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It’s becoming a challenge to help support farmers in finding employees, neighbours or even new Canadians who might then want to take over.
Eastern Ontario Business Journal
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EDITOR’S NOTE
There’s a lot to be said about missteps and lessons learned on the way to success
Welcome to the fall edition of the Eastern Ontario Business Journal
This issue features our Fastest Growing Companies program, along with many other interesting stories from around the region.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting with my EOBJ editorial advisory board. It always amazes me the sheer variety and diversity of business endeavours taking place throughout the area. Many common themes emerged and were familiar to me: the housing situation, the challenges facing newcomers to Canada, the need for infrastructure upgrades, and the looming succession issue for small businesses. These are all issues to be explored, not only in larger cities, but also in smaller communities, which often don’t get the same political attention as some of their bigger counterparts.
FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES
It’s almost impossible not to be intrigued by the businesses listed in our Fastest Growing Companies feature.
This is the third year we’ve run this program in Eastern Ontario, and it does not disappoint.
It’s true that the huge highs and lows and the gripping drama of the COVID era are in the rearview mirror. But what impresses me now is how these fastgrowing companies continue to learn from those experiences and apply many of the lessons as they move forward.
In fact, it sounds a bit obvious, but the idea of continuous improvement was my big takeaway from this year’s crop of fastest-growing companies. I loved their often brutally honest admissions of mistakes made. Their reflections on what they learned. And, above all, their passion
for continuing, for persevering, for moving forward better than ever.
This was a good comment from Kemptville Heating & AC: “When I first started the business I jumped the gun and got too big too fast and it backfired on me. I realized quickly that I lacked the skills needed to manage several employees.” The lesson? “Don’t try to grow too fast. Never put the cart in front of the horse.”
Or how about this from GlassHouse Botanics: “Everything takes at least twice as long and four times as much capital then expected.” What to do? “We hired the right leaders and a team that worked tirelessly to reach our goals.”
Themes of adaptability, flexibility, planning and pivoting emerged. As well as hard truths acknowledged. For example, this from J&J Landscaping: “Not everyone will support your decisions or your
company.” Or this from Brock IT: “Written agreements are the only thing that matter, so you must protect yourself and your business with written expectations.”
I think this line from The Bar really summed it up: “Not everything worked out the way we wanted, but we kept at it by changing a little bit here and a little bit there.”
To me, this type of mindset is typical of a true entrepreneur, someone who has as many (if not more) mistakes and missteps as outright successes. But instead of acting as a deterrent, these missteps only serve to fuel the fire and the desire to do it better the next time.
So, hats off to all our fastest-growing companies. As I’ve learned myself, there are few challenges or hurdles that are not also fabulous opportunities.
Anne Howland Editor in Chief
RETURN TO OFFICE
North Grenville mayor continues to call for federal public servants to work in her community
BY SARAH MACFARLANE news@obj.ca
T
he mayor of North Grenville says she’s “not letting up” on her plan to set up a coworking space for public servants in Kemptville, south of Ottawa.
In an announcement in May, the Treasury Board Secretariat said public servants in the core public administration who are eligible for a hybrid work arrangement would be required to work on-site a minimum of three days per week. The new directive took effect Sept. 9, 2024. Previously, public servants were required to be in the office a minimum of two to three days a
week, or 40 to 60 per cent of the time.
South of the city, Mayor Nancy Peckford of North Grenville has been advocating for an official coworking space for public servants at the Kemptville Campus, which formerly housed the Kemptville College.
Peckford says members of her community have expressed concern over returning to a long commute to downtown Ottawa after years of working remotely. The solution, she says, could lie in creating a formal work space closer to home.
The Kemptville Campus is a 630acre property that currently houses a community centre and multi-use facility. The campus serves as headquarters for
commute into Ottawa, Peckford said she will continue to “position the Kemptville Campus as an excellent opportunity.”
“There’s significant concern about the commute, which we think in a lot of respects has gotten worse. There’s concern about sufficient office space when they make their way to those downtown places,” said Peckford. “Our community hears significant concerns over the practicalities of going back into an office like that.”
With more time per day dedicated to commuting, Peckford said some residents are also concerned that their involvement within the community will decrease.
“People are having to rethink their commitments because they’re not confident with a very long commute at the end of the day that they’ll be able to keep it going,” she explained. “And, to be clear, we’re not talking about paid working time; we’re talking about off-working time, but the challenges around the commute make the time spent so much more than it used to be.”
The impact on the local economy is another part of the equation, she explained. Kemptville, one of the central towns in North Grenville, has seen a boom among hair salons, coffee shops, retail and professional services since residents have been working closer to home, she said.
Even businesses like private health clinics that offer services such as massage and physiotherapy have raised concerns, Peckford added. When working in the city, lunchtime appointments are often booked at nearby clinics, but since people have been working from home, they have been turning to local clinics.
“It remains evident that the businesses in the area are watching this situation very closely,” Peckford said.
many local organizations, including minor sports teams, the North Grenville Historical Society, Habitat for Humanity and local businesses.
However, Peckford has said the campus and its 17 main buildings and additional facilities are largely underutilized. There is existing office space on the property and substantial parking, as well as reliable internet connectivity and “underutilized buildings.”
Peckford said that while a proposal has been submitted to the Treasury Board, there has “not been an invitation for more substantive dialogue.” However, as public servants in her community gear up for the
Public servants who live outside of Kemptville are also interested in the space, she added, with workers in places like Barrhaven and Kanata saying that they’d prefer to commute out of the city rather than into it.
So for now, she said she’s continuing to advocate for the coworking space, and will “keep pushing.”
“We are very determined to keep at it and really highlight why we think it represents a really neat opportunity for public service employees and the Treasury Board.
“So, we’re not going to let it go, because we’re really convinced it’s an extremely suitable location for coworking.”
Kingston emerges as climate tech hub with UNDO’s carbon removal initiative
UK-based UNDO partners with Canadian Wollastonite to scale carbon capture through rock weathering, boosting local agriculture and driving sustainable innovation in Eastern Ontario.
Kingston, Ontario is establishing itself as a climate tech pioneer with the arrival of UNDO, a multinational corporation that is forging a path with its carbon removal solutions.
UNDO, an England-based firm, uses cutting-edge technology to remove carbon dioxide emissions from the environment through rock weathering.
UNDO is partnering with Kingston-based company Canadian Wollastonite (CW), which will provide the relatively rare mineral. A seam of wollastonite runs through the region, and after it is mined by Canadian Wollastonite, the mineral will then be spread upon farmland in Eastern Ontario through partnerships with local farmers.
The company is aiming to remove one million
tonnes of carbon from the environment by 2025. Spreading 50,000 tonnes of Wollastonite in Eastern Ontario “has the potential to capture a greater amount of CO2 than all projects that are operating in North America combined,” says CW’s president Bob Vasily.
The investment will also see UNDO forge a research relationship with local universities like Queen’s University.
“This is a win-win on so many levels,” says Donna Gillespie, CEO of Kingston Economic Development. “We have new foreign direct investment looking at the Kingston area in choosing to set up their first operational facility. We’ve got a local company forging a great new partnership on a very scalable initiative for erosion rock weathering, and both Canadian
Wollastonite and UNDO are looking at spreading in field trials the wollastonite mineral onto Eastern Ontario farmland to do record analysis validation of carbon renewal,” she says. In addition, there is another win for the farmers, as the wollastonite improves the soil pH and then improves the yield of the farmland. It also lowers costs by reducing the purchase of silica-based fertilizers.
The ultimate win will occur on the largest scale possible, which is, through UNDO’s leading technology, CW’s mined resources and Kingston’s infrastructure and surrounding farmlands, permanently removing carbon from the atmosphere and being part of the climate emergency solution.
“This is such an exciting, scalable venture, and it’s helping to put us on the map for climate tech and building on the City of Kingston’s values of being the most sustainable city in Canada.”
Rock weathering technology
Rock weathering technology takes the wollastonite mineral, crushes it finely and spreads it onto soil. This process hardens the earth, so that when rain falls, the soil is better able to capture carbon permanently, explains Vasily.
“What might take hundreds of years to naturally break down, we’re seeing in one and two and three years now. And it’s very attractive because the process of breaking these minerals down releases a lot of other benefits that are beneficial for growing crops for farmers,” he says.
Chris Zair, head of partnerships at UNDO, says his company appreciates the vote of confidence the Kingston region has put in the technology, as well as the potential of the landscape. The company has 67 FTEs overall, which include nine full-time employees based in the Kingston area, including an operations manager, field techs lab coordinator and lab techs.
The support provided by Kingston Economic Development was also a selling point. “The kind of the support that we had since day one has been incredible,” Zair says, adding that the support from the local business community has been amazing, as well as the relationships with educational institutions. “It was really clear that this is a really ripe area for investment for UNDO and setting up our business.”
The potential to replicate the model elsewhere is also on the radars of everyone involved, which will bring this exciting, cutting-edge technology to a global audience and tackle the current climate emergency. In a signal of confidence in UNDO’s technology, the company recently announced a second deal with Microsoft to remove 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide funding for crucial scientific research in the erosion rock weathering field. UNDO has previously established a relationship with Microsoft, which began in 2023 with a contract to remove 5,000 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere.
Dr. Alanna Kuhn Sauer, ND Natural Route Health Inc.
Morgan Lehtinen, Ph.D. RxN Hub
Erica McIlquham
Queen’s University & Livingston Co
Jenna Morley
Loopstra Nixon LLP
Michele Morningstar
Queen’s University
Colin Morris
Kingston Frameworks
Dr. Rebecca Palmer
Bayridge Animal Hospital
Erin Peterson
Distributive
Lisa Petrie Petrie Ford
Abdul Razak Jendi
Kingston Economic Development Corporation
Holly Ryan art by Holly Ryan
Zach Skolnick ABNA Investments Ltd.
Lindsay Stoness St. Lawrence College
Kelsey Tucker
Providence Care
Allison Turner, P.Eng PnuVax
Hill Werth Slow & Intentional
Jocko’s Motel to Somewhere Inn: An award-winning transformation
BY SARAH MACFARLANE news@obj.ca
How does a marketer at a Toronto telecom firm become the owner of an awardwinning rural inn in the Ottawa Valley?
Joel Greaves says it’s been a learning experience that has required a bit of an obsession with following his dreams.
Greaves was 34 and living in downtown Toronto with 15 years of experience in the telecom industry under his belt when he decided to take a leap of faith — a leap that took him straight to the boonies.
“My dream was always to become a hotelier and I became increasingly obsessed with the idea,” said Greaves. “The brand I wanted to build was about inspiring people to escape the city and spend time in nature.
“We had good friends in Calabogie and would go have these amazing weekends here and we’d always driven by this motel,” he continued. “Then it came up for sale during the pandemic, so that was it. I left my job in Toronto and moved to Calabogie.”
