Ottawa Business Journal Spring 2023

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EASTERN ONTARIO BUSINESS JOURNAL

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Anne Howland, 613-696-9480 anne@obj.ca

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David Sali, 613-696-9481 david@obj.ca

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PROSPECTUS Sens sale is a lot bigger than hockey

Love or hate professional sports, you cannot deny the ability of a sports team to energize and galvanize a city.

When the Ottawa Senators went to the Stanley Cup finals in 2007, the city had a full-blown case of hockey playoff fever. Thousands of cars were adorned with mini-flags. The ByWard Market and Elgin Street were jam-packed with hopeful fans transfixed by live sports broadcasts. Suburban shopping centres set up giant screens in parking lots. Businesses had a hard time keeping employees focused, the same with schools and students. Frankly, I struggled to think of anything other than the upcoming hockey game.

Non-sports fans will brush this off as silliness, a distraction from far more important matters.

But what if a hockey team could accomplish something far greater than a “here today, gone tomorrow” championship run? What if a sports franchise could challenge a city to rethink its aspirations?

NEW OWNERSHIP, BIGGER VISION

Let’s give Eugene Melnyk full credit for stepping up, purchasing an insolvent franchise and sticking with it for nearly 20 years. Kudos to him.

At the same time, let’s acknowledge that his ownership fell short in many ways. His financial situation put the franchise in a bind, his relationship with local fans (and business owners) was shaky at best and he didn’t fulfill the vision of a downtown stadium.

The sale of the Senators is an unprecedented opportunity in the hands of the right ownership group.

Consider the fairytale story of

Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham United in the Ottawa context: Hollywood stardom and billion-dollar bank accounts meet an underperforming franchise in a relatively small city that is looking to redefine itself.

CORNERSTONE OF A NEW DOWNTOWN

This is about more than the sale of an NHL team. It’s Ottawa’s best chance to address two giant challenges: rebuilding the long-abandoned LeBreton Flats and laying the cornerstone for a plan to rejuvenate Ottawa’s entire downtown core. Again, sports fan or not, recognize that a downtown stadium is the spark this redevelopment project needs. Yes, we want greenspace and affordable housing and cycling trails, but a world-class sports and entertainment centre is key to making this a vibrant space for generations to come.

Any astute sports fan will tell you that an ascending sports team in pursuit of a championship has a very narrow window to succeed.

With an ownership dream team almost in place, political, government and business leaders should take careful yet swift action to realize a vision that benefits the entire city. Let’s not let this slip from our grasp.

We all need to care about the downtown

There’s no shortage of good news happening already this year in our city. The airport is rising from the ashes, convention business is springing to life, and we continue to see companies of all kinds experiencing rapid and exciting growth.

Of course, we have our struggles. The tech sector is taking a beating (depending who you talk to) and business insolvencies are on the rise. A recession lingers on the horizon.

But perhaps our most pressing problem remains at the heart of our city: our downtown core, including the ByWard Market.

A STATE OF ‘URBAN DECAY’ IN THE CORE

I recently met with OBJ’s editorial advisory board; 15 people from various sectors and backgrounds across the city. They had a lot to say about the downtown and they didn’t mince words. Some called the commercial real estate situation “dire.” Others described our core as being in a state of “urban decay.”

Our conversation revolved around crime and homelessness, the parking problem, and the state of public transit. These factors, combined with the move to remote or hybrid work, make it pretty unappealing for many workers to return downtown.

This brought us to a larger question. Unless they live or work regularly in the core, why should people across the city care about what’s happening downtown? Of course, there are economic arguments to be made. But for someone in Cumberland, Constance Bay or Kars — even for someone in Alta Vista — those arguments may seem thin. If you haven’t stepped foot in the Market for years, what do the issues mean to you?

One person even brought up the D word: de-amalgamation. What a mess that would be, but there is a rationale to be found.

Of course, the state of Ottawa’s downtown is not a new issue. But we are at a critical inflection point. There will likely be no shortage of ideas and proposals, some more practical than others.

Now, it is becoming increasingly pressing that those ideas be gathered, prioritized and a budget put against them. What’s the vision for our downtown?

First and foremost, we all need to care. Because as some smart person once said, if the core is rotten, everything else follows.

Publisher

As a result, just as we see the core decline, we see the rise of the 15-minute neighbourhood. Why attempt the trek downtown when you have everything you need within a short commute of your home office?

Anne Howland Editor in Chief

Michael Curran

CITY BUILDING SUMMIT: APRIL 25

The future of Ottawa, especially its downtown core, is an urgent issue in this post-pandemic period. Plus, there are social issues ranging from affordable housing to improved equity that need attention. With all this in mind, OBJ and the Ottawa Board of Trade are finalizing details for the fourth City Building Summit. This event brings business, community and political leaders together with planners, developers and economic development officials to create a common vision for Ottawa. Attendees will also get an update on major projects such as LeBreton Flats, Zibi, the new Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital and light rail transit. The event will be held in the Trillium ballroom at the Shaw Centre. Look for updates on www.ottawabot.ca.

FORTY UNDER 40: JUNE 23

The nomination period has closed, the deliberations are underway and next comes the big announcement in late April. Yes, Forty Under 40 is back! It’s all building up to the city’s largest celebration of young entrepreneurs in June. The city’s rising business stars will gather to share their inspirational stories of business accomplishment and community-building at the Hilton Lac-Leamy. Visit www.ottawabot.ca for event information.

BULLY FREE GALA: MAY 6

With a bit of glitter and glam, the Bully Free gala returns this spring to raise awareness and funds for youth, particularly programs that promote positive well-being and acceptance by peers. Last year’s event was a sellout with 300 guests and it raised more than $125,000 for the Proud To Be Me charitable organization. This year’s event will include an online auction, delicious food and drink and plenty of fun, as always. The gala will take place at Brookstreet Hotel. Visit www.ptbm.ca for information.

This unique event brings together hundreds of high-profile guests from many sectors, including business, political and community leaders, to help ABLE2 raise funds to provide the tools, choices and connections that empower people with disabilities in Ottawa to build lives of meaning and joy. Guests will enjoy a delicious meal (most people wisely opt for lobster), East Coast music, networking and curated auction items and prizes. Tickets are on sale until April 25 at www.able2.org.

Airport CEO hopes new Paris route leads to more transatlantic flights

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

Ottawa International Airport’s CEO is hoping Air France’s decision to start flying directly from Paris to Ottawa this summer will clear the runway for more non-stop transatlantic routes to YOW.

France’s largest airline recently announced its plans to start flying between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Ottawa International Airport five times a week beginning on June 27. It marks the first direct route between YOW and Europe since early 2020, when virtually all international flights from the airport were suspended during the pandemic.

“It’s a great connection,” Ottawa International Airport Authority chief executive Mark Laroche told OBJ. “It’s something that we were pursuing for a long time.”

The new service will run on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays using the carrier’s 224-seat Airbus A330-200 fleet. Laroche said Air France has suggested it could add more flights to its Ottawa schedule if the customer demand is there.

“It all depends on the response,” he said. “(Airbus aircraft) are extremely expensive assets, and so they can lose a lot of money very fast. If there’s not sufficient response from the market, you lose (routes) very quickly. It’s very hard to get back.”

Ottawa airport officials have eyed Charles de Gaulle as a potential destination for about a decade due to its status as one of Europe’s busiest hubs with connections to other parts of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and beyond.

Laroche said the airport authority worked with partners such as Ottawa Tourism, Tourism Outaouais, local boards of trade and Destination Canada, a Crown corporation that promotes tourism across the country, to land the new route. He

refused to comment on whether the airport is providing any financial incentives to Air France.

He said talks between the carrier and YOW began heating up about three months

ago. Laroche noted that Air France CEO Ben Smith, a Canadian who previously served as Air Canada’s chief operating officer, was familiar with Ottawa’s tourism industry from his days as the operator of a retail corporate travel agency in the 1990s.

“He knows the market well,” Laroche said. “That’s an (advantage) when you don’t have to convince the CEO of an airline of the potential of a market.

“Obviously, Air France saw an opportunity. This is very late in the season to announce a summer route, so they reacted to this opportunity quickly, and good on them. We’re super happy to have them.”

The news comes as Ottawa’s airport is slowly regaining momentum after getting hit hard during the pandemic.

Traffic at the terminal fell from an average of nearly 14,000 passengers a day in 2019 to fewer than 3,300 at the height of the COVID-19 crisis two years later. The daily average ticked back up to 8,200 passengers in 2022, but only about 255 people a day boarded international flights last year – a number YOW officials are eager to grow.

Laroche said he’s optimistic that routes to vital European hubs like London and Frankfurt will be restored to the airport’s schedule in the not-too-distant future.

“Success begets success,” he said. “What

we’re saying is that Ottawa has an appetite for more direct connections, and if Air France is successful, there may be other interest from Air France or from other airlines. It’s ultimately their decisions, and it’s based on facts and evidence of a positive market response.”

Air France becomes the first carrier to operate transatlantic flights to Ottawa since Air Canada stopped direct routes to London and Frankfurt early in the pandemic after the federal government restricted international flights to airports in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

Whether the country’s largest airline gets back in the international mix at YOW remains to be seen, Laroche said.

“It’s Air Canada’s business strategy,” he said. “Will this make them have a second look? I don’t know. I welcome all airlines that offer service at our airport.”

The news comes on the heels of Porter Airlines’ recent move to launch four new direct routes from YOW to Boston, Newark, Quebec City and Thunder Bay this spring.

The Toronto-based airline, which just began constructing two new aircraft maintenance hangars at the airport, is also debuting flights between Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and Ottawa this month.

Laroche said he expects Porter to announce more news related to YOW shortly. “The airport is in a good position right now,” he said.

Obviously, Air France saw an opportunity. This is very late in the season to announce a summer route, so they reacted to this opportunity quickly, and good on them. We’re super happy to have them.

– MARK LAROCHE, CEO, OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY

Convention industry’s comeback in full swing as bookings approach 2019 levels

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

After grinding to a halt at the height of the pandemic, meetings and conventions are back with a vengeance as business leaders clamour to reconnect face-to-face, local industry leaders say.

Chris Bosley, general manager of the Infinity Convention Centre in the city’s south end, told OBJ he expects 2023 will be the busiest year yet for the facility, which opened in 2016 and has about 17,000 square feet of meeting space.

“Just from speaking with people, they’re optimistic that things will get better and they’ll be able to start meeting again,” Bosley said. “The first thing they’re saying is, ‘It’s so nice to be back in person again.’”

The pandemic wreaked havoc with Ottawa’s convention industry as COVIDrelated shutdowns and capacity restrictions wiped most gatherings off the calendar for the better part of 2020, as well as much of 2021 and the first few months of 2022.

According to Ottawa Tourism, total room nights booked at the city’s meeting halls fell 91 per cent between 2019 and 2020. The industry was hit even harder in 2021, when bookings were down 94 per cent compared with two years earlier.

But the industry bounced back faster than many observers anticipated after COVID restrictions were lifted last spring, hotel and convention executives say, fuelled by a thirst for in-person gettogethers after two years of almost nothing but virtual meetings.

“The second half of (2022) we saw a lot more inquiries,” said Nyle Kelly, general manager of Kanata’s Brookstreet Hotel. “We’re seeing a comfort level from groups and conferences to get back into in-person meetings.”

Even once capacity limits were lifted last year, Kelly figured it would take at least until 2025 for bookings to return to pre-pandemic levels. He’s now revising his earlier prognosis, suggesting the industry could be back to full health as early as next year.

“There’s a lot more positivity out there than there was even six months ago,” Kelly said. “We will know a lot more three months from now. We’re optimistic.”

That sentiment is echoed by the EY Centre’s Neill Bales. The general manager of the city’s largest meeting and convention

space says bookings for 2022 are on par with 2019, when the 220,000-square-foot facility staged 120 events that drew a total of 750,000 visitors.

“So far, everything is looking very good,” said Bales, noting that all of the EY Centre’s marquee events, including the Ottawa Home and Garden Show, the Ottawa Boat & Outdoors Show and Ottawa Comiccon, are slated to return this year. “The whole mix is kind of happening.”

Bales did issue one caveat to his upbeat outlook, however. Should the recession predicted by many economists materialize, that could dampen consumer confidence and cause buyers to rethink big-ticket purchases like boats and RVs, he acknowledged.

But people still love to browse even if they’re not actually pulling the trigger on transactions, Bales added.

“We may see a little bit of a dip in attendance numbers, but I don’t anticipate it being too low,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a huge concern.”

At the Ottawa Conference and Event Centre on Coventry Road, general manager Claudio Dinardo was equally bullish about his facility’s outlook for 2023.

“I’m seeing clients coming back to us that I haven’t seen for the last three years, so it’s looking good,” Dinardo said. “We’re busy.”

Ottawa Tourism says that while the industry hasn’t fully recovered from the effects of the pandemic, all indicators suggest it is gaining momentum.

Spokesperson Jantine Van Kregten said the marketing agency is “optimistic about the meetings and conventions scene in 2023” and predicts this year’s total room bookings will finish at about 85 per cent of 2019 levels.

