Food Bulletin
Marketing Opportunity
An Olympic Marketing Opportunity
The upcoming 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver presents a unique and powerful
opportunity to connect with thousands of potential new customers for your
agri-food enterprise.
The "best of Ontario" products and services will be featured
at the Games' Ontario pavilion Feb. 12-28, enhanced by experiential programming,
such as celebrity chef demonstrations and culinary wine or beer pairings
and tastings.
This marketing venue offers exposure to an estimated 350,000 Canadian,
American and international visitors, 10,000 media and thousands of potential
investors.
For more information, contact the Ontario 2010 Olympic Secretariat at
416-327-8857 or by email at Kathy.Tangorra@ontario.ca.
Industry News
New Ontario-Quebec agreement to reduce trade barriers, boost economy
Making it easier to work and do business across the Ontario-Quebec border
is the goal of a new trade agreement resulting from a joint meeting of
the premiers and their cabinets on Sept. 11.
The Ontario-Quebec Trade and Cooperation Agreement will promote collaboration,
reduce trade barriers and improve labour mobility to create a more robust,
globally competitive trade environment.
The Agreement covers several sectors, including financial services, energy
cooperation, economic cooperation and regulatory cooperation.
For example, business owners from both provinces will be able to access
regulation changes under consideration by both jurisdictions, allowing
them to participate in the consultation process and anticipate and adjust
their practices accordingly.
A third meeting is planned for 2010 as the Ontario and Quebec governments
continue working together to strengthen the economy.
2009 Premier's Awards for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence
Calling all agri-food innovators!
It's time to apply for the 2010 Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation
Excellence program.
The deadline is Nov. 16, 2009.
This program recognizes innovations that add value to existing products,
create jobs and drive economic growth. Check out the success
stories of past winners. Up to 55 regional awards, valued at $5,000
each, are presented each year. Recipients of Minister's Award (up to $50,000)
and the Premier's Award (up to $100,000) are selected from the regional
winners.
Eligible applicants include individual farmers, primary producers, groups
of farmers, a combination of agri-food businesses, or agri-food related
organizations (a farmer must be one of the applicants in any group).
Additional information, guidelines and applications forms are available
on the OMAFRA website
or by calling the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300.
Higher-education R&D Spending up in Canada
Canada is number one in the G7 for higher-education research and development
spending (as a percentage of gross domestic product), according to data
recently released by Statistics Canada.
The national statistical agency announced that estimated spending on
higher education R&D was $10.2 billion in 2007-08, representing an
increase of 5.8 per cent over 2006-07.
The federal government's investment was $2.7 billion, up 9.4 per cent
from the previous year, making it the second-largest contributor to higher-education
R&D in the country. Higher-education institutions continued to be
the largest contributors to their own R&D, spending an estimated $4.6
billion in current dollars in 2007-08, an increase of 3.1 per cent over
the previous year.
Higher-education institutions include universities, affiliated research
hospitals, experimental stations and clinics. This increase is consistent
with the government's commitment to develop a leading-edge economy and
implement actions, as set out under its strategy, Mobilizing Science and
Technology to Canada's Advantage.