The property, built in 1971, housed Jocko’s Motel and was a “well-loved” establishment frequented by long-term renters including fisherman, hydro workers and hunters. The two-acre treed site on Calabogie Road across from the lake offers views of the mountains. But the decor of Jocko’s “felt very tired” and Greaves said he wanted to give it a new life.
“It was super well-maintained and we loved the property, but it had these old drop ceilings, brown bedspreads, pleated lampshades that were from the 1980s …,” said Greaves. “Our vision was to take it up a notch.”
Together with his wife, Devon Vaillancourt, Greaves purchased the property in March 2021 and threw himself into “reinventing” the motel. The goal was to build accommodation that centred around nature and relaxation, he said.
Vaillancourt, as president of Zebrano Concierge, a Toronto-based property management company, brought plenty of skills to the project. The couple combined their education and experience in business and marketing, but Greaves admits they both became “students in hospitality.”
“Leading up to (opening), we stayed at a lot of boutique hotels and I always say that the first day I don’t rest; I’m noticing everything,” laughed Greaves. “Like, ‘That’s interesting what they did on that trim work, I wonder if they did it affordably,’ and that sort of thing.
“We did a lot of courses, tried to learn from anyone who would speak to us, learnt on the fly, and made a lot of mistakes.”
The cost to buy and renovate the property was about $1.6 million. The result is Somewhere Inn of Calabogie, an 11-room boutique hotel that was named Business of the Year by the Ottawa Valley Tourism Association.
Greaves credits much of the recognition to the inn’s nature-centred philosophy.
“(Vaillancourt) and I both grew up going to cottages, visiting friends on the lake, that kind of thing. We bought a cottage for ourselves before we even bought a home in Toronto and used it as an Airbnb rental,” he explained. “Our philosophy living in Toronto working demanding jobs was to work hard and then rest and relax and get into nature on weekends.
“We really believe in the power of nature to restore and reset and we recognized that everyone has that fundamental need to slow down,” Greaves continued. “That’s the foundation of the business.”
The inn, with its Scandinavian-cabin design, prioritizes rest with high-quality linens, soaker tubs and big windows. The rooms don’t have TVs — instead, Greaves said, they’re oriented around the outdoors.
There are community fire pits, loungers and hammocks, as well as complimentary yoga and outdoor movie nights for guests and the community. Guests can also check out the on-site wine bar, which often hosts tastings with local organic wine.
“It’s all about being outside and having fun experiences with others and with those you’re travelling with,” Greaves said. “We’re creating a sense of outdoor community.”
In the summer, the rooms are booked at about $300 per night and are usually soldout. In the off-season, prices decrease, but weekends tend to be booked full year-round.
“When we launched in August 2021 it was COVID and there were a lot of people wanting to escape the city, so that helped us build momentum in the beginning,” Greaves explained. “It was very encouraging from the beginning, but things have definitely evolved.”
The inn employs five staff. Its philosophy around mental health and a living wage has helped attract employees, Greaves said.
“Because it’s small, they’re unique roles; everyone is kind of an innkeeper. They’re learning about wine and taking care of guests and then, on Sundays, it’s all hands on deck flipping rooms,” he laughed. “It’s fun that way and we’ve been fortunate to have really great
staff that have embraced what we stand for.”
As for the award, Greaves said he has the inn’s team to thank.
“I tell my staff all the time, (Vaillancourt) and I can create experiences, design the space and programming, but if you look at most of our reviews, you’ll notice every five-star review talks about our staff,” he explained. “At the end of the day, we can design a concept, but they’re the ones that are delivering. We want the staff to own it and feel proud of it, because they’re the ones who made it happen.”
Ultimately, Greaves said he plans to include other entrepreneurs.
“There are some really really amazing entrepreneurs that are part of the Ottawa Valley and we’ve always said we’re only as strong as those around us because it turns into a full experience for our guests. We’re falling flat if there aren’t those amazing breweries and tours and trails and gift shops.”
Greaves and Vaillancourt welcomed a daughter, Maeve, last year, and recently opened a second inn in Collingwood — “the Calabogie of the GTA,” as Greaves calls it.
The new inn has 10 rooms in a refurbished 1800s century home and taps into a similar market as Calabogie.
But plans for expansion don’t stop there.
“There is so much potential in Ontario tourism. We have these amazing assets, so if I think about my peers in Toronto who consider New York for the weekend … I want to convince them,” he explained. “Just take a road trip through Ontario and spend two nights at a boutique hotel in Calabogie.
“There’s a demand for that and there are other markets across Ontario where we can continue to do that.”
Joel Greaves and Devon Vaillancourt purchased Jocko’s Motel in 2021. PHOTO BY NIAMH BARRY.
Where there’s a Will, there’s a way to protect your business
The recently
expanded
team at Veritasa Law wants to see more business owners protecting themselves and their families through incorporation and Wills.
Kingston based Veritasa Law Office Professional Corporation has merged with Brockville based Culic Law and both continue to operate under the Veritasa Law name. Culic Law is the present day continuation of a law practice originally started in 1803, making it one of the oldest continuously in existence law firms in Canada. Veritasa Law is a Law Society approved Professional Corporation created by Clinton Culic for the purpose of expanding his law practice into Kingston initially, with more locations coming. The combined team now serves an area from Coburg to Cornwall with practical solutions for business law issues, including estate planning - whether for expansion or transition. Brennan acknowledges retirement or other business transitions can be difficult and highly personal. She says the team’s open and forthright communication process is central to their approach, creating harmony and mitigating stress during difficult transitions. She sees their role as problem solvers, helping businesses to manage challenges like their tax liabilities and
ensure they can take their best next steps.
Beyond transition planning, Veritasa also helps strengthen businesses by ensuring they appropriately mitigate their risk. Clint Culic, Senior Lawyer with Veritasa, noted many business owners don’t incorporate, leaving the owner, their family, and their assets at risk.
“Many businesses are operating inefficiently under limited liability partnerships or as family businesses,” said Culic. “We work with a lot of businesses seeking to incorporate to protect their family and their assets, and it’s important to know it’s never too late to incorporate.”
Another common myth the Veritasa team encounters is that most business owners in Ontario don’t know their business can have its own Will, known as a corporate or secondary Will. Establishing such a Will saves the inheritors of a business time and money while protecting the privacy of those involved.
“Your business continuity plan should be in place from day one,” noted Brennan. “We recently encountered a situation where a spouse
who managed all of the money passed away suddenly at a young age leaving a commonlaw spouse with no access to the accounts and no power of attorney. These situations create unnecessary taxes and stress, but the good news is they are avoidable.”
The merger brings Culic’s more than 40 years of legal experience into a dynamic team environment focused on truth – veritas is Latin for truth – and service to their clients. The Veritasa team offers a range of business, estate, and real estate legal services and, through a referral partner specializing in family-owned businesses, can also assist with tax planning for businesses.
More of Culic’s collective decades of wisdom and experience will be shared through the launch of a biweekly call-in show on YourTV Kingston.
Tech-savvy young people and new Canadians could be key to legacy of the family farm AGRICULTURE
BY SARAH MACFARLANE news@obj.ca
As a generation of farmers looks toward retirement, officials in Eastern Ontario are working together to support farmers and help them build succession plans.
Eastern Ontario is home to an estimated 13,861 agri-food operations, according to data from the province, more than 5,000 of which are considered primary agriculture and 2,541 crop production. The industry and its diverse operations, from crop production to dairy and meat, have sustained Eastern Ontario for centuries.
Now, that industry is evolving faster than ever and some local experts are looking to guide it into the future.
Tracey Snow is the first to hold the role of manager of rural economic and community development in the City of Kingston. She said she’s seen the need for change for “years and years and years.”
“We have such a varied range of farms with 138 farms just within the City of Kingston,” she explained. “Many are anywhere from large dairy farms to nursery farms to greenhouses, so there’s also a massive range of farmers who are very diverse in terms of both what they offer and what they need.”
The challenges facing these farmers are plentiful — “farming has never been an easy livelihood,” Snow acknowledged — between economic pressures, a changing climate and ongoing labour shortages. But top of mind for Snow and other agricultural resources is the topic of succession.
“The average age of a local farmer is 61 and 85 per cent do not have a succession plan,” said Snow. “It’s not because they don’t want to and it’s not because of a lack of skills or knowledge. They just don’t have options.
“Kids are doing other things, many also have full-time jobs in addition to farming and there isn’t a lot of interest in taking over the family farm anymore,” she continued.
“It’s becoming a challenge to help support farmers in finding employees, neighbours or even new Canadians who might then want to take over.”
Last December, RBC announced its new RBC Agriculture Team, headed by commercial vice-president and longtime broker Andrew Staniforth, to support the industry throughout Eastern Ontario.
Staniforth, who has worked with farmers in Ontario for more than 25 years, said succession planning is a top priority.
“Across Canada, only one out of every 12 farms has a succession plan in place,” Staniforth told EOBJ in May, after nearly six months in his new role. “When you look at farm succession planning, you have to double down, because the assets and legacy and land are all family-oriented.
“A succession decision made today will have an impact on the next several generations.”
Farming, for all of its practical demands, is often an emotional and personal livelihood, Staniforth explained. Many farm operations have been passed down through generations and planning for a future that might not involve family members can be “bittersweet.”
“It used to be a constant that son and daughter would take over. But not anymore,” said Staniforth. “We’re working with a farm right now with two brothers on a sixgeneration farm.
“Their biggest concern is that there are multiple siblings who don’t know what they want to do and, after six generations of farming, they don’t want to be the ones that don’t pass it on,” he explained. “There’s such an emotional tie-in, which is so unique for us as agriculture bankers to be able to see that, sit down with our clients and understand their feelings about it.”
But along with a changing landscape for agriculture, Snow and Staniforth said the options for succession are changing, too.
Agricultural education and training isn’t what it used to be and interest from high school students has dwindled in recent decades. This has resulted in fewer young workers who are trained and ready to take on a farm operation.
“In the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, local communities had agricultural schools and now we don’t have that resource,” said Staniforth. “A few colleges are trying to bring it back, which is exciting. But ultimately, the younger generation has more avenues to look towards.”
To that end, Snow and her team in Kingston have been working directly with high school boards and offering training programs to encourage more young people to consider agriculture.
“Many (students) aren’t necessarily going straight to post-secondary institutions, so we’re letting them know there are options for a successful, solid future in agriculture,” said Snow. “And in many situations, our farmers in Eastern Ontario would even like to be involved in training a new person with the baseline of skills.”
But beyond young people and family members, there is another group of people that Snow said is an untapped gold mine of opportunity: new Canadians.
Her team has been working to support newcomers to Canada who have farming experience and are interested in continuing in the field — literally.
