Ontario, it’s time to future-proof the economy

By Alanna Sokic, CCI’s Manager of Government Affairs in Ontario

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Even if you don’t follow politics closely, if you live in Ontario, you may have noticed a change in the air. An election is looming in June, and even though the formal campaign period has not begun, electioneering is beginning to ramp up.

But before the candidates’ signs are hammered into lawns and the leaders’ campaign buses roll out, the Ontario government will need to deliver its 2022 budget. This year, I’m hoping that Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy will present a fiscal plan that emphasizes Ontario as a place to grow one’s career, business, and family by creating long-term conditions for economic prosperity. I want to stress the ‘long-term’ part of this vision. If we really want to set Ontario up for success, we cannot fall back on short-term supports for traditional industries. We have to look to where the proverbial puck is going. And here, I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s going the way of innovation.

Ontario’s technology firms are well-positioned to spearhead the province’s economic recovery, and Budget 2022 provides a meaningful opportunity to give innovators a boost. Here, I want to highlight three things from CCI’s pre-budget submission that would help create the ecosystem conditions to spur a sustainable and successful innovation economy.

Access to Talent

Last week, CCI published our Talent & Skills Strategy, offering policy solutions that governments can enact to address the skilled talent shortage. Our budget submission to the Ontario government also includes some of these ideas, because CCI has been consistently calling for action.

Hamid Arabzadeh, CEO of Ranovus, an Ottawa-based firm supporting the development of data centre and communications network infrastructure, shared one such compelling tale. Ranovus reports consistently competing with foreign multinationals, that pay their talent 40% above market. Without completely altering its compensation structure, Ranovus is unable to hire skilled talent needed to grow and scale their business.

According to the Information and Communications Technology Council, Ontario will see more than a million employees working in the ICT space by 2025 — a difference of approximately 100,000 from today. Currently, Ontario is not in a position to fill that gap, but if we act now, we can work to blunt this crisis.

One step the government could take immediately is to embrace corporate upskilling and reskilling programs. By providing incentives for the private sector to demonstrate leadership, the government can allow business to identify the most pressing shortages, meet the labour market where it’s at, and encourage on-the-job training. In providing employees with a convenient and tailored opportunity to develop their skills, these programs serve as an effective employment retention and generation tool for domestic companies.

Futureproofing and Capacity Building

If Ontario truly wants to embrace its domestic tech sector, it must do so in a coordinated, whole-of-government fashion. Siloed decision-making and a lack of meaningful tech knowledge threatens the government’s progress in this regard. The public service needs to better understand and evaluate policy priorities within the framework of the intangible economy. Which is why CCI is calling on the government to develop an Innovation, Science and Technology policy lens.

A policy lens is a valuable instrument that can be used to develop or review existing policies, programs, legislation, or other government practices. Typically, it is a set of questions that serves as a checklist to guide and evaluate policy decisions.

With this tool, every ministry and department would incorporate data, privacy, and intellectual property considerations into their policy development process, and every part of government would be accountable for ensuring that the province is on the best possible footing for success in the digital world. If Ontario genuinely wants to be the most digitally advanced jurisdiction in the world, this is a great place to start.

Access to Customers

Right now, Ontario is in the midst of scaling its new procurement agency, Supply Ontario. While CCI supports the intention to create a single window for broader public sector procurement, there is more this government can do to ensure its procurement of goods and services is done better and more efficiently.

Put simply, procurement is the most powerful economic development tool available to the government. However, our current system needs some adjustments. In speaking with CCI members, the most common issue with public sector buying is ease of access.

We’d like to see Ontario take two steps to help make it easier for scale-up companies to access procurement opportunities. First, create and deploy a ‘Procurement Concierge,’ service. British Columbia has enacted a similar service, which offers institutional support to help companies navigate complex procurement processes to reduce administrative burden and makes government procurement more accessible and transparent.

Next, the Government of Ontario must create a pathway for firms to submit unsolicited proposals. Canadian companies offer an array of innovative solutions and services. But when their only chance to get those products in front of government is an overly prescriptive request for proposals (RFP) process, it limits the opportunity for government to partner with firms in their own backyard. By creating an open solicitation process, Ontario would create space for innovative, locally created outcomes.

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These are just a few of the measures we’ll be looking for when Ontario’s 2022 budget is tabled.

In the next few months, there’s going to be a lot of talk about Ontario politics, and politicians will be presenting their vision for our economy in the years ahead. At CCI, we’ll be watching the budget closely and then the election campaign, to see if our politicians have the right ideas for a prosperous 21st century economy.

Alanna Sokic is CCI’s Manager of Government Affairs for Ontario and can be reached at asokic@canadianinnovators.org

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