Canada's new SCALE.AI Supercluster expected to create over 16,000 middle-class jobs in Quebec, Ontario and across Canada
$950-million investment nationwide positions Canada for an innovation boom in high-growth sectors
QUÉBEC, Feb. 20, 2018 /CNW/ - When small, medium-sized and large companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations come together to generate bold ideas, Canadians benefit from more well-paying jobs, groundbreaking research and a world-leading innovation economy.
This is what businesses and partners from Quebec and Ontario will do as part of the SCALE.AI Supercluster, which was selected as part of the Government of Canada's $950-million Innovation Superclusters Initiative. This was the message delivered today by the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, on a visit to OPTEL Group in Québec.
The SCALE.AI Supercluster will bring the retail, manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure, and information and communications technology sectors together to build intelligent supply chains. This will make links between businesses faster and easier as new tools see and predict where and when products are needed, and sales will increase as these tools work together in real time. Ultimately, the SCALE.AI supercluster aims to make Canada a global export leader—capturing new market opportunities and ensuring Canadian-made products and services are first to market.
In 2017, the Government of Canada challenged Canadian businesses of all sizes to collaborate with other innovation actors, including post-secondary and research institutions, to propose bold and ambitious strategies that would transform regional economies and develop job-creating superclusters of innovation, like Silicon Valley.
The Innovation Superclusters Initiative is a centrepiece of the Government of Canada's Innovation and Skills Plan, a multi-year strategy to prepare Canada for the innovative jobs of today and tomorrow.
Quotes
"We are investing in five superclusters so that tomorrow we will be more than 50,000 jobs richer and benefit from an even stronger economy—an innovation economy. With the Superclusters Initiative, we bet on Canadians. We looked at what we did well across our great nation, and we asked industry, academia and NGOs how we could do it better. The response was impressive and the ideas were remarkable."
– The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development
"The SCALE.AI Supercluster will create new opportunities for all the companies involved; help create more than 16,000 new jobs in Quebec, Ontario and across Canada; and add more than $16.5 billion to Canada's economy over 10 years. This is great news for the economy of Quebec and Ontario, for Canadian innovation and for our society."
– The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
"The Canadian government's initiative has spurred an unprecedented level of industry/research mobilization and cooperation. It is essential to strengthen it. It is only together that we can highlight Canada's leadership in innovation in the face of growing international competition in the knowledge economy and sustainable growth."
– Louis Roy, President of OPTEL, and Hélène Desmarais, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of CEIM, co-presidents of SCALE.AI, AI-powered Supply Chains Supercluster
Quick facts
- The five Canadian superclusters are the Ocean Supercluster (based in Atlantic Canada), the SCALE.AI Supercluster (based in Quebec), the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster (based in Ontario), the Protein Industries Supercluster (based in the Prairies), and the Digital Technology Supercluster (based in British Columbia).
- Superclusters are dense areas of business activity where many of the middle-class jobs of today and tomorrow are created. They attract large and small companies that collaborate with universities, colleges and not-for-profit organizations to turn ideas into solutions that can be brought to market.
- Together the superclusters represent more than 450 businesses, 60 post-secondary institutions and 180 other participants in sectors covering 78 percent of Canada's economy.
- Having the strong representation of women and under-represented groups in these superclusters is a top priority. The superclusters will endeavour to increase the representation of women and under-represented groups in their activity and leadership, helping them succeed in skilled jobs in highly innovative industries.
Associated links
- Innovation Superclusters Initiative: Canada's new superclusters
- Government of Canada's new innovation program expected to create tens of thousands of middle-class jobs
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SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Karl W. Sasseville, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, 343-291-2500; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 343-291-1777, [email protected]
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