A pilot program run by the City of Kingston for the past two years brought interested individuals, including many new Canadians, into an urban community farm. With provincial funding, the program taught training and soft skills and introduced participants to local farms. The program was “very successful” with more than 30 participants each year, many of whom have
now found placements in local farms.
Now, Snow said she’s looking to “build it up” into a more extensive training program. Using city-owned land, she’s hoping to build a permanent farm to offer training in everything from maintenance and equipment operations to artificial intelligence, crop production, employee support and drone piloting to cover all the bases, both old and new, involved in farming.
She hopes that local farms will take an active role in the training and that many might also find a potential successor in the process, she added.
“It’s very personal. They want to really know and trust the person taking over,” she explained. “So I’m hoping they’ll trust me and be hands-on.
“It takes time to build relationships with farmers,” she laughed. “They’re passionate about what they do … and they’re tight-knit with their families and communities.”
Staniforth agrees that farmers should look to new options for succession.
“We’re seeing increases in the value of land, some of these operations are between $20 and $25 million, and a transition from mom and dad did not have that same value,” Staniforth explained. “That
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operation needs to look a bit different.
“The majority of farms are still familyowned and about 75 per cent are either sole proprietors or partnerships,” he said. “The goal for the majority of farms is to keep the legacy in the family. When that’s not an option, they look outside the door.”
As younger generations begin to take over, whether from family members or as part of an “outside-the-door” succession plan, Staniforth said they are bringing an understanding of technology that is significantly increasing productivity.
“We’re having a lot of discussions about climate and working to see how farms can become more sustainable. But the younger generation is very involved already,” he explained. “They have so much more comfort with technology.”
Some new farmers are using GPS in tractors to “understand their land and technology,” while others are using robotic milkers.
“Sometimes they’re just slight changes and it’s nothing against mom and dad, because when they started their operation, there was a way it was done,” Staniforth explained. “But technology has come up so much, especially in agriculture, and it’s amazing to see them implement it.”
ecodev@russell.ca
Vertical farming is also gaining momentum in the region, said Snow, especially in urban settings. But for rural farms, it’s greenhouses that are adopting the new method, along with practices like local food awareness and regenerative farming.
Outside of the one-on-one conversations, which Staniforth said usually occur around farmhouse kitchen tables, both he and Snow say they are aiming to increase awareness and appreciation for agriculture.
In particular, Snow is working to introduce local food in the community, encouraging restaurants to sell local products and cultivating the “farm to production to table” connection.
“Not every farmer has to do the same thing. Not at all. There are so many right ways to make food,” she said. “It’s about food supply, local food awareness, food connections, integration into communities …
“It doesn’t matter if you’re regenerative farming, livestock, greenhouse, crops. Farmers were the first businessmen. You’re making food for yourself, for your community, making a living and running a business,” she continued. “And we have to protect that.”
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Embrun, Russell, Limoges et Marionville sont des communautés attrayantes pour vivre, travailler et démarrer une entreprise.
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Storytelling, romance and generational value: La Maison d’Or celebrates two anniversaries
BY SARAH MACFARLANE news@obj.ca
T
he story of La Maison d’Or Jewellers is one of family and immigration, poverty and wealth, and lots and lots of diamonds. It’s a story that company president Brent Harden loves to tell and why he says he’s in the business of telling love stories through diamonds, gemstones, platinum and gold.
Soon after he sat down with me to tell his story, in recognition of the company’s 75th anniversary in business and 45th anniversary operating in Ottawa, he was distracted. It’s not his fault; he can’t resist jewelry.
He noticed my engagement ring — which I had only received a week earlier — and immediately began telling me about the stone, the quality, the setting. All features that I can appreciate, but was unaware of.
“May I see it?” he asked. He turned it in the light, quickly dissecting things like clarity and colour.
“That’s a beautiful stone. Take it off for a second. We’ll polish it for you. Your other rings, too. Yes, that one’s sterling. No problem.”
Before I knew what had happened, my fingers were bare and he’d handed my jewelry — including my brand-new engagement ring — to a colleague. I’ll admit
it was strange to watch someone disappear with my new ring.
But while Harden apologized for interrupting the interview, the quick exchange illustrated to me what anchors the Harden family story: a dedication to customer service and an unwavering love of diamonds.
The Harden family settled in Hawkesbury, Ont. in 1944 and embarked on a long journey that would eventually lead their family to success, security and multigenerational wealth.
Harden’s mother, Julie, was the daughter of Lebanese immigrants who originally arrived in Saskatchewan, where
they were offered 50 acres of land to settle and little else.
“They had no tools. No knowledge to care for that land. So they came to Hawkesbury, where my grandfather would go around to the families in the area and exchange clothing for food and that’s how they survived,” explained Harden. “They were extremely poor. But they valued everything.”
Harden’s father, Bill Sr.,descended from British immigrants. His mother began the family’s entrepreneurial journey with a diner. The Astoria Grill opened on the Main Street of Hawkesbury and was the first step in the family legacy.
La Maison D’or at Place d’Orléans has become a pillar of the shopping centre. PHOTOS BY SARAH MACFARLANE
Now, in the glittering La Maison d’Or store in Place d’Orléans, a photo of the Harden family and the Astoria Grill hangs above a coffee bar, serving as a reminder that the family’s roots run deep.
The jewelry store specializes in diamonds and engagement rings — with the slogan “Where Ottawa gets engaged” — and produces about 400 custom-made items each year.
The store was founded in 1949 in Hawkesbury and expanded to a total of six stores after sons Bill and Brent became partners in 1975 — Lachute, Que. (opened in 1976), Orléans (1979), Harden’s Jewelers in Kanata (1979) and Harden’s in Orléans (1985).
The Place d’Orléans store opened when the mall had only 15 stores, said Harden, and some days passed without a single customer. But the family “stuck at it” and soon the store became a pillar of the shopping centre. In 1989, it moved to a new location within the mall and opened a new store.
For 25 years, La Maison d’Or operated six stores, until Harden decided to close all but the Place d’Orléans location in 1997.
“They were all great stores, but I wanted to have one high-quality one rather than divide my attention,” he said.
Investing in quality is a pillar of the business. Harden himself is a gemologist and feels strongly about the natural-versussynthetic diamond debate. If you ask him, it isn’t a debate at all.
“We’re in the business of storytelling, of romance and generational value,” Harden explained. “The issue with synthetic diamonds is that, over time, they’re becoming fashion jewelry … It just doesn’t hold its value.”
At that point, Harden placed a fivecarat natural yellow diamond ring on the countertop in front of me. It isn’t an exaggeration to say the stone was dazzling.
“It’s about rarity. It’s about beauty, for yourself and for your family. Diamonds are extremely personal,” he explained. “You look at it and it wasn’t built in a lab across the world where people are barely paid. It grew over so many years, naturally, under the earth.”
Over the years, Harden has visited some of the world’s largest diamond hubs, including the cutting centres in Antwerp, Tel Aviv and Mumbai. To fulfill his clients’ visions, he sources diamonds and gems from around the world, searching for the perfect stone for each design.
“We’re telling stories that can go on and
We came from nothing and we’ve built this business, built a community and built family wealth that we can pass down to our children and grandchildren.
– Brent Harden
on, to new generations, from the engagement ring to wedding bands to anniversary gifts to being passed down,” he explained.
The Harden family story is also a Canadian success story, he says, from immigrants who built a business in Canada to the diamonds the family now chooses to use.
In March 2024, Harden flew to the Ekati diamond mine in Yellowknife, N.W.T. Together with two other diamond mines in the territories, the Ekati mine has positioned Canada as the third-largest diamond producer in the world.
The diamonds were formed somewhere between 900 million and 3.2 billion years ago, created between 150 and 200 kilometres below the Earth’s surface and Harden was one of only 25 jewellers worldwide who toured both the Ekati diamond mine and its sorting facility.
To him, the rarity and beauty of the diamonds, as well as the revenue that the industry brings into the local communities, is why natural Canadian diamonds are the gold standard.
“I got to speak with business leaders in Yellowknife whose companies focus on developing education, opportunity and wealth for the Indigenous people in this area,” said Harden. “It’s amazing to see how they take the benefits of the diamond mines and create even more from it.”
Almost 50 per cent of the employees of the Diavik Mine, which opened in 1998, are Indigenous. Since the mine opened in 1998, the mines have realized $26 billion in revenue. Of that, $18 billion went towards N.W.T and $8 billion went toward bolstering Indigenous-owned businesses.
“People think synthetic diamonds are more ethical. They’re not. Look at what this industry is doing for the local economy, creating an income and supporting Indigenous communities outside of just
government reliance and mitigating environmental impacts,” said Harden. “There’s no comparison.”
The word “legacy” might as well be written across the storefront — it’s this word that drives and motivates La Maison d’Or and it’s what Harden says will continue to set the business apart.
“I had this father come in about 25 years ago. Mr. Adams. Big smile, beautiful personality. He said he wanted to buy a ring for his wife for their anniversary,” recalled Harden. “I sold him a ring. He had four daughters, and I sold all four girls their rings.
“They got married, they had children, and I just sold Mr. Adams’ grandson an engagement ring.”
In honour of the 75/45 anniversary, La Maison d’Or has been celebrating with family, friends and clients, filling the store with generations of loyal customers as they seek to tell their story.
“We came from nothing and we’ve built this business, built a community and built family wealth that we can pass down to our children and grandchildren,” explained Harden.
My rings reappeared, sparkling, just in time for Harden to walk through the store with me. He showed me his favourite items,
designed by his own hands, and gave me an inside look into the inner workings of the store, including his beloved, almost-family goldsmith, his tight-knit team, and the motivational letters from family members in his office.
Photos of the Harden family decorate the store, which was renovated in 2015 and designed by Harden’s daughter, Jessica. Framed posters of Ottawa couples wearing engagement rings and wedding bands designed by La Maison d’Or adorn the walls and the diamonds and gems are nearly blinding under the shining lights.
“We’re in the business of telling stories — love stories — for others. And our own story is an entrepreneurial story, an immigration story, a Canadian success story and now a story of family and of women in business,” explained Harden.
His daughter is positioned to run the company, along with team manager Rita Elias, for years to come and the family has invested in local charities, organizations and commercial real estate, all in the pursuit of building and securing a future.
“It means everything. Look at what my mom and my dad built in a little store in Hawkesbury,” said Harden. “And look what we have now.”
Adapting to workforce changes: How Ontario East is driving recruitment success in a new era
Ontario East Economic Development addresses workforce challenges with innovative solutions and collaborative efforts
The last decade has ushered in seismic change for the workforce in Eastern Ontario, and around the world. As a result, employers are discovering that traditional methods of workforce recruitment are no longer effective.
