Mr. Chair, members of the committee, it is a privilege to appear before you today representing the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
FedDev Ontario was established in 2009 in response to the global economic downturn. The agency started with a five-year mandate and was renewed in 2013 with a second five-year mandate, ending on March 31, 2019. The agency is headquartered in Waterloo and has offices across the region, in Ottawa, Toronto, and Peterborough, employing approximately 230 full-time staff.
To better understand FedDev Ontario, let me first highlight the region we serve. Our catchment area spans from Cornwall in the east to Owen Sound in the west, and from Pembroke in the north to Windsor in the south.
Southern Ontario is a unique region and a key contributor to the Canadian economy. It is home to approximately a third of Canada's population, and accounts for more than a third of national employment, GDP, and exports. Southern Ontario is home to key clusters, including automotive, finance, ICT, and life sciences, many of which are being supported by incubators and accelerators. The region hosts almost 50% of all employees in high tech, financial services, and other knowledge-intensive industries. A large number of multinationals are also operating in the region.
Nearly half of all Canadian private sector research and development is performed in Ontario, and Ontario also has the highest rate of university educational attainment in the country, and the largest number of colleges and universities.
Nevertheless, the region has not been immune to the pressures of the changing global economy. Similar to other advanced economies, the region is undergoing a shift towards a growing service-oriented and knowledge-based economy. Many of the region's traditionally strong industries, such as the manufacturing and automotive sectors, are facing challenges. While economic conditions have improved in recent years, there are still some ongoing challenges. These include lagging productivity, a lack of access to risk capital, poor export performance, competition from emerging markets, and fluctuations in the Canadian dollar.
FedDev Ontario's programs and services are meant to leverage the region's strengths to address these challenges. Our core mandate is to strengthen southern Ontario's economic capacity for innovation, entrepreneurship, and cooperation, while also promoting the development of a strong and diversified southern Ontario economy.
FedDev Ontario supports the Government of Canada's priorities, such as driving clean economic growth, supporting firms' abilities to scale up, and creating good, well-paying jobs for the middle class, as announced in budget 2016.
FedDev Ontario has five key roles. We invest in targeted projects, along with other partners, to stimulate the economy. We deliver national programs in our region. We provide business-related services to firms and other stakeholders. We bring together key stakeholders to improve the economy, serving as a convenor. Finally, we act as a champion for the region.
To deliver on this mandate, we were provided with $920 million for core programming over five years. Through an initiative called investing in business innovation, the agency supports early-stage companies in areas such as access to capital, mentorship, and work with incubators. The agency also supports SMEs in areas such as scaling-up capacity, facilitating access to export markets, and adopting technology to increase productivity, through an initiative called investing in business growth and productivity.
It is a well-known fact that the manufacturing sector is an important part of southern Ontario's activity. There are more than 34,000 manufacturing establishments across Ontario, almost all of which are in southern Ontario.
Since its creation, FedDev Ontario has committed more than $571 million through approximately 2,200 manufacturing projects. The agency continues to support the manufacturing sector, primarily through investing in business growth and the productivity initiative referred to earlier, as well as through the advanced manufacturing fund. Through this fund, the agency supports companies investing in large-scale, incremental, and transformative advanced manufacturing activities, and adopting cutting-edge technologies, and undertaking projects that create spillover benefits for manufacturing clusters or global supply chains.
Further, given the research strength in the region, FedDev Ontario also supports commercialization partnerships. These partnerships allow one or more private sector companies to leverage a university or research institution's expertise, with the goal of developing globally competitive products and services, or innovative platforms that can demonstrate commercial value. This is done through an initiative called investing in commercialization partnerships.
Supporting our communities to thrive is an important role of FedDev Ontario as well. Through an initiative called investing in regional diversification, the agency supports communities to leverage their unique assets and take advantage of emerging opportunities to diversify, enhance competitiveness, and attract investment.
To serve the ongoing economic challenges of youth out-migration and the transition of traditional sectors in eastern Ontario, the agency has a program called the Eastern Ontario development program. This program promotes business development, community innovation, and strategic collaboration, and is delivered through the region's community futures development corporations.
Fed Dev Ontario, like other regional development agencies, plays an important role as a federal delivery agent for national programs, specifically the community futures program, the economic development initiative, and the Canada 150 community infrastructure program.
FedDev Ontario also delivers services that are common to other regional development agencies, through industrial and technological benefits activities and Canada Business Ontario, which is part of the Canada Business Network. Canada Business Ontario provides information on how to start, manage, and grow a business to people across Ontario through its online contact centre and outreach activities. It also provides services to the National Research Council's industrial research assistance program and the concierge service across Canada.
Our contribution to achieving positive economic outcomes is realized not only by co-investing in projects and delivering services, but also by acting as a convenor and champion for the region. Fed Dev Ontario convenes key regional players to seek a common vision and encourage the development of coordinated plans, while actively promoting the region. The agency can also provide regional intelligence, serving as the bridge to and from Ottawa.
Looking ahead to this fiscal year, and as outlined in the agency's main estimates, FedDev Ontario plans on spending more than $200 million on strategic projects approved through our funding programs. We will do this with less than $29 million in operating funds.
In closing, I want to thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee today.