Ottawa Tourism is seeing a “steady stream of new inquiries” from both domestic and international organizations, she added, explaining that the agency is focused on landing large “anchor events” to help kickstart the industry’s resurgence.

“It can take years from the time of identification to securing the business for our destination,” Van Kregten said in an email to OBJ. “Yet they are important as other events may choose to tag onto them, they present community-building opportunities, sometimes lead to infrastructure improvements, and more.”

FACILITIES

Shaw Centre on pace for best year ever in 2023: CEO

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

After suffering through lean times earlier in the pandemic, the Shaw Centre is on pace to attract the most events and visitors in its 12-year history in 2023, its chief executive says.

Nina Kressler told OBJ the region’s second-largest meeting and convention space is seeing “significant uptake” in bookings for major gatherings with more than 300 participants as associations from across Canada and around the world look to satisfy pent-up demand for face-to-face interaction.

While Kressler and her management team expected many organizations to scale back the size of their delegations as they

slowly returned to in-person events, she said that hasn’t been the case.

“We found the complete opposite,” Kressler said, noting a number of large international associations as well as domestic clients have booked the facility this year.

“People are spending money on sending delegates. How long that will last, I don’t know, but certainly right now we’re seeing the great desire for people to get together as a group.”

Opened in 2011, the Shaw Centre has 192,000 square feet of meeting space, second only to the EY Centre among convention facilities in the National Capital Region.

After hosting 486 total events, including 47 conventions, and turning a profit of $1.34 million in 2018-19, the building saw attendance plummet during the COVID-19 crisis as most public meeting spaces were shuttered in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.

The Shaw Centre hosted just eight events in the 2020-21 fiscal year while posting a net deficit of $3.66 million.

The facility began to rebound last year, hosting a total of 60 events, including one convention and one trade show.

But its gross revenues of $1.92 million were well below its goal of $3.3 million, and the building lost a whopping $4.3 million. The facility remained afloat thanks to a $5.3-million bailout from the provincial government.

But Kressler said the Shaw Centre’s fortunes are turning.

As an example, she touted Air France’s recent decision to launch direct flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Ottawa starting this summer. Kressler said Shaw Centre staff have been working with organizations such as Ottawa Tourism to compile a “tremendous” list of potential European customers who could take

advantage of the new route.

“When we can go back to that great list of clients and make this announcement, it makes their life a lot easier when they’re looking to bring an international convention to Ottawa,” she said.

“It’s opened up the gateway for us to certainly attract more business, particularly international business. What’s exciting for us is that business generally comes in July and August when the convention centre

has a little more down time.”

International bookings generally require “significantly more lead time” to finalize, Kressler added, so the new routes could take several years to bear fruit.

“This allows us to go out with messaging and incentives and great packages to pitch,” she said. “It just will take a little bit longer, but we’ve already had some great traction in the international market … It can only get better.”

People are spending money on sending delegates. How long that will last, I don’t know, but certainly right now we’re seeing the great desire for people to get together as a group.

– NINA KRESSLER, SHAW CENTRE CEO

Technologies come and go, but art will always have a place in Andrew Milne’s life

Andrew Milne has built a name for himself in Ottawa’s business community as a marketing and digital transformation leader and growth expert. That’s why it came as a surprise to some of his acquaintances when they were invited to his art show last spring.

“A lot of people didn’t know,” said Milne, the vice-president of growth for Relish Studios, during an interview at his Glebe home where he has his own art studio.

Milne, 51, has been creating art ever since he was a kid growing up in Kanata. “I always wanted to paint, draw, illustrate.”

BY CAROLINE PHILLIPS caroline@obj.ca

He was part of the visual arts program at Earl of March Secondary School. It was his art teacher, the late Dorothy Bongo, who suggested he attend Sheridan College in Toronto, where he studied illustration with a minor in advertising.

What came next was an exciting and

fast-paced freelance career working for Toronto ad agencies during a period of digital acceleration.

“I realized I was sitting in the boardrooms but not having the conversations,” said Milne of his decision to return to Ottawa, where he took on digital director roles that became executive roles, which led to him starting his own company, bv02.

For 16 years, Milne ran a full-service digital agency that combined strategy, creativity and technology to provide branding, marketing, communications and e-business solutions.

One might think that, with a business and young family, Milne’s interest in art would dry up faster than acrylics left on

Ottawa tech and business leader Andrew Milne finds satisfaction and solace at the easel.

PHOTO BY CAROLINE PHILLIPS.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ANDREW MILNE

1Painting has helped him through some personal challenges, from a life-changing concussion to the loss of his only sibling, Bruce, 54, to cancer in August 2021.

it by Kingston-based artist Michelle Reid.

His participation in Reid’s show was a stepping stone for what came next: his first solo show. It had been years in the making, borne out of a conversation he’d once had about art with Velma McColl, principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group. He found out she used to work at a gallery. She learned he’d done work as an artist.

“She said, ‘Someday, we’ll do a show at my house.’”

2

He’s married to Dominique Milne, a real estate agent at Engel & Völkers Ottawa Central. Together, they have two sons, Logan and Lex.

McColl kept her word. She cleared away the furniture on the ground floor of her home in the Island Park Drive area to host an exhibit for Milne last May 15. Milne’s friend Scott Nowlan, president and founder of The Saunus Network, was “instrumental” in helping the show come together.

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3

He has deep Scottish roots. He got married in a kilt, has two Airedale terriers (Skye and Talisker), and loves scotch (his most prized bottle comes from the Edradour Distillery).

Some 185 of their friends and contacts attended on what turned out to be a stormy day. Of the 43 paintings, three-quarters of them sold. “We had a really good show,” Milne said.

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4

When he paints, he either listens to music or spythriller audio books.

5He has a copy of “Painting as a Pastime” by Winston Churchill. It’s full of great quotes, including: “Go out into the sunlight and be happy with what you see.”

a palette. Yet, the 2009 Forty Under 40 Award recipient still found time to sketch, particularly on family holidays and trips abroad.

In 2018, Milne sold his company. He started spending more time at the Milne family cottage at Davis Lock in the Rideau Lakes area, capturing on canvas the natural landscapes that surrounded him. He began building a larger body of work, even after joining Field Effect Software as chief revenue officer in 2019.

Milne prefers impressionism as an art form because it sets a mood and tone for the outdoor spaces he’s trying to capture. “It allows me to be a little more fluid with the colours, the shapes, the feeling,” said Milne, who works from his own reference photos, sketches and watercolours.

In September 2021, Milne participated in his first group show. He was coaxed into

He followed that exhibit with another winner, this time at The Opinicon, a visitor hotspot in the same Rideau Lakes area where Milne has been painting for years. The fact that his works were bought by strangers and led to a bunch of commissioned works staved off feelings of “imposter syndrome.”

“I think it’s something you deal with throughout your career, no matter how much experience you have, but it’s been the encouragement from the community and people asking me about my work, asking me to do commissions, that’s helped keep me going,” said Milne.

Milne has started donating his paintings to charity auctions for such causes as Christie Lake Kids and Ottawa Riverkeeper. It’s his way of “paying forward” the boost people like Reid and McColl gave him.

“I love that my paintings allow me to support the things I love and care about while, at the same time, people are connecting with them and really appreciating them.”

In business, everything is constantly evolving. Yet art has a permanence Milne values. One of his paintings has been hung by its longtime owner in seven different homes over the years.

“Art is something people choose, and when they choose to have it, they like to experience it, they become bonded with it,” said Milne. “It’s interesting how other things around us seem to change but art stays with us.”

Long-term closure of Wellington Street ‘not viable,’ tourism officials argue

BY SARAH MACFARLANE sarah@obj.ca

The future of Wellington Street needs to be decided as part of a larger plan to reimagine the downtown and with an eye to the impact on tourism, local stakeholders say.

A section of the major east-west artery in the downtown has been closed to traffic since last year’s “Freedom Convoy” demonstration.

A council motion to close Wellington Street to vehicles was in effect until the end of 2022. Council recently voted to reopen Wellington as an interim decision as it considers a longer-term plan.

Tourism officials say the lack of access to Parliament Hill has directly impacted local tourism.

“We want the tourism voice to be heard,” Jantine Van Kregten, director of communications at Ottawa Tourism, told OBJ. “Wellington Street provides the best views and access to Parliament Hill and that is our icon in Ottawa. That is a big part of our messaging.”

Although visitors and tourists can currently access Parliament Hill on foot, buses are forced to drop off tourists a few blocks away, which Van Kregten said raises issues of accessibility for seniors or visitors with disabilities.

Catherine Callary, Ottawa Tourism’s vice-president of destination development, said Parliament Hill is a “big part of our destination image,” with tourists stopping by for a tour or to take selfies and post to social media, thereby boosting the city’s image. Also, there are many hotels in the area that would benefit from a reopening, she said.

“It’s time to look at Wellington within the context of this general need to claim back our streets and have visitors and residents enjoy it,” said Callary, who sits on the Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task

Force. “Whether that means reopening to traffic or keeping it closed, but finding a repurposed option that the tourism industry can work with.

“The current Wellington Street closure is not viable or acceptable for a long-term decision,” she continued. “The tourism industry is ready to see a decision so we can move forward. Understanding that we are on the eve of the anniversary of the illegal occupation, do we think this will happen tomorrow? No. We’re reasonable, but we’re ready for a decision.”

The future of Wellington Street is an opportunity for city planners to look at the bigger picture, said Andrew Penny, president of Kingsford Consulting, a firm he created in 1997 to help small and medium-sized businesses grow. It would be “backwards” to design the city around Wellington Street, rather than the other way around, he added.

“What we do with Wellington Street has to be decided along with how we redesign the city,” he said, citing the “sleepiness” of the downtown core and the impact of the

pandemic as considerations.

“The way we use the city has changed dramatically,” he said. “We need a master plan for how we reset.”

Penny said he hopes for a “tactical” approach.

“(The reopening of Wellington Street) is not a decision that can be made isolated and now is the time to do it,” he said. “I think Ottawa historically has had a policy of incrementalism … a little here, a little there, nothing too big or bold, but we need to take advantage of where we are right now.”

Wellington Street provides the best views and access to Parliament Hill and that is our icon in Ottawa. That is a big part of our messaging.

— JANTINE VAN KREGTEN, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, OTTAWA TOURISM

BYWARD MARKET

‘It just needs a bit of love’: ByWard Market businesses back proposed new governance structure

BY SARAH MACFARLANE sarah@obj.ca

Business owners are applauding a proposal to dissolve the ByWard Market BIA in favour of a new municipal services corporation structure.

The structure, announced at a recent BIA board meeting, would replace the current BIA and Ottawa Markets, which is responsible for operations in the Market. The goal behind the proposed new structure is to align area operations, marketing, programming and advocacy under a single entity.

“We want to see change because what’s happening now is not good,” said John Borsten, the owner or co-owner of Zak’s Diner, The Grand Pizzeria & Bar, Starling and the Metropolitain Brasserie, all cornerstone eateries in the Market, and a BIA board member. “It isn’t a hostile takeover.

“The problem right now is the Market is treated as just another part of the city, with the same service level as Bank Street or Nepean,” he said.

“We get 40,000 people here on a July Saturday and the garbage is all over the place and you have to go to some department to get it cleared,” he said. “It’s in need of care

and this will hopefully help facilitate that.”

The ByWard Market BIA has been doing “an amazing job” with branding the area as a tourist destination “for decades,” said Michelle Groulx, president of the Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas (OCOBIA).

“But then what surfaced and what the city was talking about was there was a corporation of Ottawa Markets, so two entities within this area, and sometimes you need to combine them in order to make a big voice and impact,” she said.

While the move is still in its strategic review and assessment phase, Groulx hopes that the new entity will have more authority than a BIA when it comes to boosting the area. BIAs have limited power when it comes to certain issues like infrastructure, which fall to city authorities, she said. Shutting down a street for an event, coordinating waste collection and other priorities for the community will be easier to address with this new authority, she added.

Jacquie LaRocque is a public affairs counsellor and founder and principal of Compass Rose, a government relations firm based in the Market. She’s focused on the growth and “rejuvenation” of the Market, whether it comes from this new

entity or the city itself.

Along with other community leaders and advocates, LaRocque presented ideas and priorities to Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe at the Mayor’s Economic Summit in February. Among the priorities she proposed were long-term investments, designated foot control, realignment of

social services, and creating an “authentic experience” for visitors and locals.

“We’re really looking at what the plan is for rejuvenating the district, moving from a lighter version of action to something longer and deeper that will affect the fabric of the area,” she told OBJ. Urgent priorities for her include safety and security, whereas more longterm ideas involve “transformational” investment opportunities. All in all, she said, transforming the ByWard Market is a “deeper conversation.”

The new structure would mean that the mayor or a mayor’s designate will sit on the governing board. While the BIA board had a non-voting representative from the city, the new governance structure would include a seat for the mayor’s office “to communicate the stature of what this authority will be,” said Groulx.

