The second annual Canada’s Innovation Corridor Summit held earlier this year in Toronto featured a keynote address by Travis Hester, President and Managing Director, GM Canada. He shared insights on GM’s “belief system,” its impact on corporate planning and influence on the entire industry. Here are two highlights:

Transformation Strategy: General Motors is implementing a transformation strategy driven by a three-part corporate vision: zero crashes, zero emissions, zero congestion.

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We’re in a “golden age of university-industry collaboration” that’s delivering unprecedented levels of innovation.

Dr. John Preston, Associate Dean in the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University, shared this assessment at the second annual Canada’s Innovation Corridor Summit in Toronto earlier this month. It was hosted by a partnership of chambers of commerce and boards of trade in southern Ontario, including the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.

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World attention was focused on Toronto last month as the city hosted Collision, North America’s fastest-growing tech conference.

The event provided a platform for Canada’s top start-ups and entrepreneurs to showcase their talents before an audience of over 25,000 delegates representing more than 125 countries. Among those in the spotlight were leading technology firms from Hamilton that are flourishing in the digital economy.

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Today, Canada and the U.S. announced reaching a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs imposed last year. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced tariffs on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum, citing national security interests under S. 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.

According to a release from Global Affairs Canada, the tariffs will be lifted within 48 hours, in exchange for increased monitoring.

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Based on the results of our Business Confidence Survey, conducted in conjunction with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce has published its Hamilton Economic Report, which presents a candid look at local private sector sentiment. The purpose of the 2019 HER is to capture the mood of Hamilton businesses, particularly as it relates to the provincial economy.

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The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) recently released their report, Supporting Ontario’s Budding Cannabis Industry. The report outlines Ontario’s competitive advantage and how to capitalize on Canada’s first-mover status in this fast-moving industry. The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce is pleased to have contributed to this report and its findings.

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of Ontario’s cannabis market from the perspective of industry and the role public policy can play to ensure the legal market remains competitive by seizing economic opportunity, eliminating the illegal market, and safeguarding public health and responsible adult consumption.

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Today, the Government of Ontario passed Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2019, brought forward by the Honourable Todd Smith, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Specifically as it relates to open tendering in particular, the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce is ecstatic to see that the Ford government has amended the Labour Relations Act to explicitly deem public bodies, including municipalities, school boards, hospitals, colleges and universities, as “non-construction employers.”

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