But while the changing nature of the workforce presents challenges, it also brings opportunities, says Alysha Dominico, project coordinator for Ontario East Workforce Partners Support Project (OE-WPSP).
“The way that we’ve always done things doesn’t necessarily work anymore, so we are looking to find a solution for that,” Dominico says. “Employers are noticing it is getting harder to hire and that work is changing, ” she adds. This means a pivot is necessary,, and that’s where Ontario East Economic Development comes in.
Dominico says the shifts include a turn to remote work as a result of the pandemic. Demographic changes,
including age and immigration, have provided a potential group of new employees, but of course it is necessary to build in accommodations to help newcomers and younger workers adjust. Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are ongoing and transit, accommodation and childcare needs must be addressed, Dominico says.
“We’re seeing a big change in the workforce and what people want out of work, with the onset of the millennials. We’re following the trends and helping everybody survive them,” she says, adding that baby boomer exits and the fact that new skills are needed are requiring adjustments
To address these changes and the demands of employers and the workforce, Ontario East has established a working group that relies heavily on collaboration and communication. Stakeholders, which include those who have an audience with employers, meet to problem solve. The organization has also created a rich array of resources, including a newsletter and
tools on its web site that includes a map of available properties, a map of available jobs, a list of key sectors and a regional profile. “The success comes in what people share,” Dominico adds.
For example, one employer was confounded by all the hoops through which she had to jump to navigate a government website in order to address some immigration issues during a hiring effort. Thanks to Ontario East’s online resources, she was able to find information immediately. Another example includes a unique collaboration between a Brockville high school that allowed high school students to help build affordable housing for an employer.
Now with 150 members, Ontario East was established more than 35 years ago as a non-profit regional marketing agency with a mandate to develop, implement and administer programs to attract new investment and jobs to its diverse group of communities. With a focus on investment attraction, Ontario East also offers
professional development opportunities and delivers programs to enhance the region’s competitiveness.
“We help to connect people with businesses and jobs, as well as new investment to eastern Ontario” says executive director Jay Amer. Part of meeting that mandate includes addressing issues that currently affect employers, including immigration, transit, education, childcare and diversity, education and inclusivity. The organization’s clientele is inclusive of 13 counties and ten separated cities in Ontario, from Northumberland, Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton east to Renfrew and
Prescott-Russell at the Quebec border and all the communities in between. Some of the main industries within Ontario East include advanced manufacturing, logistics and transportation and food and beverage.
And while these industries are thriving, they are certainly being impacted by ruptures in the workforce. “We know things have to change. We know it’s been difficult for employers. By sharing all of our collective ideas and looking at what has worked in one region and then how to duplicate it to another region, that’s mission critical right now. We can help them with communication of knowledge,”
says Dominico. OE-WPSP is made possible through funding from the province’s Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s Skills Development Fund.
Stonefields Estate will make your next corporate event unforgettable
Enjoy being treated like royalty at a countryside setting, steeped in timeless elegance
Stonefields Estate feels like the kind of place where time stands still.
It may be the idyllic countryside location or the historic farm buildings dotting the property that give it an air of timelessness.
Owners Steve Malenfant and Stephanie Brown-Malenfant have added their own special touches to this historic property in Beckwith.
“We want to make sure every guest feels the magic of Stonefields the moment they arrive,” explains Steve. The couple is so dedicated to their passion for hosting events that they left successful careers nearly 15 years ago to launch their business.
Elegant hosting from the heart
Stephanie and Steve first started hosting weddings in a simple white tent. A decade ago, they searched the countryside for the perfect barn to form the centrepiece at Stonefields. They found one on a 140-year-old neighbouring farm, meticulously taking it apart piece by piece and building what is now known as the Loft, an elegant, whitewashed barn adorned with crystal chandeliers.
The French country-inspired Loft offers a view from every window to a sweeping countryside, and it has a sheltered verandah and outdoor bar for mixing and mingling. More recently, they added a stunning white Ceremony House, enhancing the beauty of Stonefields and offering space for elegant events and wedding ceremonies.
Together, they’ve perfected the art of hosting upscale, beautiful events and treating guests like royalty on their wedding day. Stephanie takes the art of entertaining to a whole new level, carefully curating events to fit each
client’s vision, while Steve brings his East Coast heritage and a military man’s meticulous attention to detail.
“At Stonefields, we take great pride in offering exceptional white glove service,” says Stephanie. “It’s the cornerstone of everything we do—from event planning to execution. Our kitchen, led by Executive Chef Angela Hodgson, prepares exquisite hors d’oeuvres, sumptuous meals and heavenly desserts.”
Customized corporate events, large and small Stonefields has recently expanded the business. The venue is now hosting corporate events, holiday parties, private functions and monthly four-course public dinner events.
“This is a natural extension for us,” says Steve. “We love what we do. People love what we do. Now, we can share the Stonefields experience with a wider audience.”
A mere thirty minutes from Ottawa, Stonefields is an ideal location for corporate events, offering a unique and exquisite setting.
With so many beautiful spaces to choose from, the possibilities are endless. The Loft and Ceremony House each holds 220 guests for large-scale corporate events. Next door is the property’s stone farmhouse, built in 1857. This beautifully renovated 4,000-square-foot country home offers generous main-level rooms for meetings and gatherings, along with overnight accommodations for eight guests, complete with a large French country kitchen.
Next door, the Badchild Pub offers both a comfy haven and an executive green room or breakout space for events. There are stunning outdoor spaces for games,
team building and group events, too.
“No matter what your vision is for your corporate event, we would love to make it happen,” says Stephanie. “Our team works closely with you to customize your experience, plan your menus and coordinate your event. We ensure everything is seamless and offer warm, exceptional high-end hospitality.”
Why not experience Stonefields for yourself? Join one of the upcoming Stonefields Dinner Events open to the public, where you’ll enjoy a deliciously curated four-course dinner with family or friends. Each dinner experience is unique with a themed menu prepared by Chef Angela and her team.
Guests mingle over cocktails on the outdoor verandah, explore the estate’s grounds and buildings, and then enjoy dinner, complete with live music.
“Our guests love the whole experience, from our exquisite cuisine to our enchanting spaces,” explains Stephanie.
Book your Stonefields Estate experience today:
• Corporate Events
• Corporate Holiday Parties
• Private Events and Petite Weddings
• Monthly Stonefields Dinner Events
www.stonefieldsevents.ca/
“Our culinary team works tirelessly to create innovative dishes that reflect each month’s theme, using the finest local and seasonal ingredients.”
“We love to see events come together,” says Steve. “It wows everyone every time.”
KINGSTON
Queen’s University Homecoming a boon to local economy
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
The annual Homecoming weekend at Queen’s University has its fans and its detractors, but many in Kingston agree that it’s good business.
“Hotels sell out months in advance and some alumni groups even book a year in advance,” said Krista LeClair, executive director of Kingston Accommodation Partners (KAP). “We’re always excited to work with Queen’s on Homecoming, especially since that time of year is often when leisure travel dips.”
“Larger groups begin booking tables months out, and we’re fully booked a month in advance,” added Tim Pater, owner of Black Dog Hospitality Group, which includes four downtown restaurants. “We staff up and try to keep our patios open and heated for extra space.”
KAP and organizations such as Tourism Kingston see Homecoming as an opportunity to advertise what the city has to offer and inspire future visits by alumni. They try to connect with alumni who may be event planners, film directors and site selectors for major companies.
Outside of the formal Homecoming activities, where businesses such as Allan Graphics and Purtell Cartage work with the university to execute the event, alumni holding reunion meetups with former classmates book blocks of rooms at hotels and hold their own events at local restaurants.
Queen’s Homecoming 2024 will be held Oct. 18-21. This year’s agenda includes alumni-led events at restaurants including The Grizzly Grill, AquaTerra and The University Club at Queen’s (a separate organization from the university), as well as The Frontenac Club.
“Generally, the demand is for twonight stays at least at our hotel,” said Sean Billing, general manager of The Frontenac Club. “In addition to driving the hotel rooms, that obviously drives a tremendous amount of business in restaurants, both our restaurant as well as other restaurants. If you want to eat at four or at 11, you probably could, but otherwise I think it would be a tough time to get a table. There’s also demand for events like cocktail receptions or group lunches, so Homecoming really does touch on all aspects of our business.”
Billing said he already has Homecoming bookings at The Frontenac Club for 2025 and 2026, with hold requests for 2027.
At other hotels across the city, it’s a similar story. Reports from Smith Travel Research for Kingston indicate close to 90 per cent of rooms were occupied for the Friday and Saturday of Homecoming in 2023 and 2019, the last two in-person Homecoming events, despite the rates on those days being higher on average by 30 per cent than typical Fridays and Saturdays in October.
Local vendors and food trucks will participate in a Fall Harvest Gathering on the Saturday of Homecoming weekend. The Queen’s Gaels men’s football home game is usually another key part of the agenda, attracting crowds of about 8,000 people to Richardson Stadium.
And what awaits alumni when they return to their hotel? Queen’s branding, themed chocolate, gift bags, discounts, and invitations to local events and concerts, all enticing alumni to shop local and to return.
Even servers and wait staff get scarves, hats or other Queen’s merch — the town gets “painted in Queen’s colours,” Pater said.
Passport inquiries
Milestone Certificates
MARCH 30
Causeway damaged during construction and closed
Temporary bridge at LaSalle Causeway causes headaches for marine operators
BY PHIL GAUDREAU news@obj.ca
With a temporary bridge at the LaSalle Causeway only able to let larger vessels through from the harbour into the St. Lawrence River sporadically, marine operators in Kingston are expecting to incur additional losses during the time the temporary structure is in place.
Lawrence. “You can’t describe a waterway as navigable by unblocking it once a month.”
MAY 15
Causeway partially reopened to pedestrians and cyclists
MAY 28
Announcement of demolition
JUNE 21
Demolition completed
SEPT. 19
Temporary bridge installation begins
OCT. 14
Bridge installation expected to conclude
OCT. 15
First bridge lift of 2024
NOV. 15
Second and final bridge lift for 2024
It’s estimated that the cost to remove and reinstall the temporary bridge could be as high as $500,000 each time. A PSPC spokesperson said the rental of the temporary modular bridge was valued at $3.9 million, “including the two timelimited marine access windows for marine navigation traffic before the end of the 2024 navigation season.”
The lift bridge that originally formed part of the causeway was damaged during construction in March 2024 and closed for several months for repair. In May, the federal government, which operates the bridge, decided to demolish the structure. In September, a temporary bridge was put in place.
The temporary bridge will be removed and reinstalled two times this fall, allowing access by larger boats. During a normal boating season, which runs between April and November, the federally-owned bridge would lift as many as eight times a day at preset times and based on demand.
A Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) spokesperson said consultations are underway to determine the frequency and schedule of marine access periods for the 2025 navigation season and beyond. Previous communication from PSPC to local boat operators suggested the schedule would be available at the end of 2024.
