at depths of up to 6,000 metres, in a battery-charging docking station, to be available when needed for underwater inspections and surveys.
The vehicle is still the planning stage, says Donovan, but they’ve already got a name for it: Thunderfish XL.
The first official Ocean Supercluster project was announced in 2019 at Kraken Robotics in Mount Pearl, NL. Left to right are: Karl Kenny, President and CEO of Kraken; Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Natural Resources; Dave Shea, Senior Vice President of Engineering of Kraken; Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry; Susan Hunt, Chief Technology Officer Canada’s Ocean Supercluster and Nick Whalen, Member of Parliament. – Contributed
Donovan told SaltWire the company had been working on this idea before the Oceans Supercluster was created.
“It was always on our roadmap. It was a vehicle that we wanted to build.”
It was initially planned as a five-year project, he said, and research and development was already underway. Then along came the funding opportunity through the Ocean Supercluster.
Kraken realized that with this opportunity for additional funding, it could ramp up the timeline. Donovan says thanks to the $5.6 million, the project should be finished in three years.
Work is already creating jobs, he added.
“In 2019 we hired 23 people, in Dartmouth and in Newfoundland, to work specifically or partly on this project. Already in 2020 we’ve hired six more people.
“So . . . we’re very grateful to the Supercluster initiative. It’s allowing us to . . . move this (project) forward.”
Seeking small-scale projects
Most projects funded by the Ocean Supercluster will involve complex, large-scale ventures, developed over several years, said MacDonald.
However, this month the group is taking a different tack.
MacDonald says that while that is a tight timeline, the process is simply to allow companies and entrepreneurs to submit a synopsis of their ideas.
“If the project is determined to be viable, the company would be asked to do a full proposal with more detail and then the funding could flow to start the project.”
She added that all those who file an expression of interest will be informed of the status of their application by the end of May. Only those who are successful will be eligible to submit a full proposal.
MacDonald told SaltWire the Oceans Supercluster has set aside $35 million from its overall budget to help fund the business ideas that are selected from this round of applications.
Based on early response to the call for proposals, MacDonald said, the group expects several businesses to submit proposals.
Full details on how to apply are at oceansupercluster.ca.
Regardless of the business uncertainty created by the pandemic, MacDonald said marine-based businesses in Canada have to keep planning for the future
“We want to have a resilient ocean economy. We want to come out of this with success and keep companies that we know are strong companies. We want to be able to get them through this (pandemic).
“So while we are currently seeing impacts on people and labour globally, there’s still a general view that opportunities in the global economy will continue.
“We want to make sure Canada stays very well positioned to be able to take advantage of those opportunities.”
When it comes to coastline mileage, Canada has bragging rights as the world leader for distance.
If you were to traverse the entire shoreline in Canada, including the coasts of offshore islands, you’d cover 243,042 kilometres, according to Statistics Canada data.
Second-to-fourth-place countries in the coastline competition pale by comparison: Indonesia has just 54,716 kilometres of shoreline; Russia, 37,653; the United States, 19,924; and China, 14,500.
Consider that Canada’s jurisdiction extends to 200 miles from the shore, and that’s a lot of ocean territory.
Project development timeline of 6-18 months preferred (maximum two years).
Four project types will be considered: 1. Product-service advancement and commercialization 2. Capacity and infrastructure 3. Process enhancement 4. Innovation ecosystem
Projects should align with three specific themes: 1. Remote operations 2. Digital-automated technologies 3. Environmental technologies
Must demonstrate a meaningful collaboration between at least two parties, but only one is required to be private sector.
Maximum Supercluster funding contribution cannot exceed $2 million per project. No minimum/maximum budget size.
Reimbursement of 65 per cent overall. Up to 75 per cent reimbursement for certain cost categories like labour. Subject to project cost guidelines.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 250 points in late-morning trading, led by strength in the base metal and technology sectors, while U.S. stock markets also charged higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 254.62 points at 23,847.22.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 432.77 points at 41,935.87. The S&P 500 index was up 96.38 points at 5,714.64, while the Nasdaq composite was up 486.12 points at 18,059.42.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.68 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was up 89 cents at US$70.77 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down a penny at US2.27 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$9.40 at US$2,608.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.33 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Supervised injection sites are saving the lives of drug users everyday, but the same support is not being offered to people who inhale illicit drugs, the head of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS says.
Dr. Julio Montaner said the construction of Vancouver’s first indoor supervised site for people who inhale drugs comes as the percentage of people who die from smoking drugs continues to climb.
The location in the Downtown Eastside at the Hope to Health Research and Innovation Centre was unveiled Wednesday after construction was complete, and Montaner said people could start using the specialized rooms in a matter of weeks after final approvals from the city and federal government.
“If we don’t create mechanisms for these individuals to be able to use safely and engage with the medical system, and generate points of entry into the medical system, we will never be able to solve the problem,” he said.
“Now, I’m not here to tell you that we will fix it tomorrow, but denying it or ignoring it, or throw it under the bus, or under the carpet is no way to fix it, so we need to take proactive action.”
Nearly two-thirds of overdose deaths in British Columbia in 2023 came after smoking illicit drugs, yet only 40 per cent of supervised consumption sites in the province offer a safe place to smoke, often outdoors, in a tent.
The centre has been running a supervised injection site for years which sees more than a thousand people monthly and last month resuscitated five people who were overdosing.
The new facilities offer indoor, individual, negative-pressure rooms that allow fresh air to circulate and can clear out smoke in 30 to 60 seconds while users are monitored by trained nurses.
Advocates calling for more supervised inhalation sites have previously said the rules for setting up sites are overly complicated at a time when the province is facing an overdose crisis.
More than 15,000 people have died of overdoses since the public health emergency was declared in B.C. in April 2016.
Kate Salters, a senior researcher at the centre, said they worked with mechanical and chemical engineers to make sure the site is up to code and abidies by the highest standard of occupational health and safety.
“This is just another tool in our tool box to make sure that we’re offering life-saving services to those who are using drugs,” she said.
Montaner acknowledged the process to get the site up and running took “an inordinate amount of time,” but said the centre worked hard to follow all regulations.
“We feel that doing this right, with appropriate scientific background, in a medically supervised environment, etc, etc, allows us to derive the data that ultimately will be sufficiently convincing for not just our leaders, but also the leaders across the country and across the world, to embrace the strategies that we are trying to develop.” he said.
Montaner said building the facility was possible thanks to a single $4-million donation from a longtime supporter.
Construction finished with less than a week before the launch of the next provincial election campaign and within a year of the next federal election.
Montaner said he is concerned about “some of the things that have been said publicly by some of the political leaders in the province and in the country.”
“We want to bring awareness to the people that this is a serious undertaking. This is a very massive investment, and we need to protect it for the benefit of people who are unfortunately drug dependent.” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
