News Release

For Immediate Release
July 28, 2008

DRIVING THE INNOVATION ECONOMY IN THUNDER BAY

McGuinty Government Building Ontario’s Innovation-Driven Economy

NEWS

Research aimed at developing more innovative strategies to manage Ontario’s boreal forest is receiving $140,000 in funding from the province’s Early Researcher Awards program.

Funding leading research is part of Ontario’s plan to build an innovation economy.

Ontario is providing Lakehead University’s Dr. Han Chen with $140,000 to help mitigate the impacts of rapid environmental change on Ontario’s forests.  Dr. Chen will develop advanced monitoring strategies to improve forest management. The goal is to enhance quality, biological diversity and the ability of Ontario’s northern forests to act as carbon sinks – natural filters that clean our air and reduce the level of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

In total, 66 projects across the province worth $9.24 million will receive funding from the Early Researcher Awards program.

The goal of this program is to improve Ontario’s ability to attract and retain the best and brightest research talent from around the world. Today’s investment will ensure that leading Ontario researchers have the resources they need to build their research teams of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research assistants and associates from across Canada and abroad.

QUOTES

“Our forest industry is facing significant change due to global competition, strained market conditions and the increasing value of the Canadian dollar. At the same time, Ontario and jurisdictions all around the world are facing the global challenge of climate change. I am proud to support Dr. Chen’s research, which addresses both of these challenges,” said Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle.

“Innovation is the key to creating new jobs and global market opportunities for Thunder Bay and Ontario. Supporting research such as Dr. Chen’s will ensure that we continue to turn global challenges into opportunities for our changing and evolving natural resource sector,” stated Bill Mauro, MPP Thunder Bay-Atikokan.

“Today’s investment is an important part of Ontario’s plan to build an innovation-driven economy. We are investing in the people who are pioneering the scientific breakthroughs that will improve health care, protect the environment, and ignite growth in the industries that will shape Ontario’s future,” said Minister of Research and Innovation John Wilkinson.

QUICK FACTS

• The Early Researcher Awards program is an important part of Ontario’s Innovation Agenda, a plan to make innovation the driving force of the provincial economy.
• Innovation is part of the McGuinty government’s five-point plan for the economy. The other parts of the plan are:
  • Skills and training
  • Building infrastructure
  • Strategic business tax cuts to create investment
  • Partnerships with business.
  • Ontario's forests make up two-thirds of the province's total area, 17 per cent of Canada’s forests and two per cent of the world’s forests.
  • The northern Ontario boreal forest accounts for 76% of the province's woodland that supports most of Ontario’s forest industry.
  • Ontario is also investing $25 million in the new Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE) in Thunder Bay. The centre will attract world-class researchers and industry leaders to develop the next generation of renewable forestry bio-products.
  • Forest bio-products contribute an estimated $1 billion to Canada’s economy.

LEARN MORE

Learn More about the Early Researcher Awards

Learn More about Ontario’s Innovation Agenda

Learn how Ontario’s Budget 2008 is supporting innovation

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See also:

• Backgrounder: Strengthening Ontario’s Innovation Economy