Ottawa’s Innovative Spirit: Transforming an Economy through Diversification and Entrepreneurship

Background Information

Ottawa’s innovative spirit was established through a multi-year economic plan to transform Canada’s capital. The plan, Partnerships for Prosperity, has been implemented through the City of Ottawa’s strategic planning process and through the Department of Economic Development and Innovation’s annual report to Ottawa City Council.

Goals of the Initiative

As far as we know, Ottawa is the only G7 capital to embark on such aunique plan to transform its economy from a “government city” into a more diversified and innovative economy – a thriving ecosystem teeming with entrepreneurs. The City of Ottawa begun to consider and then implement a wide range of innovative initiatives in 2011, many of which will continue for the foreseeable future. A sampling of these initiatives are described below:

•Innovative Strategic Initiatives for Diversification: Capturing the World’s Tourism Market:

The City of Ottawa recognized the opportunity for gaining international recognition through sports tourism, and aggressively competed against other cities to host more of these types of high-profile events. Ottawa is the only Canadian city to partner with a private sector-supported agency and send one of its own employees to manage a new office solely dedicated to event attraction. At the same time, the City of Ottawa launched its “Bid More, Win More, Host More” strategy that has injected more than $40 million into Ottawa’s economy over the past three years.

Implementing the Building Blocks for Diversification:

a)Lansdowne Park Redevelopment:

This project involved turning an under-utilized asset into a hub of economic activity and a world-class event-hosting facility. The City of Ottawa believed so much in the potential of this historic area, that it was willing to face strong opposition – even fighting for this project at the highest court in the country. However, this risk paid off and because of this new resource, Ottawa now has its own national football team and will be hosting the 2015 Women’s FIFA World Cup, among other exciting, high-profile events.

b)Ottawa’s Light Rail Project:

With $2 billion and an unwavering commitment to dig massive tunnels underneath Parliament Hill – the seat of Canada’s federal government – the City of Ottawa was able to rally stakeholders to support this daring project. This infrastructure will accommodate a growing population, cut down on economic loss from traffic congestion, support the overall functioning of the local economy, and make the city more accessible for residents and tourists alike.

Facilitating Ottawa’s Largest Trade Mission to China:

Breaking away from the past tradition of sending a small delegation, the Economic Development and Innovation Department organized the “Team Ottawa China Mission,” which was the largest mission of its kind. Moreover, for the first time in Ottawa’s history, this trade mission represented all of the key stakeholders in Ottawa’s major employment sectors: health care and education; knowledge-based professional services; tourism; and private business. This innovative approach allowed Ottawa to establish key partnerships that solidified Ottawa’s relationship with China and has attracted investments and high-quality jobs to the city.

Growing Farms and Growing the Economy:

Although some cities may ignore their rural surroundings, the City of Ottawa has been using its one-of-a-kind rural heritage as an advantage. Consequently, Ottawa funded a local organization called Just Food to develop the rural economy though innovative programming. By expanding farmers’ markets, linking local agriculture to downtown restaurants, and training farmers to expand into other markets, Ottawa has benefitted from millions of dollars in economic impact and rural jobs. As a funder of the Ottawa Rural Countryside Tourism Council, the City of Ottawa also utilizes rural land to boost tourism to the city.

•Innovative Strategic Initiative(s) for Entrepreneurship Creating a Leading Edge Economic Development Agency:

The Economic Development and Innovation Department took an obsolete, 25 year-old organization and transformed it into a lean and re-focussed economic development agency named Invest Ottawa. Despite facing some initial resistance from established processes and perspectives, Invest Ottawa has been successful in branding itself as the premiere service in Ottawa for entrepreneurs. The City of Ottawa funds Invest Ottawa to implement ground-breaking programs supporting entrepreneurial mentorship, startup development assistance, business incubation and commercialization services. Invest Ottawa has facilitated job creation, attracted startup investment, brought in foreign direct investment, conducted investor sessions, and provided numerous workshops to Ottawa’s entrepreneur community. Invest Ottawa has also attracted the Zhongguancun Development Group to establish their first International Incubation Center in Canada, second of its kind in North America.

Transforming  a  Maintenance  Garage  to  World  Class  Innovation Centre:

The City of Ottawa has taken bold steps to transform a derelict maintenance garage into a ground-breaking, $30 million building that will become the new base for Invest Ottawa and Ottawa’s most promising entrepreneurs. The Bayview Yards Innovation Centre will provide Ottawa with a prestigious landmark for entrepreneurs to showcase Ottawa’s entrepreneurial strength to local, national and international audiences. The Innovation Centre will also be a beacon for talented entrepreneurs, housing a maker space to prototype revolutionary products and all of the government services required to assist new companies to compete and succeed.

Believing that Everyone can be an Entrepreneur:

The City of Ottawa is supporting the cutting edge of social enterprise programming by funding to the Ottawa Community Loan Fund. This non-profit organization provides microloans to individuals and small businesses that are not eligible for traditional financing from banks. A special focus on immigrants has created opportunities for employment and innovation that would otherwise not exist.These initiatives are but a few examples of the innovative steps Ottawa has taken to transform its economy.

Innovation for the Initiative

Preliminary evidence indicates that Ottawa’s innovative spirit is beginning to pay dividends.Transforming an economy takes time, but data has been encouraging in terms of Ottawa’s economic diversification. The proportion of jobs in the private sector has grown over time by a modest, but an indicative 1.3 percent.The Professional, Scientific and Technical Services sector, which is comprised of knowledge-based professions such as computer systems design, legal services, and accounting, grew annually between 2011 and 2013, adding 7,900 net jobs to the local labour market. Ottawa’s focus on enhancing its tourism offering has also benefitted from this transformation. The Accommodation and Food Services sector, representing much of the tourism industry (hotels, restaurants, bars), has also expanded on an annual basis between 2011 and 2013 (net +3,800 positions). This represents a 13.4 percent increase in the size of this sector, and is one of the strongest recorded growths in any industry in the Ottawa over this three-year period. Furthermore, the Health and Education sector, which combines health care (hospitals, long-term care) and education-related employment (all educational institutions) added 7,100 net jobs between 2011 and 2013, and now rivals Public Administration as the largest industry in the Ottawa area. These changes, which highlight the progress that Ottawa is making in terms of diversifying its economy, are the types of changes that the City of Ottawa was aiming for and will continue to support in the future. Accompanying this change in the job force are new attitudes and behaviour. Entrepreneurship is becoming more popular: residents are increasingly accessing entrepreneurial resources such as Invest Ottawa. Moreover, although these changes are taking places at a local level, a global change will also occur at the same time as Ottawa will be increasingly viewed as an economic hub for innovation.