“If you read the Canadian Navigable Waters Act, you see these waterways carry commerce and culture and are at the heart of who we are,” said Eric Ferguson, general manager of Kingston Destination Group (KDG), which operates cruises on the St.
Tour boat operators such as KDG suffered financial losses as a result of the bridge closure in the spring when they lost access to boats that were stuck in the harbour and had to cancel cruises, scuttle contracts and lay off staff.
They’re now anticipating further lost revenues over the three years that the temporary bridge is expected to be in place, though the uncertain lift schedule makes planning difficult.
The restricted access also represents a safety issue, as larger vessels will not be able to regularly access the facilities at the Davis Dry Dock. The next closest dry docks are in Hamilton and Quebec City.
“Workboats, ferry boats, boats from New York state, Coast Guard ships — they’re coming to Kingston to the Davis Dry Dock,” said Ferguson. “That represents economic activity. You can’t shut off access to the world like that.”
Next door to the dry dock at MetalCraft Marine, Bob Clark, contracts manager, said the company is planning its manufacturing contracts for larger boats over the next few years to ensure those boats are ready to leave harbour on the days when the temporary bridge is lifted.
MAY 15
First anticipated bridge lift of 2025
Beyond marine-based operators, downtown Kingston businesses lost out on foot traffic from local customers who skipped shopping due to longer commute times and revenue from tourists who cancelled travel plans. A May estimate by Kingston Accommodation Partners (KAP) suggested the damage to the Kingston tourism sector related to the bridge closure was $15 million.
In June, Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen called for compensation for affected businesses. He has since reversed course and is instead encouraging affected businesses to contact their insurance providers.
Representatives from PSPC have told the boat lines that the federal government has no mechanism for offering compensation.
Daniel Beals, marketing manager with St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, said a full accounting of costs is being tallied and noted that several affected companies, including his employer and KDG, plan to take the federal government to court over the issue.
Business’s helping hand in Eastern Ontario
Launch Lab’s Amplify program offers companies such as Canadian Wollastonite seasoned entrepreneurs who can help with everything from honing marketing to positioning the company for growth and investment.
Wollastonite sounds like a wonder product. The greyish white mineral that collects in metamorphosed limestone has the unique property that it absorbs CO2 when you put it onto agricultural land. It’s also used in commercial and industrial products for manufacturing cement and steel, for example. And its applications extend even further — to agriculture, forestry, horticulture.
With so much potential, Canadian Wollastonite — a company that has a wollastonite mining operation north of Kingston in Seeley’s Bay — wants to make sure it’s doing things right. It’s the only such mine in Canada; there are just two others in North America and only a handful around the world. And the carbon sequestration application is a major one given the global effort to curb climate change. As such, Canadian Wollastonite’s president Bob Vasily reached out to Kingston’s Launch Lab to learn from its entrepreneurs-in-residence through its Amplify program, which is committing two advisers to the Canadian Wollastonite file.
“We are working with the company to help it hone its value proposition to attract investment and help it scale,” says Scott Runté, CEO of Launch Lab.
Currently, Canadian Wollastonite is partnering with a U.K.-based company called Undo Carbon and together they’re running a major carbon removal demonstration project in Eastern Ontario.
“With tree planting, the carbon is sequestered for the life span of the tree, and then its re-released, but enhanced rock weathering permanently sequesters carbon for tens of thousands of years. And it allows farmers to participate in the solution of carbon removal.”
In addition, farmers get numerous agronomical benefits from wollastonite — they can avoid using chemicals or carbonemitting lime to control the ph of their soil. Undo Carbon is able to accurately measure the carbon captured, which translates into carbon credits, which help offset the cost of the application of wollastonite.
“So it gives us the opportunity to provide and spread wollastonite on farm fields at no cost to the farmers,” Vasily says. “They get all of the benefits associated with it, and it’s being paid for by carbon credits.”
Another business line for Canadian Wollastonite is selling the product to industrial companies that are trying to lower their carbon footprint.
“We’re selling it as a non-CO2-emitting source of calcium, magnesium and silicone,
which is replacing the very high CO2producing carbonate minerals currently being used,” Vasily says. “That’s a growing business line for us, too.”
How Launch Lab is helping
“At the highest level, Launch Lab is providing a lot of coaching and input as we try to formulate our strategic objectives or strategic operating plans — short, medium, long term,” Vasily says. “They also facilitate peer-to-peer communications with other business owners who have a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw from. The consulting services they provide are helpful for small businesses that are caught up in the day to day and just don’t devote time.”
The goal for Launch Lab is always the same, Runté says. “We want to be a catalyst for innovation and a voice for innovation for Eastern Ontario.”
In the case of Canadian Wollastonite, Runté and his colleagues have been helping Vasily understand the funding opportunities that are available to small businesses in Ontario and they’ve been providing “quite specific coaching” on how to attract investment by working on the company’s value proposition and netting
out the return on investment — two crucial components in the maturity of a business.
“They’ve also been helping us with regular banking relationships and how to better optimize them,” Vasily says. “We are also in joint venture discussions with an international mining partner for another division of the company, where we have developed some proven beneficiation technology. Launch Lab advisers are helping us think that through. They ask tough questions and help us understand the benefits and the downfalls, and how a joint venture should be structured.”
Canadian Wollastonite was founded in 2003, but spent many years securing environmental permits and shipped its first wollastonite in 2013. It then secured approvals for its entire resource in 2019 and started larger scale operations in 2020.
Runté says the fundamentals for Canadian Wollastonite are “extremely strong,” and given that it’s really just opened this mine recently to the market opportunities it knows about, it’s the right time to offer help in understanding different support programs and potential investment opportunities to help accelerate and contribute to the work Vasily and his early investors have already made.
“We really want to just try to catalyze or accelerate a market path that’s already well under way,” Runté says. “This is an example of a client that is really starting to accelerate, and we’re just trying to see if there’s some specific advisory support that we can offer. As we’re doing that, we get to know Bob a little bit better, and he gets to know us, and we then try to understand whether or not there’s an ongoing level of support we can provide.”
Helping scientists succeed in business
Launch Lab’s Amplify program helps a Queen’s University spinoff company with business development and succession planning.
When Dr. Steve Hunt was teaching biology at Queen’s University, he was frustrated by the fact that he’d often have to demonstrate experiments to first-year biology students using a single very expensive research device or by providing students with super-simple technology from the 1800s “that would turn them off biology for life.” And that was the genesis of Qubit Systems — (Queen’s University Biological Instrumentation and Technology)— which solved the laboratory dilemma by designing and building inexpensive biological instrumentation for research and teaching in the biological sciences.
With business help from PARTEQ Innovations at Queen’s, Hunt and his business partners, Dr. David Layzell and Nick Dowling, began by building a range of biological instruments that allowed professors to enhance their teaching in practical lab-based courses.
“These professors soon realised they could also use Qubit’s simple instruments for their research,” Hunt says, which led him and the company co-founders to make their technology increasingly more sophisticated. Hunt is Qubit’s CEO, and the company now employs 11 people, including Dr. Monika Kuzma, chief scientific officer and Hunt’s life partner.
“Over the past 28 years, we’ve been expanding the range of instrumentation we make to encompass most areas of the
biological sciences, ranging from algal microbiology to human physiology,” Hunt says.
The company’s latest invention is VOCO, which measures human cardiopulmonary fitness, and after completing the design, the team approached Launch Lab to see what services it might offer the company on the cusp of significant growth.
The VOCO device measures a person’s oxygen consumption and CO2 production rates during rest and exercise. It has a face mask with a tube through which the person breathes. The pressure of the inhaled and exhaled breath in the tube is measured, from which breath flow, breath volume, and how frequently the person is breathing is calculated.
A gas analyzer worn on the person’s back samples the breath and measures the concentration of oxygen and CO2 in the inhaled and exhaled breath.
“By measuring the flow rate of breath and the concentrations of those gases, we can measure how much oxygen is being consumed and CO2 produced, and we can see all of this on a smartphone app,” Hunt explains. “From O2 consumption and CO2 production rates, we can discover many different things related to human metabolism and fitness. In fact, a person’s oxygen consumption rate during exercise is the most important indicator of fitness level, and has profound implications on longevity. It can also tell a person
precisely how many calories they’ve burned during an exercise period, with no ergometer guesswork.”
This newest device is being marketed to the research community but also to kinesiologists. The closest competitor’s equipment sells for $65,000, but Qubit’s is currently selling for $12,000.
“For the first time, we’re also going after the gym market, sports clubs and health centres,” he says. “And with time, we hope to reduce the price even further.”
Now that Qubit has a new device and a new market, and given the founders hope to one day retire and pass the business on, Hunt and Kuzma were interested in discussing succession planning with some advisers. Launch Lab came up as a nonprofit that could probably help.
“One of our directors suggested Launch Lab as an excellent organization that could advise us on a whole range of matters,” Hunt says. “It started off by us contacting Scott Runté and his associates to advise us on positioning the company for a potential sale or for attracting investment, particularly related to VOCO, because this is almost like a startup product for us. Our question was how to penetrate the relevant markets, position ourselves and maybe attract investment.”
For his part, Runté says one of the constant themes in Launch Lab’s Amplify program is a conversation with the client about succession planning and where they see themselves three and five years down the line.
“We try to understand how they see themselves running their business in 3-5 years, and a lot of times they haven’t thought of it,” Runté says. “It’s a really important thing for owner-operated
Over the past 28 years, we’ve been expanding the range of instrumentation we make to encompass most areas of the biological sciences, ranging from algal microbiology to human physiology –Dr. Steve Hunt
businesses to consider as they operate their business.”
Hunt says Launch Lab gave them a ton of good advice, starting with helping them get their financial house in order and developing a five-year plan to show where Qubit’s money is being spent.
“Scott has acted as our virtual CFO,” Hunt says. “He helped us to establish some really sophisticated financial models of what the company does, where our
earnings are going — all of the financial information you need if you’re going to position yourself for acquisition.”
Hunt said a Launch Lab marketing adviser Stephen Beamish provided ideas on various marketing strategies, including how to use social media such as LinkedIn without spending a fortune. “There are ways to use these platforms to get a great deal of bang for your buck,” Hunt says.
Kuzma says Launch Lab advised them
on various marketing initiatives, such as combining their three websites into one to improve their Google ratings and searchengine optimization.
“Also, the Launch Lab advisers have great contacts across Canada, so they’ve suggested companies we should speak with,” Hunt says. “And they’ve also pointed us in the direction of funding that we might qualify for.”
Kuzma says they meet monthly with
Launch Lab, and that pushes them to focus on business-oriented work as well as the research and development that comes more naturally to the two biology PhDs.
“Having that meeting in your calendar is very effective way to instill discipline,” she says.