“If anything, it states the attention and care that this area needs,” Groulx said. “It will have at its disposal people on board who can get results and change and make this a shining star in the city … It’s an understanding that this is being heard from the very top and has the ability to be acted on, so I think it’s really huge.”

Board members of the existing BIA will be involved in the transition and in making sure businesses are well-represented, Groulx added.

“Being able to push things ahead and get change done takes a bit more involvement and the Market is looking for that mandate and all of Ottawa should be behind and support this district,” said Groulx. “It just needs a bit of love.”

But then what surfaced and what the city was talking about was there was a corporation of Ottawa Markets, so two entities within this area, and sometimes you need to combine them in order to make a big voice and impact.

— MICHELLE GROULX, PRESIDENT, OCOBIA

CLIMATE CHANGE

No canal this year - what’s the future for Winterlude?

BY SARAH MACFARLANE sarah@obj.ca

The mild weather that was the hallmark of this year’s Winterlude celebrations is pushing local businesses that depend on the winter festival to consider what a future of warmer weather could mean for them.

Étienne LeBlanc-Cameron, co-owner of Cobblestone Tours, was excited at the prospect of his first Winterlude. His year-old company offers winter sightseeing tours of the city in unique vintage buses. He also coowns Lady Dive Tours and Gray Line, which takes visitors around Ottawa and Gatineau on an amphibus and on double-decker buses during the warmer months.

“This is my first winter operating, so I can’t compare to other years, but by talking to other enterprises, they’ve all said that winter is kind of rough … until Winterlude,” said LeBlanc-Cameron.

“But this year was quite the opposite. With this mild weather, it just seems as though people have lost the desire to come to Ottawa for the winter since there’s no (Rideau) canal,” LeBlanc-Cameron added. “We just haven’t seen an increase … if anything, it’s been a decrease.”

Winterlude has been drawing tourists since 1979 and is known globally for its ice sculptures and beaver tails, sledding and maple taffy. But perhaps the most popular attraction of the festival is the Rideau Canal Skateway, which did not open at all this season for skating.

The Rideau Canal has been turned into a skating rink every winter since 1970. The latest the skateway has opened was Feb. 2, 2002. Last year, the canal skating season lasted 41 days, but the 2021 season was the shortest in over a decade at 29 days.

Perhaps ironically, this year’s Winterlude got off to a freezing start, with some activities cancelled due to extreme weather warnings. Days later, temperatures warmed and ice sculptures began to melt.

“For all we know, next year could be a

great season,” said Jantine Van Kregten, director of communications at Ottawa Tourism. “The unpredictability is the tricky part and this year seems to have been the perfect storm of bitterly cold weather that was quick and book-ended by mild temperatures.”

Van Kregten points out that Winterlude itself has changed over the years. “We’ve diversified offerings,” she said. “As a festival, the skateway is a bucket list item, but there’s so much more.”

this year’s situation becomes the norm and he can’t rely on the “new life” that Winterlude has typically brought to the city in February.

“We would be looking at finding new ways to attract tourists and bring people back to Ottawa, tell them why to come here during winter,” said LeBlanc-Cameron. “In the summer it’s so easy … in the winter, we need to find something new to keep Ottawa unique. That’s what we would be looking for moving forward. We could incorporate some kind of new tour that would be a bit more interesting for locals.”

Grant Hooker is a Winterlude veteran. Co-founder of BeaverTails Canada, Hooker and his tasty pastries have been a staple of Winterlude — and the canal in particular — since 1981. Now in his 42nd year of the festival, Hooker is unfazed by the weather.

“We like to say it’s a bit like farming,” said Hooker when describing the BeaverTails business model. “We plant our seeds in the fall by creating our beaver mobiles on pads that are at ice level on the skateway, recruiting between 150 and 200 new staff to join returning staff, getting our equipment ready, and then we sit back to see if Mother Nature will give us a kiss or break out her work boots and give us a boot in the rear end. And this year she’s a kicker, big time. Exclamation point.”

Hooker says BeaverTails has locations around Ottawa and internationally that don’t rely on the weather or on Winterlude.

Nonetheless, he recognizes that the various activities created by tourism officials over the years have led to the “spike of activity” that Winterlude creates for the local economy in “the deadest part of Ottawa’s winter.”

“And that was directly part of what the festival brought to our city … Festivals not only allow Ottawans to get out with friends and family to celebrate winter, or the end of winter at the Tulip Festival, but these also serve the community by generating jobs and income.”

Activities and attractions less reliant on the cold will be key to survival in a milder future, Van Kregten said.

“We’ve seen, over the first two weekends, record crowds at Snowflake Kingdom because temperatures are mild and people wanted to be outside. We might actually see time spent outside at activities increase if temperature cooperates, even if it’s not skating.”

At Cobblestone Tours, LeBlancCameron said he is preparing in case

While Hooker says there’s “no question” about the seriousness of climate change, he is prepared.

“In the early years, when we realized that Mother Nature does regularly kick us, we diversified what we do. We opened our first stores outside of Ottawa in La Ronde in Montreal (now Six Flags), which led to our (franchising),” he said.

“We take it one year at a time, but we have confidence that the joy of skating will return to Ottawa,” Hooker added.

In the early years, when we realized that Mother Nature does regularly kick us, we diversified what we do. We opened our first stores outside of Ottawa in La Ronde in Montreal (now Six Flags), which led to our (franchising).

– GRANT HOOKER, CO-FOUNDER OF BEAVERTAILS CANADA

Ex-Canopy Growth CEO Linton says firm’s latest job cuts likely not the last

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

Bruce Linton didn’t mince words about Canopy Growth’s plans to shut down its headquarters at 1 Hershey Dr. in Smiths Falls later this year as part of a new round of cost-cutting.

“I was sick,” the firm’s co-founder and former CEO told OBJ when asked for his reaction. “(Canopy Growth) created something that was world-leading, both in the valuation and the science, and Smiths Falls was kind of the core to that narrative.”

The Eastern Ontario-based cannabis company that Linton helped launch more than a decade ago dropped a bombshell during its latest earnings report in February, announcing it will shutter its flagship 650,000-square-foot facility in Smiths Falls and lay off 800 workers – or about 35 per cent of its workforce – in a bid to trim more than $100 million in expenses.

It’s the latest in a series of job cuts at Canopy Growth as the company behind brands such as Tweed, Quatreau, Doja and Ace Valley seeks to reach profitability and

remain a viable long-term entity.

When the dust settles, the company will employ about 400 people in Smiths Falls, down from 1,500 just a few years ago. While the latest layoffs are another big blow to the town and its residents, Linton says he thinks things could get worse at Canopy before they get better.

“They’ve put out at least half a dozen press releases talking about how they’re

going to become profitable, but all they do is keep cutting costs,” he said. “This is a very terrible cut. Regrettably, it’s not the first, nor do I suspect it is the last.”

Canopy said its revenues for the third quarter ended Dec. 31 were $101.2 million, down from $141 million the previous year. The firm posted a net loss of $266.7 million or 54 cents per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $115.5 million or 28 cents

per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.

Canopy’s stock price has fallen nearly 73 per cent in the past year as its quarterly losses continue to mount.

Analysts had expected Canopy’s sales to be about $117 million for the quarter, a note from CIBC Capital Markets said.

As the pot producer struggles to compete with the illicit market, which still captures about 40 per cent of all Canadian sales, it hopes its latest efforts to find savings – which include consolidating some of its cultivation sites and relying on third parties when sourcing vapes, beverages, edibles and extracts – will help.

But analysts suggested they’re not convinced Canopy’s latest moves will be enough for it to reach its goal.

“Even given the severity of Canopy’s losses and cash burn over the past several years, the magnitude of today’s restructuring plan is remarkable,” CIBC’s John Zamparo and Monica Lutz said in their note to investors. “As remarkable, in our view, is that unless sales growth returns, the plan still may not be sufficient for Canopy to reach profitability.”

Linton, who was ousted as Canopy’s CEO in July 2019, said the firm that was once Canada’s largest cannabis producer has lost its leadership role in the medical pot space.

As prices for pot and products like vape cartridges have fallen amid stiff competition from the black market, Canopy has shifted its focus to the premium recreational cannabis sector, which typically commands higher prices and generates a more loyal consumer base than value items.

But those efforts haven’t yet proven effective, Linton noted.

“Sales minus expenses equals profit or loss,” he said. “If sales keep falling, that means you have to keep cutting. So the question is, do they have any strategy to increase revenue rather than continually seeing a decrease? Because if they don’t, that is a problem that has an end point.”

Like many Canadian pot producers, Canopy is also banking on federal legalization of cannabis south of the border to help spur new sales. The firm is still awaiting shareholder approval for Canopy USA, a separate entity that will combine U.S. pot company Acreage Holdings Inc. with edibles businesses Wana Brands and Jetty Extracts.

But Linton said the U.S. market remains fraught with uncertainty.

– With files from Canadian Press

I was sick. (Canopy Growth) created something that was world-leading, both in the valuation and the science, and Smiths Falls was kind of the core to that narrative.

– BRUCE LINTON, FORMER CEO, CANOPY GROWTH

The Bright Side of Business is an editorial feature focused on sharing positive stories of business success. The column is presented by Star Motors, Ottawa’s original Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes Van dealer.

Award puts ‘Little Ray’ among the ‘legends’ of the zoo and aquarium world

After coming through the nightmare of the pandemic, Paul ‘Little Ray’ Goulet is living beyond his wildest dreams.

Goulet is the director and owner of Little Ray’s Nature Centre, the largest exotic animal rescue in Canada with locations in Ottawa, Hamilton, Edmonton and Syracuse, N.Y. Goulet opened the centre in 2000 with his wife. What started as a humble operation quickly became known for its efforts in conservation; to date, it has rescued more than 8,000 animals.

Despite this, Goulet was caught off-guard when he was named the 2022 Zoo/Aquarium Professional Of The Year by the Canadian Association Of Zoos And Aquariums.

“It makes me want to cry — I get goosebumps,” Goulet says. “It’s still quite overwhelming because of everything that we went through.”

Goulet didn’t know that his name had been thrown into the ring for the award, an honour reserved for legends in the industry, Goulet explains.

“(During the award ceremony), they start reading the description (of the winner),” Goulet recalls of the event, which took place in October in Kamloops, B.C.

“I had no idea they were talking about me. People at my table were crying.”

Eventually it sunk in. “I’ve literally had this epiphany,” he says. “I am now the senior statesman. I’m the guy with 27 years in our industry (who) young people are looking up to.”

It’s no secret that the pandemic blindsided Little Ray’s Nature Centre. With 96 per cent of its revenue gone, the business borrowed $1.65 million to stay afloat and re-mortgaged the building.

While things are better now, it’s still a struggle. Goulet says the business is paying back $264,000 in loans per year, a staggering number when you consider that the biggest profit the business has ever made is around $300,000. He explains that, while the business has made up to $5 million in revenue in the past, most of that is invested into the centre and various conservation projects.

“I’m not in the business to make money,” Goulet says. “It’s not what motivates me to make a salary. I love what I do.

“I’m really just a 12-year-old living in

a 51-year-old body,” Goulet says. “(I’m a kid) who is just really excited about nature, education and in sharing my passion for the things I’ve learned.”

When the pandemic hit, the community didn’t hesitate to rally behind Goulet and his team, donating just under half a million dollars.

“We kept all of our full-time staff, nobody lost their job,” Goulet says.

For Goulet, the award demonstrates what he’s always told his team: the “higher-ups” are watching and they’re rooting for Little Ray’s Nature Centre.

Goulet is open about the mental health challenges he faced during the pandemic, with immense pressure coming from all angles, including animals that would have to be euthanized if the centre closed. He had staff who had dedicated 22 years of their lives to the centre and faced the possible loss of his home, where he lives with his wife and their 12-year-old triplets.

“You can only be under so much stress for so long,” Goulet says, adding he’s found a therapist in Ottawa who is helping him unpack his anxieties. “I’m at the point where I’m starting to feel that (sense) of being invincible, at least from the standpoint that you cannot take away my ability to provide for my children.”

There’s more good news on the horizon. Before the pandemic, the centre had a contract with the Boston Museum of Science, but the deal fell through when COVID forced museums to close. Recently, the U.S. contact popped back up again and wants to explore a sixmonth contract with Goulet’s team.

“They are super excited to be working with us,” Goulet says. “If nothing else, (it) gives you a ton of hope, I can tell you.”

— By Nickie Shobeiry

It makes me want to cry — I get goosebumps. It’s still quite overwhelming because of everything that we went through.

- PAUL ‘LITTLE RAY’ GOULET.

Get ready for some world-class curling, right here in Ottawa!

How local businesses can take advantage of this international sporting event

While some people may think that major events like the World Men’s Curling Championships just happen on their own, those in the know understand that there is a full team of dedicated people working to bring these events to Ottawa. Rob Kawamoto, Ottawa Tourism’s assistant director of major events and sport, works to identify these types of opportunities for our city.

