WEEKLY ROUNDUP: Oh, Canada!
Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday this weekend. Happy birthday, Canada! You don’t look a day over 140.
And to our readers from Vancouver all the way to the Atlantic coast: pour a little maple syrup in your Tim’s Double Double and indulge in this all-Canadian edition of our Weekly Roundup.
INSIGHTS: Building a nation of global talent
The recently launched Global Talent Stream will expedite the immigration process for highly skilled workers. As one of the CEOs from across the country who called on Ottawa to streamline the immigration process, I see the new system as a welcome and much-needed change.
Updated rules a boon for Canadian drones
The Honorable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, recently announced an update to Transport Canada’s revised Interim Order on drone use. The new Interim Order replaces an earlier version, which players in the drone space argued put unreasonable restrictions on responsible drone use across Canada—more than 2,000 drone advocates across Canada sent messages urging Transport Canada to improve the Interim Order.
Making virtual reality real could make billionaire status a reality
Virtual reality was supposed to be the next big thing awhile ago. Too long ago, actually. It’s not enough to see that we’re in an altered reality—we need to feel like we’re in an altered reality. So what have the VR visionaries come up with so far to solve this problem of full embodiment?
Oli Gardner, a cofounder of Unbounce, this week spoke at his company’s 2017 Call to Action Conference, an annual marketing event in Vancouver. Speaking to a full audience at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Gardner lamented design for the sake of artistic vision over conversion rates. Good design, he argued, doesn’t just dazzle—it helps a company accomplish a specific goal.
Canada’s most innovative company
The Canadian Innovation Exchange crowned Real Matter 2017 Innovator of the Year. Markham’s Real Matters, a network management services platform for the mortgage and insurance industries, went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in May, raising approximately $156 million, giving the company a valuation in excess of $1.1 billion.
INSIGHTS: Technology is begging you to take advantage of it
It’s a safe bet to assume that most small or mid-sized businesses are are asking the same questions: How can we find and keep new customers? How can we run things more efficiently? How can we plan and scale for the future when the present is keeping us so busy? To survive and thrive in today’s hyper-connected market, it is imperative to incorporate innovation into business plans from the very beginning.
Cultivating creativity in Canada
The Canadian government this week announced a $3 million investment in support for two new creative hubs in Vancouver. The investment will support construction, infrastructure upgrades and facility expansion activities for the BC Artscape Society and the Vancity Community Foundation, according to The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage.
Canada’s first dockless bike rental service
Dropbike launched a pilot in the City of Kingston this week. This project makes Kingston the first city in North America to launch a smart, dockless bike sharing service. The startup says it will deploy 100 bikes in Kingston for residents and tourists to use. The company’s first pilot was at the University of Toronto .
Career opportunities abound at upcoming Techfest Toronto
Summer is a time of celebration, and we’re confident that you’ll be celebrating the career upgrade that awaits you at our upcoming Techfest recruiting event, which takes place in Toronto on July 27 at the iconic Steam Whistle Brewing. Register now so that you don’t miss out.
INSIGHTS: Is digital identity our most valuable asset?
Today, many Canadians are hosting the majority of their lives online and the amount of personal information that is available online is alarming. It poses the question: do consumers truly have a strong level of trust with the institutions and online platforms they are continuously dealing with? Or, are they simply more concerned with getting things done quicker online than they are with getting things done safely and securely?