Visit www.launchlab.ca for more information on Launch Lab’s services, and www.qubitsystems.com to learn more about Qubit’s products.
LAUNCH LAB can help
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2024 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES
Meet our top companies for 2024
1 Blue Collar Marketing KINGSTON
619% REVENUE GROWTH
Blue Collar Marketing specializes in digital marketing for blue-collar businesses with targeted strategies, enhanced online presence and media production.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Our biggest lesson learned has been the importance of planning for seasonality while staying adaptable in the face of fluctuating business demands. Early on, we realized that while our core service of website design is in high demand, the ebb and flow of projects can sometimes create gaps, especially during slower periods. To address this, we began to anticipate and plan for these seasonal shifts by diversifying our offerings. By expanding our services to complement website design, we’ve been able to create additional value for our clients
while securing more consistent work. This includes services like ongoing website maintenance, SEO management, and digital marketing support — services that naturally align with what we already do but allow us to better manage the peaks and valleys of demand.
What did you do to address
it?
To mitigate these challenges, we needed to ensure we’re consistently meeting our recurring monthly revenue key performance indicators. This involves strategically planning our projects and diversifying our
services to generate steady revenue streams that can sustain us during slower periods. By focusing on RMR KPIs, we aim to establish a reliable financial cushion that will allow us to navigate through seasonal fluctuations without compromising the quality of our services or the well-being of our team. We are also exploring opportunities to expand our service offerings to cater to a broader range of needs within our industry. By doing so, we hope to attract a more diverse client base, thereby reducing our dependence on seasonal projects. This approach not only helps in stabilizing our cash flow, but also positions us as a versatile and resilient business capable of adapting to changing market conditions.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
In the end, mitigating the ebb and flow of the blue-collar industry has made our business stronger and more resilient. It’s taught us to stay proactive, focus on building lasting relationships with our clients, and always think ahead. We’ve found that by embracing the challenges and opportunities that come with seasonality, we’re better equipped to maintain success year-round.
2024 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES
The most important lesson we learned is the critical role of adaptability and a strong team in a rapidly growing environment. Being open to change and ready to pivot quickly when needed was key to our success.
2 Cloud Metric
KINGSTON
239.6% REVENUE GROWTH
Cloud Metric provides IT management that enhances performance, quality and security for organizations in Canada, ensuring compliance with industry standards, supported by 24/7 support.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
The biggest challenge we faced was scaling our operations to keep up with rapid growth while maintaining service quality and customer satisfaction. This involved managing the complexities of project management, customer support, compliance and security, while simultaneously expanding our team. Additionally, recruiting the right talent quickly enough to support our growth
3 The Bar
BROCKVILLE
199% REVENUE GROWTH
The Bar is a full-serve bar serving nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages with live entertainment six days per week.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Our biggest challenge was adding and training new staff, quickly, while trying to handle new ways of accommodating our added customers. Coming in and out of the COVID shutdowns, never knowing if people
proved to be a significant hurdle. We needed individuals who were not only technically skilled, but also aligned with our company’s vision and culture.
What did you do to address it?
To tackle these challenges, we invested in advanced project and IT management tools and automated workflows to streamline
operations and optimize resource allocation. This helped reduce manual processes and ensured consistent service delivery, despite the growing demands. On the recruitment front, we adopted a proactive strategy, collaborating with industry networks and educational institutions to build a talent pipeline that met our needs. By focusing on training and cultural alignment, we ensured that new hires were prepared to maintain our high standards of customer support.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
The most important lesson we learned is the critical role of adaptability and a strong team in a rapidly growing environment. Being open to change and ready to pivot quickly when needed was key to our success. Moreover, investing in our team’s development and nurturing a positive company culture proved invaluable. Our skilled, motivated team made it possible to overcome the challenges of fast growth while continuing to deliver exceptional services to our clients.
were going to keep coming back or not, trying to add and train new staff, implementing new rules that changed on a monthly basis proved to be quite difficult. We experienced some growing pains, but were able to overcome those by trial and error.
What did you do to address it?
We just kept working away bit by bit, day by day. We had to learn new ways and many things very quickly, definitely a little quicker than what we wanted. We had a solid foundation with our past experiences, so we put our heads together and came up with new ways and new ideas. Not everything worked out the way we wanted, but we kept at it by changing a little bit here and a little bit there. We are constantly learning and
evolving and truly hope to continue this for long into the future.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
That’s hard to say. We have certainly learned a lot over the years and are continuously learning every day. A trusted and reliable staff can go a long way and not having that on a daily basis can make things more challenging. Whether it be engaging with the customers or simply making a bit of an effort while not just doing the minimum, customers will definitely take notice and that can certainly have a lasting impact, positive or negative, on the short- and long-term success of the business. Taking the time to work with employees, which can be a little
demanding at times, can truly make all the difference in the long run for sustained business and future growth.
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2024 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES
4 Convergence Design Services
ARNPRIOR
166.7% REVENUE GROWTH
Convergence is an end-to-end contract design services company operating in aerospace, hardware, software, mechanical, robotics, and electric vehicle engineering.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Balancing ongoing complex engineering projects while growing/onboarding the team in lockstep. As technology continues to evolve in aerospace/military/electric vehicle design, so do the challenges of adapting with the velocity of change.
What did you do to address it?
Hiring the best talent available, continuous training/mentoring and creating a collaborative environment where problems are solved in an agile, fast-paced manner. We continued to develop the co-op program to allow for a future talent pipeline and support our senior engineering staff. Over the years, Convergence has invested in process improvements, test equipment and expansion of business development.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
Teamwork and collaboration are imperative to the success of any organization. We focus on creating an environment of continuous learning and pushing the technology barrier. In order to achieve project success, our team members must be supported in all aspects of their professional growth and maintain work-life balance.
The biggest lesson learned for us would be to practise patience, that not everyone will support your decisions or your company.
5 J&J
Landscaping
J&J is a small local landscaping and construction company.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Hiring the right staff is always a challenge for any company. Growth is great, but remaining disciplined with our key goals in mind and always providing a top-quality job well done is most important to us. As each year changes,
I would say the fear of not knowing what the next year will bring; things change fast and you have to be ready to adapt.
What did you do to address it?
Get out and talk to people, be more involved in the community, build strong relationships personally and professionally, stay positive. Work hard every day.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
The biggest lesson learned for us would be to practise patience, that not everyone will support your decisions or your company. To know your people and know who is supporting you and who is not. If you’re determined, persistent and seek help when needed, you will succeed.
2024 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES
6 AquaOmega
CORNWALL 71% REVENUE GROWTH
AquaOmega aims to be the global leader in both innovation and quality regarding omega-3 fatty acid supplements.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Our greatest challenge has been securing the raw materials necessary to maintain the high standards we’ve set for our products, while also building adequate inventory to keep up with our rapid, double-digit growth. As a company that prioritizes quality, we are extremely selective about the raw materials we use, which can sometimes limit availability. Balancing this with the need to avoid stock-outs and prevent customer frustration has required constant focus. Furthermore, we are a self-funded company that has never raised outside capital. This means that managing cash flow and ensuring we can scale inventory in line with demand while staying within budget has added its own set of complexities.
What did you do to address it?
We’ve addressed these challenges by developing a comprehensive burn rate and forecasting tool that helps us stay ahead of demand. This tool takes into account historical sales data, promotional activity, customer growth trends, and projections for new market entries. By leveraging these data points, we can better predict inventory needs and avoid stock-outs, ensuring a seamless experience for our customers.
Additionally, we’ve made it a priority to establish direct relationships with key players in the supply chain, including fisheries, crude oil facilities and distillation plants. This allows us to secure high-quality raw materials while also ensuring more reliable and consistent supply. Our efforts in the industry have also earned us a seat on the board of the global organization for EPA and DHA, which further strengthens our position and influence within the omega-3 sector.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
The biggest lesson we’ve learned is that it’s absolutely possible to maintain integrity and quality, even amid rapid growth, if you remain focused on what truly matters. A key part of this has been surrounding ourselves
with the right people — those who are equally committed to our mission and values. Building a team that shares our vision has been crucial in overcoming challenges while staying true to our principles.
Effective communication has also been essential. Being transparent about potential
7 Brock IT
Brock IT is a service provider specializing in higher-security environments such as health care, financial services and military.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
Service quality for current clients is always affected by adding new clients. New clients take 40-60 per cent more work for the first six months than current clients do, which results in more labour hours and thus slower response times for other issues.
challenges, both internally with our team and externally with our partners, has allowed us to address issues head-on and find solutions before they become major problems. And, most importantly, we’ve embraced the mindset of always learning from our mistakes.
What did you do to address it?
We have limited onboarding of new customers to one new customer per month and structured our onboardings better. This allows for staff to maintain current service standards as we onboard new customers.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
It’s an unfortunate reality that handshakes are meaningless to many people. Written agreements are the only thing that matter, so you must protect yourself and your business with written expectations. Without a clause preventing it, there is nothing stopping your vendors from taking your client list and selling to them directly, cutting you out of the deals that you cultivated.
JPB Industrial and Commercial Services adds
JPB Powder Coating and Short-Cut-Metals
Smiths Falls-based JPB is augmenting their strong commercial service offerings in response to local demand and interest
Following their acquisition of a smallscale powder coating operation, JPB Industrial and Commercial Services has added powder coating services to their arsenal of turnkey solutions for local manufacturers and commercial facility operators.
“If a client is experiencing an issue, their priority is to get their system back up and running or to improve their production,” said Lucas Borean, co-owner of JPB. “We have multiple trades to service the industry and diagnose and fix whatever problem they may have. Powder coating is another service we can offer our clients.”
For those not in the know, powder coating is a cost-efficient paint method that is more durable, smoother, and more corrosionresistant than typical wet paint. This type of paint offers some environmental advantages over liquid paints and it better allows for custom colours and patterns. It also dries faster, meaning less downtime for your new piece of equipment or vehicle parts.
Powder coating jobs can be as simple as car rims or as complex as whole buildings. JPB recently powder coated all the pieces of a geodome that’s headed internationally.
Through all the interest and activity, they work closely with their clients to keep track of timelines and ensure priority jobs are delivered on-time.
Powder coating isn’t the only new service out of JPB’s Hershey Drive shop. They’ve also recently started offering offcut metal and plastics – essentially, extra pieces left over from their custom design and fabrication operations. These affordable pieces are popular with farmers, local fabrication shops, and artists and crafters, and selling them keeps them out of recycling or landfills.
These new divisions are on top of JPB’s existing commercial services including equipment installations, modifications, custom design and fabrication, millwrighting and machining, and support and servicing for industries like recycling, pharmaceutical, food, and more.
JPB Fabrication Services is a CWB certified company that continues to expand after nine years in business, and was named one of the Eastern Ontario Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies for 2022. Their endto-end service is part of how they have built their reputation and many long-term client relationships.