“When the RFPs are released or we hear about an event that would be a good fit for Ottawa, we make sure we’re on their list,” he said.

Kawamoto knows that putting Ottawa’s best foot forward takes a collaborative effort between multiple stakeholders. It helps that he’s making those connections year round, not just when an event pops up on their radar.

Why bring a world curling event to Ottawa?

Kawamoto started putting these curling rocks in motion some time ago, successfully bidding on the 2021 championships – which were inevitably moved to the curling bubble in Calgary.

Two years in the making, Kawamoto and the city are excited to finally welcome the event to the capital.

“Ottawa’s a great curling city and the Ottawa Valley Curling Association and CurlON are great partners,” said Nolan Thiessen, executive director of marketing & fan experience with Curling Canada, noting Ottawa’s track record of success when hosting the 2016 Brier and 2017 Canadian Curling Trials.

“Come and try it!” Thiessen added, encouraging those new to the sport of curling to get involved. “It’s much harder than these athletes make it seem, but so much fun.”

Being the nation’s capital with ample space and top-tier amenities to host athletes along with their families and coaches doesn’t hurt when it comes to landing an international event.

“We worked with Curling Canada to connect with international embassies so they knew their men’s team would be competing,” said Kawamoto. “When the diplomats send the news back to their home country, they’ll be talking about what’s happening in Ottawa all over the world.”

What does it mean for Ottawa businesses?

The influx of people will bring fresh revenue to Ottawa’s hard-hit small business and tourism sector.

“Curling Canada prides itself on the economic activity our events of this scale bring,” said Thiessen. “The Brier hosted in Lethbridge last year was of a similar size and it brought $16.8 million into the community.”

Kawamoto notes the broader community impact.

“Events like this have a social impact by engaging a large community of volunteers,” he said, also mentioning the immense energy and spirit an event like this injects into the city.

How can my business join the action?

With the event weeks away, Ottawa businesses still have time to get involved in the festivity.

Whether you’re in the hospitality industry or provide products and services that curlers and their fans will enjoy, it’s time to seize the day by creating a buzz on social media.

“It sends a message to event organizers that when they go to Ottawa, they’re going to get a lot of support,” Kawamoto says, making it easier to win more bids in the future.

Kawamoto also recommends looking ahead to future events, like the Masters Indigenous Games coming to Ottawa in August 2023 or even the IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in 2026. In addition to ensuring these visitors can access your business, those who specialize in serving this community can reach out to the Major Events Team at Ottawa Tourism to tell them what they have to offer.

“During the Canada Para-badminton International last year, we had a business that offers massage therapy for paraathletes reach out to us,” said Kawamoto. “I was able to connect them with the event organizers.”

With Kawamoto and his team planning 10 years ahead, he encourages businesses to do the same.

“The goal is to attract the events that produce the best benefit to our community,” he added. “Any business or organization who wants to suggest an event can reach us through our online portal.”

Get your tickets for the World Men’s Curling Championship today.

CANNABIS

Pot shop owner refuses to be stonewalled by lack of cannabis regulations

BY ROB THOMAS news@obj.ca

When Sam Sayed opened his boutiquestyle cannabis dispensary Flower Haze, he envisaged the small business blossoming into a bustling café, where customers could enjoy a hot cup of coffee and stay a while.

Three years later, he’s still waiting on the provincial government to allow his vision to become a reality.

Flower Haze, near the corner of Bank Street and Heron Road, was inspired by the coffee shops Sayed visited as a tourist in Holland that also sold cannabis.

“I figured it would be cool to kind

of have something like this in Ottawa,” Sayed recalls. “So I was on a mission to do something different in the height of recreational cannabis.”

What he didn’t want was to open the kind of illegal café that skirts regulations and had existed even before legalization. So, he set aside a small lounge area at the front of his 3,500-square-foot dispensary with the idea that it might become a café once the province loosened restrictions on dispensaries selling anything other than cannabis or cannabisrelated food and drink products.

At that time, legal consumption lounges in Ontario looked like a real possibility. The Ontario government had launched

consultations on the issue in February 2020. However, nearly three years later, the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General has yet to announce any decision based on those consultations.

Sayed says he’s confident he’ll weather the current glut of cannabis dispensaries in the market since his customer base is solid and sales remain stable, despite another dispensary opening on his doorstep. And, in the meantime, he will open an entirely separate non-cannabis café adjacent to his dispensary to benefit from some of the foot traffic Flower Haze has brought to the area.

“I’m just going to focus on premium coffee and have some health-conscious foods like vegan desserts and gluten-free desserts,” he says. “Then I’m going to operate the coffee shop right next to my dispensary. And then at some point in life, if they do allow consumption, it’s just a matter of opening them up to each other.”

Sayed says that most dispensary owners recognize that consumption locations are the next logical step. He plans to open his café in April of this year.

Susan Dupej is a post-doctoral fellow at the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management at the University of

Guelph and president of the newly formed Canadian Cannabis Tourism Alliance. She agrees that retailers are looking to add value in a competitive marketplace and legal consumption spaces are the next big thing.

“The United States is going ahead in a number of different states on regulations surrounding spaces of cannabis consumption. And that’s where the success of this lives, in the regulations around consumption,” she says.

Dupej says it is not enough to legalize cannabis consumption; there also needs to be social venues outside of private events.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has made recommendations around easing consumption restrictions to bolster the cannabis industry and cannabis tourism, most recently in a joint report with the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. For Sayed, it’s all about the branding and design that are a big part of the boutique experience he has tried to fashion at Flower Haze.

“I’ve done this properly and we need business people like us to do this properly because it is a new, fairly new industry, and there’s a lot of stigma associated with it,” he says.

Outside the comfortzone

OUR TOP 10 REVEAL HOW THEY’VE PUSHED BOUNDARIES

BY ANNE HOWLAND anne@obj.ca

Acomfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”

Loved this quote from one of our fastest-growing company top 10 recipients, Aydin CPA.

From reading the profiles of our top 10, it’s obvious that all of our recipients have pushed themselves beyond their comfort zones to pursue their dreams — and they’re seeing their businesses grow as a result.

At the same time, it seems to me that they are well within their comfort zone when it comes to working hard and having a passion for what they do.

Still, running a fast-growing business takes more than passion. And this is where I was interested to see a couple of common

themes among our top 10.

One was all around finding the staff needed to support growth and retaining those staff in today’s market. As Sampford Advisors says, “Being able to staff up with the right team members that fit the existing culture has always been our biggest challenge, but it was even more prevalent during COVID because of a lack of talent and how quickly we had to scale compared to previous years when we had time to anticipate staffing needs.” And this from Aydin, “Despite our excellent clientele growth, we didn’t have enough team members to meet the needs of our clients.”

Many of our top 10 recipients have shared great lessons learned on this topic.

Another theme was around culture. Food Cycle Science comments, “Maintaining our company culture is a crucial part of our

growth strategy. We recognize that, as we scale, it becomes increasingly difficult to preserve the unique values and culture that helped to propel us to success in the first place.” Knak says, “We have a people first culture and have worked extremely hard to maintain this as we grow. We don’t want to lose what makes Knak such a special place to work.”

The importance of culture and its obvious ties to attraction and retention make for fascinating reading in these top 10 profiles.

Finally, there was the need for pivoting. The fast growth experienced by this year’s top 10 happened during one of the most tumultuous times in recent history: the COVID pandemic. Business models were changed on the fly and, as we emerge post-pandemic, must continue to evolve

in fundamental ways. Purecolo says that, “As many companies are uncertain about the future in these market conditions, it has made it hard to grow, as we also need to grow responsibly and not just spend whatever it takes to grow.” Bushbalm adds that, “During COVID, the growth in e-commerce was rapid, but has reverted to the average in 2022. Our business was primarily focused on e-commerce, but we had to pivot to other channels.”

All these factors add up to a delicate balance. Hire fast, but maintain culture. Grow rapidly, but be prepared to change direction.

For our top 10, the comfort zone of hard work and passion is a beautiful place. But to truly grow at these exponential rates, they’ve had to step outside that zone and learn to manage whatever challenges come their way.

Bushbalm

Bushbalm are specialists in bikini line skincare and hair removal.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

The challenging economic times have made us pivot our business strategies. During COVID, the growth in e-commerce was rapid, but has reverted to the average in 2022. Our business was primarily focused on e-commerce, but we had to pivot to other channels. This has paid off for us in the long run, but pivoting the business model is very hard in the moment. We saw our e-commerce sales growth slowing and needed additional channel opportunities to expand and diversify. Managing multiple channels is difficult, but having only one channel can be risky.

What did you do to address it?

To diversify our channel strategy we had to look into what other opportunities existed for the brand. We opted to work on small waxing salons, as there are over 360,000 of them alone in the United States. This meant we had a big opportunity to scale the business on a larger untapped channel. We set up a small team to test the market and have since scaled it to be a much larger

GROWTH RATE: 1,026% LAST YEAR’S RANK: 1

part of the business. In 2022, we added more than 1,000 waxing salons to our distribution model, which has been a big part of our new channel strategy. We will continue this strategy.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

It’s critical to be a diversified business model. Although scaling one specific business model is a faster way to grow, it can also be a faster way to slow. You always need to evaluate your business and see if you have risks associated with your business model. For instance, we now have over 1,500 waxing salons selling Bushbalm products. Our risk of losing all 1,500 accounts overnight is extremely low. However, if we were with a major retailer, you can lose them all at once. Diversification is key. We’ve now added Amazon, retail stores and waxing salons, so we can manage slowing growth in our e-commerce business.

Noibu detects, prioritizes and resolves critical e-commerce errors to deliver better digital experiences and prevent lost revenue.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

One of the significant challenges is managing the increased workload and demands of new customers. As the customer base grows, the startup must ensure that it has the necessary infrastructure and resources to meet their needs. Failure to do so can result in dissatisfied customers. Another challenge is maintaining the startup’s culture and values as it expands.

What did you do to address it?

As the company grows, it is essential to invest in scalable infrastructure and resources to meet the increased workload and demands of new customers. This can involve implementing new software, automating processes and increasing server capacity. Establishing regular team meetings, check-ins, and project management tools can help ensure that everyone is on the same page. Foster a strong culture and values by developing and communicating a clear mission statement, establishing

GROWTH RATE: 954% LAST YEAR’S RANK: 2

company values, and promoting a strong sense of community and collaboration. Hire strategically by focusing on hiring employees who share the company’s values and are committed to its mission.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

Successful startup companies understand that the business landscape is constantly changing and they need to be able to adapt quickly. This can involve pivoting the business model, adjusting the product offering, or shifting the target market based on changing customer needs and preferences. As we enter into the age of doing more with less, it is important to lean on the existing team and look for opportunities to automate.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Rachel Kerr, director of brand marketing; David Gaylord, CEO; and Tim Burns, COO.

Noibu Technologies Inc.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Filip Slatinac, Robert Boukine, Kailin Noivo.

GROWTH RATE: 817% LAST YEAR’S RANK: 8

Sampford Advisors

Sampford provides mergers and acquisitions advisory services for technology companies.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

Keeping up! Our business began to really scale just before COVID as our reputation in the Canadian marketplace began to grow and then COVID gave it a further boost by really accelerating software mergers and acquisitions. Being able to staff up with the right team members that fit the existing culture

COMPANIES

has always been our biggest challenge, but it was even more prevalent during COVID because of a lack of talent and how quickly we had to scale compared to previous years when we had time to anticipate staffing needs. This is especially the case given we are a services business.

What did you do to address it?

We built relationships with Carleton University and the University of Ottawa and increased our presence on campus by doing various teach-ins, speeches and presentations. We also established a more formal internship program so that we could hire full-time positions more consistently from former interns. In particular, we made use of Ottawa U’s and Carleton’s co-op programs to recruit for internships all year round (versus just recruiting summer interns).

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

Always be recruiting for new talent. Even if we have no new open positions, we are always building a pipeline of candidates that we can leverage if we need to. We are also continuing to hire interns/co-ops every semester so that we can get their help in managing peaks in workload, and recruiting for future positions. Instead of using interviews and other testing, we can work with someone for four months.

Fellow

Fellow is where teams gather to have productive team meetings and meaningful one-on-ones.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

In order to sustain our growth rate, we need to focus on moving up-market. While our lead flow has been steadily increasing, it hasn’t been growing as fast as we would like. Additionally, the law of large numbers means that we need to expand into larger deals to continue our momentum. Although we closed a $100K+ deal last year, we have yet to replicate that success. To achieve this, we are targeting companies that have initiated proactive measures to solve the meeting problem.

What did you do to address it?

To successfully move up-market, we need a comprehensive go-to-market approach. Our marketing team is working on defining and targeting our ideal customer profiles to better resonate with mid-market customers. We are also launching new initiatives to increase our lead count in this segment. To aid these efforts, we are hiring a VP of marketing with experience in

GROWTH RATE: 729% LAST YEAR’S RANK: NEW IN 2023

navigating this stage of growth. Our sales team is evolving to cater to mid-market customers, who require a more strategic approach.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

Overcoming challenges in outbound and top-down selling. During the category-creation stage, it can be difficult to sell to mid-market and enterprise-sized organizations since they typically lack a designated “company meeting owner” at the executive level. While they may have owners for other areas like task management or customer relationship management, the meeting problem is often treated as an ad-hoc initiative. Our focus is on inbound strategies to attract customers who are seeking solutions.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Boris Petkovic, director, and Ed Bryant, CEO.

