Backgrounder
September 30, 2008
BUILDING THE JOBS OF THE FUTURE
Driving the Next Generation of Digital, Information And Communications Technologies
ECONOMY
Ontario is committed to supporting research and innovation as a means of turning global challenges into our next generation of jobs – and most importantly, to create a higher quality of life for Ontario families.
Ontario’s $3-billion Innovation Agenda is about making investments in our greatest assets – our people and our best ideas – to make this province healthier, greener and to strengthen our economy. We are focused on supporting innovation that will tackle climate change, lead to better health care, and ignite growth in the industries that will shape our future.
LEGACY
Ontario has a legacy of research excellence and innovation, of turning our best science and ideas into world-leading vaccines, better ways to treat and prevent disease, and health technologies.
Ontario created IMAX and the Blackberry. We invented the pacemaker. And right now Ontario companies are building cleaner ways to generate the energy we need, by engineering new technologies that do a better job of tapping into the power of the sun, wind, and water. From stem cells and insulin to the science and technology that helped put a man on the moon and robots on Mars, Ontario ideas, discoveries and inventions are revolutionizing the world.
And with support from the Ontario government, innovative people and companies are developing the technologies of the future to turn global demand -- for fast, integrated information and communications technologies applications, digital and social media -- into good-paying jobs in Ontario.
Research is the foundation of this innovation, and the jobs of the future.
ONTARIO RESEARCH FUND
Through the Ontario Research Fund, we are strengthening Ontario’s legacy of innovation and ingenuity by supporting our best and brightest researchers, the world-class research institutions that support their work, and the entrepreneurs that are helping to bring their best ideas to the global market.
From Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone to DALSA Corporation’s world-leading imaging technologies, Ontario has been creating world firsts in the digital media and ICT sector for as long as we’ve been a province.
Third and fourth generation innovations in wireless networks, telecommunications and information systems and processing are being developed right here in Ontario. For example, at the University of Waterloo, researchers are harnessing the power of light by building the next generation of smaller, faster electrical devices that will revolutionize the way we communicate.
And advances in ICT are creating new global markets for applications in diverse fields like health care and energy.
Ontario is on the leading edge of the latest technologies. Through the latest round of the Ontario Research Fund, the province is investing close to $3.5 million in 26 research projects at eight postsecondary institutions across the province.
The funds will help support the work of 279 of Ontario’s leading researchers in the fields of digital media and ICT and will leverage some $5.25 million from the federal government and research institutions.
ONTARIO INNOVATION AGENDA
The Ontario Research Fund is an important part of Ontario’s Innovation Agenda. Supported by $3 billion over eight years, Ontario’s Innovation Agenda is focused on supporting world-class research and innovative companies in areas where the province already is, or can be, a global leader.
Ontario’s priorities are:
- Tackling climate change through bio-based, environmental, alternative energy and clean technologies
- Advancing the digital universe through new information and communications technologies
- Conquering disease through life sciences, biotechnology, advanced health technologies and pharmaceutical research.
GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY
The $1-trillion global digital media market is exploding – and Ontario is strategically positioned to take advantage of this rapidly growing digital media sector. Ontario is already home to a growing industry of 800 firms that employ 18,000 people, and several post-secondary institutions that are committee to training tomorrow’s highly qualified digital media and ICT workers.
Interactive Digital Media
With more than 400 companies, Ontario’s robust interactive digital media sector employs 5400 people and produces over $1 billion in revenues each year. Ontario is home to 40 per cent of the interactive digital media firms within Canada, the majority of which are located in the Greater Toronto Area.
Digital Gaming
The digital game market has exploded with strong competition for consumer media spending. Generating $32 billion of revenues in 2006, this global industry is projected to continue growing at a rate of over 10 per cent annually over the next five years, a growth rate that is expected to outpace those of many traditional media industries. Game development in Ontario is set to take on this global demand. Canada has a growing $2-billion gaming industry that employs 9,000 people – a sixth of them in Ontario. Forty per cent of Canada's game companies are also headquartered in Ontario.
Recognizing the opportunity for Ontario to play a leading role in game development, our government has helped to grow the industry through various forms of support. The Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit, for example, can refund 30 per cent of labour, distribution and marketing of games. This and other incentives from the provincial government cut the cost of doing business in Ontario by nearly 60 per cent.
Information and Communications Technologies
Although the ICT sector in Canada consists mainly of small and mid-sized companies, it generates $140 billion in revenues.
Accounting for half of the country’s ICT activity and 70 per cent of its ICT research and development Ontario’s ICT sector employs over 220,000 people and is home to 5,000-plus innovative ICT companies, ranging from home-grown global giants like Nortel Networks, Mitel Networks, Cognos, Research in Motion and Open Text to foreign multinationals like IBM, Alcatel, Cisco Systems, Dell, Ericsson, Microsoft, Siemens, Motorola and McAfee.
And through the province’s Innovation Demonstration Fund and Next Generation of Jobs Fund, Ontario is helping savvy entrepreneurs turn their research and ideas into reality. Here are just a few shining examples:
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