2024 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES
8 Kemptville Heating & AC
KEMPTVILLE
54.4% REVENUE GROWTH
Kemptville Heating & AC is an HVAC business.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
We have never focused on fast growth. Our main focus has always been to provide our clients with quality products and exceptional workmanship. The biggest challenge we have faced is balancing our workload. In this industry, it is easy to get overworked and burnt-out during peak seasons. We, as HVAC professionals,
love what we do for a living but getting overworked can change that fast!
What did you do to address it?
Understanding the dynamics of the industry along with good management skills have always been essential to mitigating employee burnout. We believe that the 24-hour day is broken up into three eight-hour segments: eight work, eight sleep and eight personal time. Granted, when duty calls our staff is always willing to help people in need.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
The biggest lesson learned is that everything takes at least twice as long and four times as much capital than expected.
Don’t try to grow too fast. Never put the cart in front of the horse. When I first started the business I jumped the gun and got too big too fast and it backfired on me. I realized quickly that I lacked the skills needed to manage several employees. 9 GlassHouse Botanics
owned startup in a brand new industry.
GlassHouse is an EU-GMP certified medicinal cannabis cultivator and processor of dry flower produced for export to the E.U., U.K. and Australia.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?
There are many challenges for a privately-
Aside from starting from scratch, building your own facility, hiring a new team and developing your own standard operating procedures, the biggest challenge would be navigating the significant regulatory requirements in Canada and Germany to obtain our Health Canada cannabis license and EU GMP certification. It took years and a significant amount of capital.
What did you do to address it?
From the outset, our business plan was to produce cannabis that could be exported to the larger markets overseas. In order to focus on that one goal, we hired the right leaders and a team that worked tirelessly to reach
our goals. We were also fortunate to be able to develop strategic partnerships to help carry us to where we were going.
What has been your biggest lesson learned?
The biggest lesson learned is that everything takes at least twice as long and four
times as much capital than expected. A startup definitely needs significant cash reserves to get through the first few years of construction and operations before profitability can be achieved.
Ottawa Valley Farm to Fork finds new revenue stream in growing field of agritourism
BY SARAH MACFARLANE news@obj.ca
W
hat started as a humble vegetable garden to feed a small family has grown into an Ottawa Valley agri-tourism destination offering everything from accommodation and dining to education and tours.
In April, Ottawa Valley Farm to Fork received the new tourism product award from the Ottawa Valley Tourism Association for the farm’s focus on agri-tourism, including its farm-to-table dining events.
The original 100-square-foot barn, which was built in the 1860s, was renovated to transform the hayloft into a dining and event hall where Ottawa Valley Farm to Fork hosts farm-to-table dinners for up to 60 people, featuring entertainment and music as well as an organic, home-grown meal.
A farmhouse on the property offers overnight accommodations for up to six people, and the farm also has a new space that will function as a bike stop and market.
“It’s all about this newest revenue stream,” said Katherine Lindhorst, who owns the business with husband Marshall Buchanan. “People can park their bike or vehicle and linger and come to events here, get a farm tour, learn about the operations, enjoy the food… These are all the new elements.
“It’s interesting. People really like the vibe, and they slow down and disconnect from their electronic devices and connect with nature.”
The farm is positioned at the intersection of several motorcycle and bicycle routes, which Lindhorst said creates a “hub” in the new market and gathering space.
“People can come and learn about
when she met Buchanan, an environmental specialist and professional forester teaching natural resources technology to Gwich’in and Inuvialuit students at Aurora College in Inuvik, N.W.T.
In 2000, Buchanan and Lindhorst bought the 50-acre farm in Scotch Butch, a rural community about 35 kilometres west of Renfrew. What began as a hobby farm soon grew into a full-scale operation. The original property has expanded to include 75 acres across the road and is home to Scottish Highland cattle, free-range chickens and dairy goats, as well as fields upon fields of heritage fruits and vegetables.
“We’ve always been organic, but now we’re more than organic because we do regenerative agriculture,” said Lindhorst. “Our animals output from eating plants here and then we use their manure to compost and feed the soil for the vegetables to grow.
“It creates great-tasting vegetables and we know it’s free from any herbicide or pesticide or chemical,” she continued. “We eat all of it, but we also want to make sure anyone who buys from our farm has that confidence of where it came from.”
As she looks to the future, Lindhorst said she and Buchanan would like to offer more educational opportunities about agriculture, farming and sustainability.
“All the other aspects would continue, but for small farms to survive, they need a variety of revenue streams,” she said. “We both have an education element of our work, so we’d love to continue more with the educational aspect within agriculture.”
regenerative agriculture, meet the animals, view their role in the cycle of things, and you could add on … a picnic, or buy products, or stay overnight,” she explained.
Lindhorst grew up in Montreal, where she trained as a dietician at McGill University and earned her master’s in nutrition. After working a variety of nutrition roles, Lindhorst moved to the Arctic to work with First Nations and Inuit on healthy eating, food security and maternal and child health programs.
She says she has always felt deeply connected to her food — and where it comes from.
“Growing up, we always had a garden,” explained Lindhorst. “It’s fundamental to who I am to have agency over the food I eat and know where it comes from and how the environment is treated.”
Lindhorst was returning from the Arctic
By learning more about agriculture, farming and nutrition, she said it helps everyone grow.
“We have school trips here and the kids are fascinated to watch me pull a carrot straight out of the ground,” said Lindhorst. “People are so disconnected from their food because we can get anything we want at the grocery store any time of the year.
“People used to have family on farms they could visit, but that’s getting more rare,” she continued. “We’ve lost our connection to the farm.
“People really like to come and look at the animals and I understand, because every day the animals make me smile and being somewhere like this can really change you,” said Lindhorst. “The centre of our logo is a person growing like a plant, which I think is fundamental to who we are, because on a farm, it isn’t just crops.
“We like to help people grow and grow ourselves.”
Agritourism offers opportunities to learn about agriculture, farming and sustainability. PHOTOS SUPPLIED
We’re growing Cornwall.
Businesses are investing in Cornwall, and together with the public sector are helping to transform the city by creating new housing, new employment opportunities and stronger community organizations.
Come join us as we create a sustainable community, where the only limit is your imagination.
Cornwall emerges as major distribution hub with over five million square feet of warehouse Space
With new centres from Walmart, Michelin, and Loblaw, Cornwall solidifies its role as a key player in Canada’s supply chain.
There are plenty of changes afoot just east of Cornwall, where distribution centres — an oftenforgotten but crucial part of our supply chain — are rising alongside the existing Walmart Distribution Centres just off the McDonald-Cartier Freeway.
Since 2005, the two 1.5-million-sq. ft. distribution centres have employed over 2,500 workers and have served retail locations across eastern Canada. Alongside Walmart, there is a 900,000-sq. ft. Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaw distribution centre, and a new 984,000-sq. ft. Michelin distribution centre, which is set to open at the end of October. Combined, that’s over five million square feet of warehouse space.
This is no coincidence. Cornwall has emerged as a crucial link in the supply chain, joining Calgary and the Greater Toronto Area as a distribution hub. With access to Highway 401, a Canadian National Railway main line, and the St. Lawrence Seaway, distributors
are just a short trip away from any regional city or international port, with connections to Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes.
It’s something that attracted Walmart to Cornwall in the first place, says Jeremiah Rodriguez, Vice-President of DC operations, East. “When the paper mill left in 2005, it provided an opportunity to open up our business,” he says, citing an available workforce and a desirable location for the distribution centre. “It made a lot of sense to start here. We’re surprised it took so long for other companies to follow,” he adds.
Rene-Paul Gomis, Regional People Manager of logistics at Walmart, says Cornwall was also a factor in the company’s investment. “The City of Cornwall has had a clear strategy for businesses in logistics like ours,” he says. Other cost savings, like less expensive land and more affordable hydro rates from Quebec, helped seal the deal.
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“The community has been very welcoming,” according to Gomis. “The mayor and city council have been transparent, and we’ve done the same.”
Part of that relationship is built on Walmart’s investment in Cornwall beyond its distribution centre. The company has supported local charities, sports teams, and cultural events to cement its place in a growing community.
There have, of course, been challenges for Walmart and other distribution centres in the area. The pandemic led to heightened demand for products and fewer workers to fulfill orders. “Unique solutions were implemented, and there is less strain on labour now as Cornwall has grown,” says Rodriguez. “The city seems aware of what strategies need to be in place to avoid future labour market crunches.”
2024-07-15 2:52 PM
Attracting people from larger population centres like Toronto, Ottawa, or Montreal to a smaller city like Cornwall can be a challenge, and it has sometimes been tough to find logistics experts willing to relocate. “Finding the right labour with the right skills is very challenging, but we’ve helped grow and develop our associates internally,” says Rodriguez.
That skilled labour is on the way, with St. Lawrence College launching a logistics program at its Cornwall campus and trucking companies expanding operations in the area. If you build it, they will come.
The future looks bright for Walmart, Loblaw, Michelin and other companies looking to open distribution centres in the community. The population is growing, connections are improving, costs are low, and the municipal government — keen to maintain the momentum — is helping businesses open as best it can. Keeping any insider secrets under wraps, Rodriguez sums it up by saying, “Of all the regions, Cornwall has the most capacity to grow, and that growth is coming.”
EASTERN ONTARIO
From labyrinths to haunted cabins, seven reasons to visit Carleton Place
BY LAURA BYRNE PAQUET news@obj.ca
When you don’t have the time and budget for a long road trip but still want to escape the city, Carleton Place could be just the ticket. In fact, if you live in the west end, it’s probably quicker to drive to Carleton Place than to downtown Ottawa!
Here are seven great reasons to take a road trip to this charming Lanark County community:
1. Discover local artists. Not only are there several new art galleries, including the Carleton Place Gallery (210 Bridge St.) and the Arts Carleton Place Art Hub (50 Bennett St., unit 1), but the town is
currently hosting Art Expedition, with works by 50 local artists on banners throughout downtown.
2. Relax on the Mississippi River. No, not that Mississippi River. However, Lanark County’s Mississippi River is also scenic and it flows right through downtown Carleton Place. Launch your boat or hit the beach at Riverside Park (175 John St.), or just settle onto the pretty deck at the Waterfront Gastropub (12 Bell St.) with a beer and a burger.
3. Pop into a coffee shop. Even though I don’t drink coffee, the existence of a good coffee shop is one of my criteria for a great road trip destination. As long as it serves tea and pastries, I’m
good. Downtown Carleton Place has several nice coffee shops, including Foundry Collective and Coffee Bar (122 Bridge St.). With big windows and free wi-fi, it’s a pleasant place to linger with friends or even catch up on your email (if you must).