The team at Fellow aims to move up-market.

Food ScienceCycle Corporation

Food Cycle is the inventor of the FoodCycler, the science-backed solution to food waste.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

Maintaining our company culture is a crucial part of our growth strategy. We recognize that, as we scale, it becomes increasingly difficult to preserve the unique values and culture that helped to propel us to success in the first place. Moreover, striking a delicate balance between seizing new opportunities and staying focused on our mission and core objectives is essential.

What did you do to address it?

We continually reinforce our core values to maintain a strong culture, ensuring every employee understands and embodies them. We know that hiring plays a vital role in preserving and enhancing our company culture, so we take the process very seriously. When recruiting new employees and looking at skills and qualifications, we

GROWTH RATE: 426%

LAST YEAR’S RANK: 6

What did you do to address it?

GROWTH RATE: 426%

LAST YEAR’S RANK: 7

also consider whether they will fit our company culture well. While there may be pressure to hire quickly to keep up with the demands of a growing business, we take the time to find the right candidates.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

We must build and protect a company culture that empowers people to take calculated risks while embracing failure and seeing it as the learning opportunity that it is. By building and protecting our strong company culture, we can foster an environment that encourages bold ideas, creative solutions, diligence and focus. Ultimately, success comes from finding the intersection between passion, societal need and economic viability.

Sidi.io

Sidi.io is a performance and growth marketing firm focused on driving business results for clients

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

We have been focused on building the infrastructure to support our growth. The challenge we have faced is remaining nimble, efficient and people-centric while we grow. It is easy to get distracted by policies, procedures and processes. While those are necessary tools for building and maintaining a stable company, it is essential to put people, performance and profit at the core. With growth comes a slew of challenges and opportunities from which to learn.

Remaining humble and maintaining a beginner’s mindset keeps us grounded, which is important to ensure we scale responsibly. We have levelled up tremendously as professionals by investing in training and leadership development. While it is imperative for any scaling company to build out its infrastructure, we have recognized that the people — our team, clients and partners — truly fuel our growth. We are doubling down on people and investing in their success, which in turn helps Sidi. io to thrive.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

As Sidi.io grows, it is of paramount importance for us to stay focused on our “why.” Our priority is to play a fundamental role in the revenue growth of our clients by effectively leveraging digital marketing to generate tangible business opportunities for them. By connecting our clients with their prospects, we are not only helping our clients to grow their business, we are also improving the quality of life of their customers. We have learned and are constantly reminded that being laserfocused on people directly correlates to rapid growth. The goal is to never lose sight of this as we continue to scale.

Bradley Crepeau, CEO.

Riaz Sidi, CEO.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

When we first started the business, it was mostly referral by word of mouth and demands were easily met as we were a small startup business. Once our company became more well-known over time, especially during tax seasons, our business development picked up speed with many new interested clients in our services, as well as current clients who are expanding in their operations with different needs. Despite our excellent clientele growth, we didn’t have enough team members to meet the needs of our clients.

What did you do to address it?

To meet the demands of our rapidly growing business, we expanded our team to ensure that our business would operate at its best. We worked hard and effectively, which is why we were able to accomplish this rapid growth. Being an entrepreneur requires love and passion because your performance will reflect these qualities. We have also fulfilled one of our goals to establish our own office to serve our clients to the best of our

GROWTH RATE: 317% LAST YEAR’S RANK: NEW THIS YEAR

abilities. Determination has proven to us that goals can be achieved and that we will continue to achieve them as we grow.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

My biggest lesson learned is that life is full of surprises and the key to success and growth is believing in yourself to achieve your goals. When setting goals, it is beneficial to define a clear and concise vision and then define the mindset, behaviours and actions that will take you there. In order to do that, you must leave your comfort zone. As they say: “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” Never allow failure to discourage your goals and always chase your dreams.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

Focus. As a company you have a really good feeling that you know you are doing the right thing in the right markets when your product has application in many other market verticals. The challenge is sticking to building out those use cases without being distracted and spreading yourself out to try and be everything to everyone. Those slight course changes can compound and send you off in the wrong direction.

What did you do to address it?

Number one was to listen to your core, key customers and find out how you can help them solve their problems. Being a great listener and attentively picking up cues for how we can be a creative solution provider really helps build out a product that is valued in your market vertical. As with most startups, you need to do what you can to extend the cash runway. Get creative with selling solutions, look at different avenues to get cash in the door from a variety of sources. Having a product that your customer

GROWTH RATE: 315%

LAST YEAR’S RANK: NEW THIS YEAR

values also has an advantage where they are willing to pay for customization and development.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

The team and the team’s belief in the mission is paramount. Having an engaged team that has low turnover allows you to continue your mission in your market with consistency. Building a culture that is exciting and people want to be a part of not only gives the benefit of continuity in your company’s mission, but also has the benefit of a group of people committed to the same mission. A large part of that belief in the mission comes from knowing you are providing value to customers.

John MacBeth, CEO.

TryCycle is a digital mental health software company.

Aydin is a small local CPA company in Stittsville.

Fatih Aydin, owner.

Aydin CPA Professional Corp. TryCycle Data Systems Inc.

Purecolo

Purecolo is a no-frills co-location facility offering data centre space and uptime peace of mind to clients.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

Uncertainty! With trades/materials in short supply and an elongated build window, we need to plan out demand months in advance. As many companies are uncertain about the future in these market conditions, it has made it hard to grow, as we also need to grow responsibly and not just spend whatever it takes to grow. Many companies will look to capture revenue at all costs, but it is important to run and grow things sustainably, a core fundamental of our business and mission.

What did you do to address it?

We have leaned on the resale market for a lot of our high-cost capital expenditures to ensure that we are getting the best bang for our buck, while also saving the environment by diverting equipment from landfill and not consuming new raw materials to make new appliances for our use. We also work closely with our clients to ensure that their growth is mapped and verified so that we have a very good line of sight

GROWTH RATE: 234%

LAST YEAR’S RANK: 10

on what current and future growth will be. While rose-coloured glasses work great for visionaries seeking a Series A, we prefer to run a fine-toothed comb through our projections to ensure they are real and not just a potential dream.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

One of the biggest lessons we learned this year was the importance of legacy planning. One of our trusted partner organizations had a “lynchpin” employee suffer a stroke and ultimately put some of our growth projects on a delay because all of the knowledge that person brought to their organization was lost. While this is only a minor headache to our growth, it stressed the importance of sharing the load and ensuring there are plans in place to move forward should the worst and unexpected happen.

Knak

GROWTH RATE: 212%

LAST YEAR’S RANK: NEW THIS YEAR

and the looming recession, we have been looking for new ways to keep employee happiness and engagement high to keep attrition low.

What did you do to address it?

Knak provides codeless email and landing page creation for enterprise teams.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in relation to the fast growth of your company?

Finding, training and retaining top talent is our biggest challenge. The talent market has gone through some volatility recently, which has made it more difficult to pull top talent from other organizations. With the fast growth that we have had at Knak, training at scale has become more difficult and we have had to put more time and resources into developing our training program. We have a big organization with a lot of teams that all require different types of training. Between the Great Resignation

We have hired internal recruiters and trained them on how to find top talent and widen their talent pools. We have implemented an automation tooling system to help us track our interviews and score our candidates better. We have also honed our interview process to make sure we are getting the best out of people to determine their talent and culture fit for our organization. Onboarding is critical here at Knak as it sets the tone for the employee journey. We are currently working on developing training programs for our executives and all people leaders here at Knak.

What has been your biggest lesson learned?

It’s all about the people. We have a people first culture and have worked extremely hard to maintain this as we grow. We don’t want to lose what makes Knak such a special place to work. That being said, working at a startup is difficult. There are many ebbs and flows and sometimes you need to make tough decisions for the betterment of the team.

LEFT TO RIGHT: James Mackenzie, COO/co-founder; Rainer Paduch, CEO/co-founder; and Mike Lalonde, co-founder.

Pierce Ujjainwalla, CEO.

From newcomer to mover and shaker, Fatih Aydin has big plans for his new accounting firm

It took Fatih Aydin less than 10 years to go from international student to owner and operator of his own business, and from speaking with him, it’s clear he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

“From day one, the goal was to open my own accounting firm,” said Aydin, who moved to Canada from Turkey in 2013, joining Carleton’s Sprott School of Business.

Following a four-year stint with McCay Duff LLP as well as a couple of years with MNP, Aydin set out to make his goal a reality, launching AYDIN CPA Professional Corporation in June of 2022. A family-owned company, Aydin’s firm is geared towards helping small-to-medium businesses and owners manage their finances, offering services including tax preparation for individuals and corporations, HST/GST returns, financial statements, payroll, bookkeeping, business advisory, and income tax planning and optimization.

While the entrepreneurial journey is never easy, Aydin had a clear vision of the clients he wanted to help along the way, including one

community near and dear to his heart: international students.

“I know from experience how difficult it can be to file a tax return when you’re new to Canada,” he said.

Relying on his acute business knowledge and eagerness to create a presence for himself in Ottawa, Aydin has grown the firm in a matter of months, expanding to four employees, and servicing a variety of clients ranging from big players in the real estate development and investment industries, to small businesses like restaurants and hair salons.

New on the Ottawa scene with big plans for the future

Located in Stittsville, Aydin has big plans for growth for the accounting firm.

With many connections and clients both locally and in Toronto and Montreal, he is already looking toward a future that will include office space to serve those clients locally.

“We want to be an essential partner helping clients achieve their financial goals through expert tax,

assurance and business advisory services, wherever they are,” he said. And, as a business owner himself, Aydin says he is committed to bringing his real-world experience to the table to help his own clients overcome challenges and make smarter financial decisions.

At his side through the entire journey — and now at the office as well — is his wife Merve, who he met while studying at Carleton and then brought on as the firm’s bookkeeper.

“I converted her to go into business with me,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “Why not?”

As a family-run business dedicated to having an impact not only on its clients but the broader Ottawa community, Aydin sees no end in sight for the potential of the company and his team.

“Clients count on AYDIN CPA Professional Corporation to make a positive difference in their lives, and that’s been my vision since the start,” he added. “Our team prides itself on providing personalized financial advice built on mutual trust and a commitment to excellence, and I hope anyone who comes through our doors will see that.”

We want to be an essential partner helping clients achieve their financial goals through expert tax, assurance and business advisory services, wherever they are.

CPA Fatih Aydin, owner of AYDIN CPA ProCo.

REAL ESTATE

Familiar downtown government buildings would be better off demolished, insiders say

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

Ottawa commercial real estate insiders itching to get a sense of which buildings the federal government plans to offload from its portfolio in the wake of COVID-19 will have to wait a little longer.

Five months after a senior federal official told a crowd at the Ottawa Real Estate Forum that the government expected to release a list of surplus holdings early in the new year, the feds have yet to announce which properties they plan to sell.

Public Services and Procurement Canada said last month it’s still “consulting with internal stakeholders, including client departments and agencies,” before unveiling its long-term commercial real estate strategy for the National Capital Region.

That means local real estate executives will continue to speculate on which federal government office holdings in the nation’s capital could be deemed expendable.

“They’ve shot a cannonball up into the air,” says longtime broker Darren Fleming, “and nobody knows when or where it’s going to land.”

Still, Fleming says he’s not surprised.

“I think they’re trying to be cautious, but it may just be delaying the inevitable,” says the CEO of Real Strategy Advisors.

In October, PSPC officials said they expect to divest about 15 to 20 per cent of their office space nationwide, which would equate to as much as eight million square feet in the National Capital Region.

Fleming, however, thinks those estimates are conservative.

“Depending on how you slice it, the feds are going to shrink (their office footprint) by 25 to 50 per cent,” he predicts.

But even before the pandemic fundamentally changed the way people work, the feds were looking at selling off aging real estate assets in the downtown core.

“This whole talk of the feds coming out of buildings, it’s nothing new,” says

Jeff Brown, a vice-president and broker at Colliers International who has been working in the city’s commercial real estate industry for more than 30 years.

“I think from a market perspective, we’re dealing with so many other uncertainties that this is just one on the list.”

The issue, another longtime industry executive says, comes down to simple economics.

“At some point, something’s past its useful life and you’ve got to consider alternatives,” says Michael Church, the managing director of Avison Young’s Ottawa office.

“What do we do with building X on an entire city block downtown that’s past its useful economic life?

“Well, the short answer is you sell it or you don’t. At some point, somebody’s got to make the call.”

Brown and other industry experts note that many of the federal government’s largest office complexes, such as L’Esplanade Laurier and the C.D. Howe Building at 240 Sparks St., date from the 1970s and require tens of millions of dollars’ worth of repairs and upgrades to meet modern

about $60 a square foot to retrofit the one-million-square-foot C.D. Howe Building to current building standards – a $60-million pill that would be tough for most developers to swallow.

“There are significant costs attached to any of this stuff,” Arseneau says.

Converting empty office space to

scratch, while the C.D. Howe Building’s 50,000-square-foot-plus floorplate is too large to be effectively divided into apartments.

So what to do with structures that are too costly to renovate and don’t lend themselves to other uses?

Some industry leaders say it might be time to consider a more radical alternative.

“I think the theory that’s been rolling around (for L’Esplanade Laurier) is you just have to blow that place up and then develop a better plan for new buildings,” Arseneau offers.

Brown says he also thinks demolition might be the best way to deal with aging federal properties that are no longer economically viable to maintain.

“I’d like to see a bunch of buildings probably come down, to be honest, and kind of start fresh,” he says.

environmental and air-quality standards.

Not surprisingly, those two buildings are among the sites most commonly mentioned as top contenders to land on the feds’ “for sale” list. But just how attractive they would be to potential buyers is up for debate.

Brent Arseneau, vice-president of leasing at real estate firm Colonnade BridgePort, estimates that it would cost

residential units is another option that’s gaining traction in cities with spiking vacancy rates such as Calgary.

But some real estate insiders aren’t so sure. Citing L’Esplanade Laurier and the C.D. Howe Building as examples, Arsenau says L’Esplanade Laurier has a host of structural issues that would likely require it to be gutted and rebuilt virtually from

“I think that needs to happen, but I don’t know if it will. If it’s taking down a 12-storey building to put up a 25, 30-storey building, then I think the economics may be there.

“But the history of this market is to just basically carry on with what’s there and hope for the best. I think it will be the status quo, unfortunately.”

I’d like to see a bunch of buildings probably come down, to be honest, and kind of start fresh.

– JEFF BROWN, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

Four tips to protect your business when using e-signatures

From best practices to navigating a legal gray area, lawyer James Wilding has you covered

Are electronic signatures a fantastic and efficient tool for running your business? Of course! But like most digital tools, there is some risk involved. That’s why James Wilding, associate with Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP/s.r.l., is sharing a few simple ways to help you avoid some possible pitfalls.

1 2 3 4

Know when you can use an e-signature

E-signatures have been legal for longer than you may think, but with some exceptions.

“The Electronic Commerce Act (ECA) was enacted in 2000,” said Wilding. “But there’s a lot of misinformation out there about what can and can’t be electronically signed. A lot of people aren’t aware that the ECA permits electronic signatures on almost any document that needs to be executed in writing.”

Explicit exceptions to the ECA currently includes wills, certain trust documents, powers of attorney, and negotiable instruments such as cheques, bank drafts and bills of exchange.

Use best practices for online security

When it comes to e-signatures, context is everything.

“When you’re getting a document electronically signed, you want to make sure it’s been done securely,” said Wilding. “That way, the other party cannot cast doubt on whether the signature on the document is valid.”

In practical terms, reading the document before you sign it is always the first step — which can be tougher than it sounds. In a digital environment, it can be tempting to quickly sign-off with a click or two.

Also, Wilding recommends using an email account that only you can access for signing electronic documents. If your spouse and kids can access the account, or if it is a general business account another employee can access, someone could sign a document accidentally or without understanding the full picture.

“If someone is going to claim they did not sign a document because their account was hacked, it is on them to prove no one else could have signed it,” said Wilding, adding it’s equally important to get a copy of an electronically signed document to ensure it wasn’t tampered with.

Trust your gut

If you can already check off the best practice boxes, don’t let your guard down just yet.

Most emails that contain a request to electronically sign a document will be associated with a chain of emails discussing what the document is for.

“Transactions don’t happen in the void and you should be careful if you receive a Docusign request with no context,” Wilding said. If you get something from an email address you don’t recognize — even when it looks like something you were expecting — pick up the phone to confirm before signing.

Another scenario that calls for vigilance is when you’re a silent partner who wasn’t a part of the whole discussion, but whose signature is required. Again, pick up the phone and confirm the details to make sure their account wasn’t hacked and that the request wasn’t sent by a scammer.

Take note of this gray area in the ECA

A type of negotiable instrument that is not explicitly handled in the ECA is a promissory note.

“A promissory note is an acknowledgment of indebtedness by one party to another,” said Wilding. “It is very common in transactions where there is a deferred payment or money was lent.”

It is a gray area because there is no explicit language in the ECA saying you can sign a promissory note electronically. But that does not necessarily mean an electronically signed promissory note is invalid.

Someone who owes you money could decide to exploit the gray area as a stalling tactic, and make your life miserable by challenging it in court.

“People should know to stand their ground if they are challenged,” said Wilding. “But it’s better to avoid this altogether by sticking with a wet ink signature for promissory notes.”

Four-day work week could be good for some companies, HR experts agree

BY SARAH MACFARLANE sarah@obj.ca

What started as a 90-day experiment with the four-day work week has led to what is now a staple in Ottawa software company Iversoft’s work culture – but HR experts say it might not be a fit for every business.

Iversoft CEO Graeme Barlow says he is still seeing the benefits of the added flexibility for his team, two years after the change.

In March 2021, the Iversoft team was adjusting to remote work and the new demands that the pandemic was placing on team members, both in their professional and personal lives. Then, Barlow and his leadership team made a critical change – they created a compressed work week, adjusting hours of operation to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

“The original discussion was about how families have a lot to deal with. There’s a lot going on and we’re fortunate enough to be in a line of work where we can work asynchronously,” said Barlow. “We had to figure out, ‘What were people looking for?’”

The company’s 50 employees were expected to be available for client calls, meetings and other tasks in the compressed timeframe. Outside of those hours, their time was their own.

“The whole emphasis was on flexibility and accommodation of people’s lives,” Barlow told OBJ. “We have a lot of really

smart, intelligent, talented, good people and we trust them to make adult decisions on how they manage their time.”

Since Iversoft implemented the new compressed work week, Barlow said productivity and engagement have increased across the company.

Retention is also up. Since the shift to four-day weeks, Barlow said he’s lost very few employees and had “no issue hiring” with the “competitive flexibility.” It has also allowed the company to hire employees from out-of-province.

“The quality and calibre of talent has gone up, because we don’t have to hire in a specific geography and our competitive

flexibility opens up so many opportunities.”

According to a recent study from Robert Half Canada, 91 per cent of senior managers support a work week of four 10hour days for their team, and 69 per cent anticipate their company will implement it within the next five years. Employees were asked what they most hoped for professionally, and while 21 per cent listed a raise, 23 per cent of employees ranked a four-day work week as their top choice.

There are two common approaches to a reduced work week: reduced hours and, consequently, salaries; or, a condensed week. Iversoft chose the latter.

Karen Brownrigg, founder and CEO of iHR Advisory Services, said that both options have benefits as long as leadership teams “mitigate the risks.” If companies don’t monitor their employees’ work and stress

levels, Brownrigg said she hears “alarm bells” from the compressed work week.

“It’s about how companies are ensuring that employees aren’t overextending themselves. Are they working for four days? Are they working more than that?” she said. “It can lead to more burnout if it isn’t very deliberately managed.”

Barlow said Iversoft takes a “proactive stance” and tries to avoid overtime hours and “stay on top of burnout.” The firm, which specializes in mobile app and web development, also offers seminars about managing stress and burnout.

Brownrigg says there isn’t a one-sizefits-all approach.

“More flexibility will always create a more engaged employee,” she said. “Organizations are under a lot of pressure. It’s really hard to recruit and retain people and sometimes we see a quick reaction, but you have to think through how to operationalize that and make sure you look at what could be problematic and address that.

“It’s a good thing as long as you understand the objectives. What are the objectives and what are the potential pitfalls and how are you putting a strategy in place to manage the pitfalls?” she said. “We have to ask, ‘What could go wrong and what are we putting in place so our employees know they can disconnect outside of work hours?’”

Barlow said he encourages all leadership teams to at least consider making the switch.

“I have heard from so many organizations who say they couldn’t possibly do it,” he said. “But as a leadership group, you just have to commit to it and start figuring it out.

“As a leader, you have to protect your people. For us in software, what we sell is people and talent, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to protect and enhance our people,” said Barlow. “Shockingly, that comes from not burning them out.”

Shopify’s meeting policy spotlights HR issue: experts

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

Business leaders are applauding Shopify’s decision to temporarily scrap most meetings so workers can devote more time to other tasks – but they also caution that decluttering employee calendars might be easier said than done.

The Ottawa-based e-commerce powerhouse said earlier this year it is wiping more than 10,000 meetings off its books over the next couple of weeks in a bid to boost productivity. Recurring meetings with three or more participants, all meetings on Wednesdays and meetings with 50 or more people outside of a six-hour slot from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays will be shelved under the plan.

The company said the move was part of a “ruthless internal prioritization effort” as it looks to rebound from a disappointing 2022 that saw its valuation plummet and its revenues grow at a much slower pace than earlier in the pandemic.

“Uninterrupted time is the most precious resource of a craftsperson, and we are giving our people a ‘no judgment

zone’ to subtract, reject meetings, and focus on what is most valuable,” Shopify chief operating officer Kaz Nejatian said in a statement.

That sentiment resonated strongly with human resources expert Kathryn Tremblay, who praised Shopify for issuing a “clear directive” aimed at freeing employees to focus on work that has more meaning and purpose than sitting in timeconsuming meetings.

“I absolutely know it’s going to help their employee engagement,” Tremblay, the CEO of Ottawa-based Altis Recruitment and excelHR, told OBJ. “What they’re doing is they’re being extremely intentional in their language. I love that they’re doing that, and I think that’s what it’s going to take.”

Still, the longtime business owner knows from firsthand experience that cancelling meetings, while a nice idea in theory, can be a difficult policy to maintain in practice.

Tremblay tried implementing meetingfree days at her companies last year. While the initiative was successful at first, she says it didn’t take long before colleagues started asking if they could chat during

periods that were blocked off for projects and other tasks.

“We would suddenly find ourselves fully booked even on meeting-free days,” she explained. “The meeting creep seems to just happen.”

At Kanata-based Calian Group, which began scrapping meetings on Tuesdays and Friday afternoons a few months into the pandemic, CEO Kevin Ford says the policy has given employees a muchneeded respite from endless Zoom calls and allowed them to focus their energies on activities that really matter.

“People were getting exhausted,” Ford said of the firm’s jam-packed meeting schedule in the early days of the COVID crisis. “There was just meeting after meeting because people had no other way to communicate. It’s not just about productivity – it’s about personal wellness. People just can’t survive in meeting mode every day.”

Like Tremblay, Ford said Shopify’s move is raising awareness about an issue that’s been festering in companies around the world for years.

According to a 2022 survey from

California-based productivity appmaker Dialpad, a majority of business professionals spend up to a third of their work week in meetings.

“I think (Shopify) is trying to shock the system and challenge everyone’s thinking,” the veteran executive said. “In COVID, everything was a meeting, because it had to be. I think the spirit of this is right in the sense that we should all take a step back … and think about our governance practices.”

Tremblay agreed, saying moves like cutting meetings are part of the “disciplined pursuit of doing less” in a crowded workday and concentrating on what really needs to get done.

“I think anecdotally business leaders are talking about it, but I don’t hear anyone coming up with the grand solution,” she added. “It takes leaders setting the tone for it.”

At the same time, Ford says companies must guard against blanket no-meeting policies that discourage employees from getting together to chat and exchange ideas – interactions that he believes are the cornerstone of any successful business.

“You still need to meet, and you still need to have collaboration,” he said. “You’ve got to be careful you don’t swing the pendulum too far the other way, because then I think you also feel the effects of people not being connected.

“People still need to talk to people. I think we have to be careful of creating hard policies that prohibit people from thinking that they can still reach out whenever they need help.”

Restaurateur helps hospitality industry with $10K bursary for college students

BY CAROLINE PHILLIPS caroline@obj.ca

The managing partner of Metropolitain Brasserie Restaurant is doing her part to help an industry grappling with serious labour shortages by funding a $10,000 bursary for students studying hospitality at Algonquin College.

Sarah Chown, who’s an alumna of the college, is hoping other business owners follow suit, recognizing that the sector needs to invest in the future generation of leaders while many restaurants, hotels and other hospitality providers struggle to rebuild their workforce following the

unprecedented impact of the pandemic.

“It just sort of occurred to me, ‘Hey, there’s more I can be doing here,’” said Chown in an interview to discuss her creation of the new Metropolitain Brasserie Hospitality and Tourism Bursary.

Chown graduated with a diploma in hotel and restaurant management in 2002. She now sits on Algonquin College’s program advisory committee for its fouryear bachelor degree program in Hospitality and Tourism Management.

As well, she’s the Ottawa regional chair of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association.

Chown not only relies on graduates

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from Algonquin College to come and work for her, but knows there will come a day when they will have to lead as the next generation.