4. Stop by a memorable visitor centre. How many visitor centres are located in an 1850s log cabin that’s rumoured to be haunted? The one in Carleton Place (170 Bridge St.) is the only one I can think of. Bonus: it rents out bicycles by the hour and is also home to a museum focusing on the life of A. Roy Brown, arguably the town’s most famous son. Which brings me to …
5. Learn some local history. Brown was a First World War flying ace credited with shooting down none other than the
Red Baron. After you’ve learned about him at the visitor centre, drop into the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum (267 Edmund St.) to delve into some other local stories. Admission is free. And nearby, you’ll discover one of the town’s most unusual attractions …
6. Walk a labyrinth. Right behind the museum is the pretty (and also free) Carleton Place Labyrinth. Quiet your busy mind with a slow stroll around its curving path, then relax on a bench under the welcome shade of the surrounding trees. Trust me, it really is calming.
7. Have a delicious dinner. Carleton Place has lots of nice restaurants, but my favourite is Black Tartan Kitchen (132 Bridge St.). Here’s why. I used to think I didn’t like venison or carpaccio, but chef Ian Carswell’s venison carpaccio changed my mind on both counts. Tender, flavourful and not at all gamey, it made me a believer. And I’ve never been disappointed by the other dishes I’ve tried on the regularly changing menu, either.
Award-winning Ottawa travel writer Laura Byrne Paquet shares her sightseeing tips for Eastern Ontario and beyond on her website, Ottawa Road Trips. 2 1 3 5
EASTERN ONTARIO
Arnprior is the place to be for bakeries, bistros, bowling and boutiques
BY LAURA BYRNE PAQUET news@obj.ca
I
f you’re looking for a road trip destination with riverside parks, lots of locally owned shops and restaurants and even an Art Deco-inspired bowling alley, Arnprior — just 40 kilometres west of the Canadian Tire Centre — is the place to go.
Located where the Madawaska River flows into the Ottawa River, Arnprior began as a logging community. Later, it became a hub for textile mills and marble quarries. You can delve into that history at the Arnprior and District Museum (35 Madawaska St.), located in a former Victorian post office with a landmark clock tower.
After your museum visit, leave time to browse the shops of Arnprior’s humming downtown. Kitty-corner from the museum, KOTi 28 (158 John St. N.) stocks housewares and jewelry from around the world, including Swedish blankets and Finnish dishes.
A few doors down at White Pine Books and Children’s Boutique (152 John St. N.), you’ll find a nice selection of novels, books by local authors, cookbooks, and kids’ clothing.
On the same street, you could check out Jade & Laney (108 John St. N.) for local and other Canadian-made clothing and accessories, and Valley Girls Clothing Company (90 John St. N.) for women’s clothing in sizes from small to 4X.
Around the corner, Bee Savvy Fine Foods (14 Elgin St. W.) sells its own line of honey and a wide range of other producers’ gourmet foods.
Fans of vintage clothing, antiques and consignment shops will find lots to enjoy in Arnprior. For instance, The Village Crate (159 John St. N.) sells a mix of new and antique housewares and gifts, from candles and coasters to typewriters and vintage duck decoys. Johnie’s Vintage (54 Madawaska St.) is a great source of stylish vintage clothing and housewares, while Racked
Consignment Shoppe (12 Elgin St. W.) has a great mix of casual and upscale apparel.
A bit outside the downtown core, Antiques, Treasures and Treats (260 Elgin St. W.) is a packed antiques shop spread across several buildings.
Of course, road-trippers can’t live by shopping alone, which is why I highly recommend you stop by the well-named Mighty Fine Bakehouse (79 Madawaska St.) for a muffin, croissant or brownie. You can also get soups, salads and sandwiches.
One of my other lunch-hour favourites is Krave Bistro (24 Elgin St. W.), where the varied menu features a selection of crepes. The delicious Kashmir crepe is loaded with chicken, mushrooms, peppers and shallots, topped with a goat cheese sauce.
To work off those treats, you could
head to Gillies Grove — one of the last remaining stands of old-growth white pine forest in the Ottawa Valley — and hike a two-kilometre trail. There are trailheads at the west end of Ottawa Street and the north end of John Street.
If you’ve brought your canoe, kayak or standup paddleboard, the beach at Robert Simpson Park (400 John St. N.) is an easy place to slip it into the Ottawa River. Alternatively, you could head to Steelheads & Strikes (120 John St. N.).
Matthew and Alicia Ott, who also own Bee Savvy, recently gave their five-pin bowling alley an Art Deco spin with a little help from HGTV’s Bryan Baeumler. His show “Bryan’s All In” documented the transformation, which included installing a sleek cocktail bar at the entrance. It’s a popular place for private parties.
Award-winning Ottawa travel writer Laura Byrne Paquet shares her sightseeing tips for Eastern Ontario and beyond on her website, Ottawa Road Trips.
Arnprior is the place to visit for shopping, museums and dining, even a retro bowling alley. PHOTOS BY LAURA BYRNE PAQUET
Being The City We Aspire To Be
How to create housing, boost the economy and create an equitable city by harnessing talent
Ottawa is a unique place. We are a city of a million people and growing. We are the capital of a G7 country and, as the second largest city in Ontario, we are an economic centre for growth. Our tourism sector is worth over $2 billion a year, attracting visitors to our national museums, heritage sites and parks, many of which are managed by the National Capital Commission (NCC) or the federal government.
Ottawa, as a city, is in the throes of an economic boom thanks to the many investments being made by the federal government. Ongoing and pending restoration of the Centre Block and the Supreme Court will provide jobs and economic growth, for years. This will build on the success of the recently completed East Block and former Ottawa Union Station.
While a much-lauded downtown reinvestment strategy has been launched, implementation is far too slow. Badly worded and unfair RFPs (Requests for Proposal) for office to housing conversions, coupled with municipal underinvestment in streets, transit and housing combine to inhibit change.
VISION FOR EXCELLENCE
While there may be vision for how our downtown needs to evolve, there is a lack of vision for excellence in how we want our City to grow and be considered among fellow G7 capitals like London, Paris, Tokyo or Washington.
Our investment in Light Rail Transit has had, at best, mixed results; reliability and affordability continue to be challenges and public trust has been eroded with funding and service cuts despite enhanced budgets for roads and other projects. We’ve opted to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Lansdowne 2.0; initial audit reports suggest increased cost (and debt), significantly adding to municipal property taxes. Despite the growing popularity of PWHL, a new Lansdowne arena will be smaller than the existing space. More than two years ago we approved a revitalization of the famed ByWard Market but committed nearly no funding and, years later, the plan, which largely ignored public
input, remains a non-priority.
Decades of austerity budgeting and low value investment continue to haunt us.
According to the Ottawa Construction Association, year to date housing starts are down 28% from this time last year while single detached permits have risen 7% in the same time frame. According to recent data, only 7% of recent building permit applications (43 projects worth $75m) are for apartments. More than half of all permit applications remain for single detached homes (315 applications worth $57m).
INCENTIVIZE DENSER HOUSING
This needs to change. We need to incentivize more moderately dense housing and focus on development that fulfills our ambitious Official Plan goals; that requires bold leadership with a vision for excellence.
Fewer housing starts may be a result of the last 18 months of changes in provincial planning policy, combined with higher interest rates and a sluggish economy. However, our municipal approach to funding infrastructure can play a big part in this: punitive and inequitable development charges disincentivize urban investment to subsidize suburban development.
Decades of underfunding in transit have undermined reliability and affordability, creating a vicious cycle of reduced ridership; the result is that more people drive, further congesting roads and highways which benefit from hundreds of millions of dollars in provincial highway funding, not to mention commitment to spend nearly a billion dollars in municipal road expansion in the coming years.
We need a rethink of our approach.
We need to re-examine how development charges (DCs) are assessed. More than 50% of development charge costs are assigned to roads, sewers and transit infrastructure which already exist in an urban, developed, site. What effect would a 50% reduction on DCs have in urban development given that an urban project generally imposes no new roads, sewers or transit expansion?
We need to look at how we plan social
infrastructure like parks, schools, libraries and community centres. We have billions of dollars’ worth in buildings and parks within the most densely populated areas; most of these places have seen little or no substantive investment in a generation and are in poor condition. Reinvesting to meet current community needs, not to mention upgrades to become resilient and accessible and will help restore beauty and pride in our communities, will attract people to live and work in the area.
Ottawa can learn from cities like Montreal by enacting a city-wide, year-round, bike share program that is part of our transit network; even in winter, the Bixi bike program expects 4,000 daily users. If successful car-free transformations can work in Montreal, Vancouver or Paris, they can work here if we create the right framework for success. We need to end the “paralysis by analysis” mindset.
#OURBESTOTTAWA
Ottawa can launch a design competition for the ByWard Market; an ideas competition can attract creative solutions that consider the Market as a whole, including broad issues of social justice, equity and heritage. A juried short list of creative solutions can be publicly presented similar to the Sudbury 2050 Competition. A parallel professional competition can request expressions of interest from architectural teams, shortlisting firms to develop ideas addressing the historic market area, tackling the challenges of the unhoused and healthcare needs and broadly create a plan for renewal.. Key to this is municipal commitment to excellence and funding, tied to a vision for the city we aspire to be.
Similarly, Ottawa can launch design competitions for housing, as Edmonton recently did, attracting international attention to develop some of the hundreds of public properties available. Resulting projects can build housing at varying densities that combine economic viability, social benefit and high-quality design.
To make #OurBestOttawa we need to harness the talent, resources and ideas in our city to create positive, socially transformative and beautiful infrastructure. This applies to not just conventional ideas of infrastructure like roads and transit, but to social infrastructure, like parks and community space, and to policy development in how we plan, commission and fund our city.
The time is now.
Everyone deserves a safe and decent place to live
Addressing the crisis in our community
Habitat for Humanity Kingston Limestone Region is dedicated to addressing the affordable housing crisis in our community through innovative building projects and community engagement. We empower local business owners to become partners in our mission, promoting self-reliance, stability, and strength within our neighbourhoods. By collaborating with us, businesses can contribute to impactful initiatives like our upcoming Tiny Home Project, which aims to provide shelter for those in need. Join us in building a stronger community. Your support not only transforms lives but also enhances your brand’s reputation as a socially responsible entity committed to making Kingston a better place for all.
How can you help?
Local businesses can play a vital role in supporting Habitat for Humanity Kingston Limestone Region through various engagement opportunities. By sponsoring projects like our Tiny Home initiative, businesses can directly impact the lives of those in need, showcasing their commitment to social responsibility. Additionally, companies can participate in fundraising events, volunteer days, or donation drives, which not only enhance team building but also foster a sense of community.
For more information on how to get involved, visit our website at www.habitatkingston.com, email us at communityengagement@habitatkingston.com, or call us at 613-548-8763.