“Coming out of (I hope) this whole pandemic situation, we all know this industry took a massive hit,” said Chown. “It became the sector that people were afraid to get into or that people left. I think we need to do all we can now to encourage people to return, to let them know it’s a viable and fun place to work.”

There’s no shortage of examples of hospitality graduates going on to achieve greater things, said Chown.

“I graduated 21 years ago from Algonquin College and I own a successful business in Ottawa and I’m not alone. I’m not the only person who has this story. The more we get that out there, the more that we give back, the better we’re all going to be.”

Chown, who was born and raised in Ottawa, got her start at the former Empire Grill on Clarence Street in the ByWard Market, working the floor as well as in the office.

While she explored a few other options after high school, she came to realize her

career path pointed toward the restaurant industry. She owns Metropolitain Brasserie, located at the corner of Sussex Drive and Rideau Street, with prominent restaurateur John Borsten, for whom she worked back in her Empire Grill days.

Even before the pandemic, the hospitality and tourism industry was already facing labour shortages, pointed out Michael Tarnowski, academic chair of the School of Business and Hospitality at Algonquin College.

It’s common for employees to view the sector as being great for part-time work, but not necessarily as a long-term career. “That’s always been the reality of the industry and it’s been kind of exacerbated by the pandemic,” said Tarnowski.

“The last few years, with the pandemic, have really impacted not only demand for the (hospitality and tourism) programs, but also the number of people willing to work in the industry,” said Tarnowski.

“The industry is kind of at a crossroads here, where it kind of needs to make itself look sexy.”

The $10,000 gift will support 10 students studying hospitality over the next five years.

Naloxone kits at work?

Two more laws employers need to know in 2023

A new exception for consultants hits the ESA, and OHSA addresses the opioid epidemic

Last year, Bill 88, or the Working for Workers Act, 2022, gave employers some new responsibilities, and there are more changes coming down the pike in 2023.

Emond Harnden partner Raquel Chisholm is back with some advice about another two requirements:

1 An exception in the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) for business and IT consultants; and

2 An Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) requirement for workplaces that are at risk for worker opioid overdoses.

Exemptions to the ESA for IT and business consultants

“The Employment Standards Act is 100 per cent for the protection of employees,” said Chisholm. “It provides minimum entitlements like minimum wage, statutory holidays and vacation time, as well as the right to overtime pay.”

The question is, when does it apply? For example, the ESA exempts certain professions, like doctors and accountants, from various parts of the legislation.

Two new exemptions came into force on Jan. 1, 2023 to address the employment status of IT and business consultants, which are newly and broadly defined in the ESA.

“First you have to know whether somebody was truly an independent contractor,” said Chisholm. The Ministry of Labour’s guidance says that the new consultant exceptions apply only to individuals who would otherwise be covered by the ESA. The ESA does not apply to independent contractors, so the consultant exception would be irrelevant to them.

For individuals who meet the new definitions and who are otherwise covered by the ESA, employers need to determine if they meet the following conditions to exempt them:

1 The consultant is providing services through either:

a. A corporation of which they are a director or a shareholder who is party to a unanimous shareholder agreement, or

b. A sole proprietorship with a registered business name.

2 There’s a written agreement where the consultant is paid at least $60 an hour, excluding bonuses, commissions, expenses, travelling allowances, or benefits.

3 The consultant is paid as specified in the agreement.

Do you need a naloxone kit in your workplace?

Effective June 1, 2023, the Ontario government is requiring employers to keep a naloxone kit in at-risk workplaces. The obligation applies if an employer is aware, or ought reasonably to be aware, that there may be a risk of a worker having an opioid overdose at a workplace where the worker performs work for the employer. Employers will also need to provide training in relation to the naloxone kit, and to ensure that the kit and its storage meet specific requirements.

“This is very much only about employees,” said Chisholm. “Every employer has to ask if there’s a risk of an employee having an opioid overdose at work.” Meaning the obligation does not apply if the risk of an overdose applies to non-workers, like customers, other members of the public at the workplace, or employees of another employer in a shared work site.

It’s also important for employers to remember their employees still have a right to privacy. Employers can’t disclose more personal information than they reasonably need to in order to comply with this requirement. For example, the employer doesn’t need to disclose all of the information that the employer has about the worker who is at risk to the worker in charge of the naloxone kits.

While there may be steep fines for employers who are not in compliance, the government is taking an “education first” approach to enforcement and is providing free naloxone kits and training to workplaces that present a high risk.

If you need more information about how these laws affect your business, contact the employment law experts at Emond Harnden.

Co-working the next big thing? Not so fast, say some industry insiders

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

Aglobal provider of flexible office space is expanding its real estate footprint in the National Capital Region amid what it calls a “dynamic shift” away from traditional office space – but some industry players say it’s still too early to tell if co-working is poised to enjoy a post-pandemic boom.

IWG, a Netherlands-based company that operates nearly 130 co-working spaces across Canada, announced in mid-January it is opening two new locations in the region next month under its new HQ brand.

The new workspaces – comprising 7,200 square feet in a four-storey building at 396 Cooper St. in Ottawa and 5,000 square feet in an office tower at 200 Montcalm St. in Gatineau – are part of IWG’s plan to double the size of its Canadian network over the next three years.

Wayne Berger, the company’s CEO for the Americas region, says demand for flexible workspace is spiking as more companies reassess the need to tie up valuable capital in long-term leases for traditional real estate when splitting time between the office and home is becoming the norm.

“The idea of the complete workforce going to a corporate headquarters five days a week from 8:30 to 5 is frankly becoming less and less prevalent,” says Berger, an Ottawa native. “But companies still want a place where their team members can touch down and gather in a very purposeful way.”

Sean Cochrane, president of Ottawabased co-working provider TTC Canada, agrees.

“Nobody that I know can predict what their office utilization is going to be like six months from now, let alone 10 years from now,” says Cochrane, whose firm owns and operates five co-working spaces in Ottawa

and two in Vancouver. “The idea of getting trapped into a traditional lease, it’s just money out the door. It’s such a waste.”

With business on the upswing, TTC Canada is poised to expand into Montreal and Toronto later this year and is now talking to landlords in Calgary and Halifax about setting up shop in those cities.

IWG and TTC’s expansion push comes as traditional office vacancy rates continue to climb amid widespread uncertainty about the future of the workplace.

A new report from Colliers Canada says that even as COVID-era restrictions become a thing of the past, employers, workers and building owners are still struggling to figure out exactly what the “new normal” will look like.

“After almost three years, it is clear we are in the age of hybrid work, yet companies continue to experiment and their space needs continue to evolve,” says

the study released last month, called The New Age of Hybrid Work

The report predicts Canada’s office vacancy rate will peak at about 15 per cent, up from its current rate of about 14 per cent, by the end of 2024 before starting to decline.

Meanwhile, Colliers says flexible office space – which it defines as designated space in an office building that is shared by all tenants – will make up eight per cent of Canada’s total office inventory, up from its earlier prediction of six per cent.

Berger says that as remote work takes hold, companies are ditching the idea of

hour commute every day,’” he says.

Still, some real estate brokers say that while they expected a flood of companies to adopt such a “hub-and-spoke” office model in the wake of the pandemic, the concept has failed to gain much traction.

“We’re not yet seeing this on the ground,” says Louis Karam, CBRE’s senior vice-president for the Ottawa region.

According to CBRE’s research, Ottawa had about 465,000 square feet of flexible office space in the fourth quarter of 2022, representing just over one per cent of the city’s total office inventory.

While the amount of flex space in the suburbs has risen 38 per cent since 2019, most of Ottawa’s flex space – nearly 300,000 square feet – remains in the downtown core. And although the city’s total flexible office footprint has grown 18 per cent over the past three years, the curve has begun to flatten.

Ottawa gained a net of just 4,000 square feet of new flex space between the second and fourth quarters of last year, Karam says. In the same period, a couple of established co-working spaces – Coworkly’s location on Richmond Road and WorkAway’s office at Lady Ellen Place south of Westboro – shut their doors.

Coworkly owner Maher Arar says the co-working industry “suffered a lot during COVID” as workers hunkered down at home. Now that remote work has become an ingrained lifestyle, businesses like his are finding it hard to lure tenants back.

leasing central office hubs and embracing a “just-in-time” approach, renting flexible space in suburbs and other tertiary markets.

He says IWG, which already operates six flexible work locations in Ottawa and Gatineau under its Regus and Spaces banners, is “actively searching” for real estate in outlying neighbourhoods like Orléans and Kanata in a bid to cater to employees who want to be close to home but still have access to the benefits of a shared office.

“It’s just more fluid, more dynamic,” Berger says. “People want the ability to eliminate their commute and they want to plan where they work with what’s required of them that day.”

Cochrane says TCC is also seeing strong demand for its suburban locations like Kanata North.

“The pandemic has really driven home for people, ‘Maybe I don’t need to be in the downtown core. Maybe I don’t need an

“Every person I speak to, it’s the same,” says Arar, who continues to own and operate a 9,000-square-foot space under the Coworkly banner in Vanier. “Ninetynine-point-nine per cent of people have gotten used to working from home.”

The occupancy rate for daily flex space at Coworkly’s Vanier location is around 30 per cent, Arar says, while dedicated offices that rent for monthly periods or longer are about 60 per cent filled.

The veteran entrepreneur says those numbers need to be much higher for the business to turn a consistent profit. Coworkly has pulled itself out of the red, but Arar says it needs to generate more revenues to remain sustainable.

“You can’t just break even because you have to recoup your losses from the COVID era,” he says. “When you start having wait lists, that’s when you’re going to be profitable. We’ve seen an uptick in demand recently, but it’s not enough. Maybe in a year’s time. I don’t know.”

Nordstrom closure ‘good news’ for Ottawa’s downtown long-term, retail expert says

BY SARAH MACFARLANE sarah@obj.ca

While the Ottawa market was not a fit for American luxury retailer Nordstrom, at least one local market watcher believes its closure opens the door for other opportunities, particularly at the Rideau Centre.

Ian Lee, an associate professor at the Sprott School of Business, told OBJ that Nordstrom was “destined to fail” in Ottawa and that its closure will pave the way for the transformation of the Rideau Centre and, in turn, downtown Ottawa.

Lee argues that the Ottawa market was not well-suited to Nordstrom, saying that while Nordstrom targets “people who don’t quibble over prices,” Ottawa is not a wealthy city.

“Most of us never went. I’m a professor, I am very well-paid and I have gone in a few times and walked out never buying

anything,” he said. “I’m not condemning Nordstrom. That’s their market. But that’s not Ottawa.”

The challenge now falls to property owner Cadillac Fairview to fill the massive retail space at the Rideau Centre, more than 150,000 square feet.

Boring downtown, you say?

These three restaurateurs would beg to differ

It would seem like a recipe for disaster. Open an intimate bar in the wake of a global pandemic, situate it in a downtown struggling with foot traffic, and stay open until 2 a.m. in a city reputed to roll up the carpet at 6 p.m.

Mike Campbell, Ray Tang and Adam Ghor did just that and can’t believe the reception they’ve had.

“We thought we would go small and then be able to eventually build up to being a profitable business, but it’s been just fully packed from the get-go, which is great but not what we expected,”

Campbell tells OBJ

The three men wanted to mix things up when they launched their 20-seat cocktail bar, Stolen Goods, at 106 Sparks St. They vowed to never close early,

serve food to 2 a.m., have a minimalist kitchen behind the bar, and maintain a predilection for two-week pop-up menus.

Basically, they thumbed their noses at the usual expectations for a high-end night spot. But nearly one year since opening, few expectations have been more disrupted than their own.

Campbell says word-of-mouth and the freewheeling vibe have fuelled the unanticipated buzz. It’s helped that all three have worked in Ottawa restaurants for the past 10 years. Most recently, chef Ghor was at Atelier, while Campbell and fellow mixologist Tang worked at Gitanes.

“I think that everyone knows who we are and knows that we want to do this, it’s not just another business that’s here to make money. We want people

“I do not believe the Rideau Centre will die. It’s in an excellent location with great management,” Lee said. “But the leasing agents are going to be burning a lot of midnight oil and working a lot of overtime to come up with new tenants.”

Recently, Canadian retailer Sporting

to come and hang out and have a good time,” Campbell explains.

Many of their customers come from the restaurant sector, drawn by industry kinship, the late-night kitchen and discounts after 11 p.m.

Campbell admits uptake has been slower for the corporate and government clientele they had expected. “They’re kind of finding out about it slowly by being on Sparks (Street) and stumbling in and then they kind of decide whether they like it or not,” he explains.

The intimate and idiosyncratic approach works at Stolen Goods because the space is small, 700 square feet, and the owners are the ones working behind the bar, Campbell says. He describes the business as more like an extension of the owners’ personalities.

— By Rob Thomas

Life Group announced it is launching a new chain of big box stores called Team Town Sports. It might consider some locations set to be vacated by Nordstrom, said chief marketing officer Frederick Lecoq.

Team Town Sports will open its first three locations this spring in Alberta and Ontario, with plans to expand to 25 stores across the country, the company said. Sporting Life Group said the store will carry gear for a wide range of team sports, including hockey, basketball, soccer and baseball.

Nordstrom announced in early March that, by June, it would shutter its six Canadian stores located at CF Chinook Centre, CF Rideau Centre, CF Pacific Centre, CF Eaton Centre, Yorkdale Shopping Centre and CF Sherway Gardens. Nordstrom Rack’s seven stores in Canada would also close, including one in Ottawa.

As Nordstrom’s largest Canadian landlord, Cadillac Fairview has yet to outline specific plans for the departing chain’s spaces.

“Cadillac Fairview is constantly assessing the ever-changing retail landscape and while it’s too early to speculate what we will do with these spaces in the future, our team is working diligently to manage this change and work toward an outcome that is in the best interests of our centres and our long-term success,” said spokesperson Janine Ramparas, in an email to Canadian Press.

“This is long-term good news,” said Lee. “It wasn’t a good fit for Ottawa. And Nordstrom’s exit will force Cadillac Fairview to be creative and reinvent the Rideau Centre. This is a good thing, not a bad thing.

“We should stop crying because this is good news for Ottawa and for Cadillac Fairview that will contribute to the redevelopment and reconstruction of the downtown.”

One route would be to divide the space into smaller locations for multiple stores, though preferably not all clothing retailers, Lee suggested.

What’s keeping your business from growing?

Each year, the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Board of Trade explore the opportunities and challenges facing local businesses.

This year, in addition to our annual business confidence index, the Welch LLP Business Growth Survey will unpack the barriers to growth for Ottawa businesses, as well as their plans for the future.

We’ll be looking at the survey results from several perspectives, including location of the company, stage of growth, size, and industry. We’ll also examine how businesses are progressing with initiatives around sustainability and diversity and inclusion. And we’ll be talking with some of Ottawa’s business leaders about what’s coming next for Ottawa in 2023 and beyond.

How are you feeling about your company’s prospects? What can governments do to put you on a growth trajectory?

The anonymized results from the online survey – the largest and most comprehensive study of Ottawa-area businesses – are used to calculate the confidence of the local business community and shed light on the underlying trends that are shaping the future of the city’s corporate community.

This year’s publication will be unveiled at a networking and educational event this summer, where the findings of the survey will be presented. Other topics featured in the annual report will include the local jobs market, market outlook and municipal issues affecting the business climate.

Assisting with this year’s survey are

primary partners Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Board of Trade, as well as research partner Abacus Data. The 2023 Welch LLP Business Growth Survey is also made possible through several supporting partners, including Commissionaires Ottawa, RBC, Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall, Carleton University Sprott School of Business, TAG HR and Regroupement des gens d’affaires, as well as with the participation of local business organizations and business improvement areas.

Local business leaders are encouraged to join OBJ at the launch of the 2023 Welch LLP Business Growth Survey this summer to gain an unprecedented look at the health of the city’s corporate sector.

North America’s largest green-building research centre opens in Ottawa this summer

Solving big problems requires the audacity of a big idea — not to mention a massive effort to put it in motion.

Alternate Title Slide

Wave above and below

For Carleton’s Centre for Advanced Building Envelope Research (CABER) that effort was kick-started by the $5.1 million grant received by Dr. Cynthia Cruickshank in 2019 to accelerate innovation in the sustainable building sector.

Cruickshank is a professor with Carleton’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and heads a team that has been toiling since last year to commission and calibrate the massive equipment they’ll use to conduct research into reducing greenhouse gas emissions through resilient buildings.

It’s no surprise that anticipation has been mounting to put the wheels of research in motion this summer.

Two-stories high

The size of the CABER facility – located on NRCan’s CanmetENERGY campus in Bells Corners – is something to behold, explains Cruickshank.

The building had to be this big to accommodate the two-storey high equipment, making it one of the largest facilities in North America.

To simulate the indoors, there’s a Guarded Hot Box that measures thermal performance, as well as a Climate Chamber that simulates the outdoors and includes 91 solar lamps.

Collaboration and partnerships

Creating the opportunity for new testing and training capabilities could not be done without collaboration.

Working with government partners also helps connect the team’s research with the broader community. Currently, Natural Resources Canada is establishing a scientific hub to facilitate the sharing of data and dissemination of research for academics, industry and community housing providers, like Ottawa Community Housing.

Alternate Title Slide

These two pieces of equipment work in tandem to replicate North American climate extremes, producing temperatures that range from negative 40 to 55 degrees celsius, and humidity levels ranging from 10 to 90 per cent relative humidity.

Wave above and below

Across the way (and also two-stories high) the Pressurized Spray Rack looks for points of failure in building samples using 96 nozzles to inundate them with water. Next to that are the In-Situ Wall Openings, which includes six 3mx3m sites located around the Centre to conduct long-term comparative analysis of samples’ performance over the course of four seasons.

“When working with builders, the goal is to make our new wall concepts ironclad,” said Cruickshank. “We want to ‘de-risk’ new materials so we don’t create another problem when creating a solution.”

Cruickshank works cross-departmentally with several faculties at Carleton University, such as the school of Architecture and Urbanism, as well as with several government partners including Natural Resources Canada, one of the program’s biggest collaborators.

“CABER has allowed us to build on existing research collaborations and create many new ones,” said Cruickshank. Crucially, that includes the pioneering engineering graduate students, who will be in high demand to fill this critical gap in knowledge.

“Our students will graduate with a far superior level of expertise,” said Cruickshank. Right now she’s supervising four PhD and nine MASC candidates, while recruiting more

“The factory-built renovation technologies we’ll be studying will give social housing co-operations new options to renovate their building stock, and the research outputs will support regulators as they renew codes and standards for improved energy and environmental performance,” said Cruickshank.

For industry partners who want to get in on the action, there are a couple of pathways to explore. To “collaborate to commercialize,” start with the OCE VIP program, or alternatively consider applying for a research contract or an NSERC Alliance Grant.

One thing’s for certain, thinking this big will make the environmental impact of Canadian buildings much smaller. And that’s a good thing.

Finally, a 16-tonne crane moves the samples from one machine to another, turning the entire operation into a gigantic assembly line.

construction jobs in the near term.

Peters said local businesses stand to benefit, too. “(Great Wolf Resorts) data shows that they actually push hotel rooms to other area hotels, they don’t take away from the community, they don’t compete with the local environment.”

Operating in more than 20 locations in North America, Great Wolf Resort’s signature attractions are its indoor water park and large family guest rooms. The Cornwall facility will include an indoor activity centre featuring rope walks, mini golf and arcade games, as well as the brand’s signature interactive adventure game, MagiQuest.

As pleased as the municipality is to welcome Great Wolf Resorts, Peters says geography and location take much of the credit.

Great Wolf Lodge coming to Cornwall will ‘change the face’ of the region, mayor says

BY HEDDY SOROUR news@obj.ca

The Great Wolf Lodge planned for Cornwall will have a far-reaching economic impact that could extend well beyond the city, says Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale.

“This will change the face of Eastern Ontario, not just Cornwall, I would argue Ontario as a whole,” Towndale told EOBJ. “It will also give us one of the premier tourist attractions not only in this area, but in the entire province.”

American company Great Wolf Resorts has entered into an agreement of purchase and sale for 40 acres of land along Hwy. 401 at the northern extension of Nick Kaneb Drive in Cornwall. The site is the planned home for a US$350-million indoor water park and resort that would be constructed over the next few years.

Once complete, it is expected to draw visitors from Ontario, Quebec and northern New York.

“They’re expecting 670,000 visits a year and that’s unlike anything this region has ever experienced,” said Bob Peters,

manager of economic development with the City of Cornwall.

The project also adds a nice lift to Cornwall’s economic diversification plan.

“We’re one of the oldest communities in Eastern Ontario and Canada and throughout our history we were primarily a manufacturing centre,” said Peters. “Which meant when the economy boomed, we

boomed, and when the economy went into depression, we led the way.

“Over the last 15 years plus, Cornwall has been diversifying into other sectors. So, from an economy point of view, this puts another very strong foundation in our economic diversification program.”

When complete, the resort is projected to create 500 new jobs, in addition to 2,500

“They were looking for a spot in Canada and Cornwall sits in a perfect triangle between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa along (Hwy.) 401. So, they approached us. They needed 40 acres for their lodge development and we had land available,” Peters said.

“It won’t be far from (Hwy.) 401 at all, you’re talking a couple of hundred metres at most. It will be very visible, very noticeable from the highway,” said Towndale.

To seal the deal, the city has to extend the road and municipal water and sewer network to that plot of land.

“The sale is completely dependent on our timeline for the road construction, which was already in our 2023 road construction budget,” said Peters.

There is an existing Great Wolf Resort in Niagara Falls, but it’s owned and operated by a separate company. The Cornwall facility will be managed by Great Wolf Resorts.

“It’s my understanding that the Niagara location is the only Great Wolf Resort not owned by Great Wolf. And it happened at the beginning of the Great Wolf journey and is not a model that they’re pursuing anymore,” said Peters. “Right now, they’re looking to expand their business outside the U.S. and are looking at other countries, including the U.K. and Mexico, in addition to other locations in the U.S.”

Mayor Towndale believes this is a oncein-a-lifetime investment for the region.

“It’s a significant show of faith in the City of Cornwall from Great Wolf Resorts and it’s created a great buzz in the community and beyond. It’s not just the fact that it’s a substantial investment with jobs, it’s also the fact that it provides activities for families who already live here to do.”

Artistic illustration of the proposed project.

Craftier ‘Jack Daniels of Canada’ sets up new distillery in Hawkesbury

BY HEDDY SOROUR news@obj.ca

Pierre Mantha really gets a rush from his work — but not the kind you might imagine for a purveyor of craft spirits.

Instead, Mantha is motivated by his plans to grow his business. He’s currently building a 160,000-square-foot distillery in Hawkesbury in a bid to help quench a growing thirst among consumers for spirits. “My goal is to be up and running by August 2023 or maybe September,” he says.

The construction of the Artiste in Residence Distillerie will be the first phase of an eight-phase project that Mantha hopes will culminate in a destination store, restaurant and lounge in the next five years.

“It was certainly wonderful news to hear,” says Hawkesbury Mayor Robert Alain Lefebvre in reference to Mantha’s plans.

“It’s something different, which is great, and when something is different like that it becomes an attraction at the same time. It has multi-functions in terms of economic development across the board.”

The Hawkesbury location is Mantha’s second distillery. His first was a 40,000-square-foot operation in Gatineau between Autoroute 50 and Gatineau’s executive airport. The name Artiste in Residence Distillerie, which abbreviates to AiR Distillerie, is a play on the proximity to the airport and the distillery’s craft identity. Launched in 2016, AiR Gatineau’s products quickly became one of the top sellers in Quebec’s crowded craft gin market.

“I have 50 brands in Quebec,” he says. “The problem is our gin in Quebec is going down in sales a little, but I believe I’m going to bring Quebecers to drinking whiskey!”

He could have his work cut out for him. Quebec is not a whiskey-drinking province. In 2021, whiskey held a 16 per cent market share of liquor sales in Quebec, compared to 34 per cent in Ontario, according to Statistics Canada.

Mantha intends to change that, starting in Hawkesbury. He is counting on his fellow Quebecers’ desire to support their own.

“They supported me with the gin and so I think they will support me again,” says Mantha, who says he wants to become the “Jack Daniels of Canada,” but more craft.

Paramount to his plan is keeping prices reasonable. “I want to sell volume,” he says.

He’s already bought 500,000 empty bottles for his spirits, partly to secure the best price, and says the new Hawkesbury AiR’s bottling line could produce one million bottles a year with just four or five employees.

“We are an urban community of 10,000

population that services a large agricultural community. Mr. Mantha will be able to buy a lot of his raw materials locally because it’s always cheaper when it doesn’t have to travel far,” says Mayor Lefebvre.

Still, it will be a while before his whiskey hits the market since it has to age for three years, explains Mantha.

The Hawkesbury facility will get started on the whiskey right away, but will also produce the tried and tested gin and vodka to bring in immediate revenue, assuming that AiR Distillerie breaks into the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.

Meanwhile, Mantha has plans for another eight distilleries: one in Vancouver; five in the U.S., starting in Erie, Pa.; one in Colombia to produce rum; and one in Mexico to distill tequila.

He’s already bought the land in Pennsylvania and is working on site plan approvals.

“Every three years I’m building a distillery. But a shovel won’t go in the ground in Pennsylvania until Hawkesbury becomes profitable,” says Mantha, who admits that he’s not much of a drinker and knew nothing about alcohol production until about five years ago.

Leeds Grenville Entrepreneurs Loving their Lifestyles

Work-life balance is attracting newly inspired small businesses to villages and towns south-west of Ottawa. The key attractors are affordability and lifestyle along the 1000 Islands and Rideau Canal Waterways, along with easy access to major highways.

Violets on Main Village Bakery owners Patti and Trevor Johnson are two busy but very happy bakers. The couple come from very hectic careers. Patti was a fire department dispatcher and Trevor worked in air traffic control before they moved from Vancouver to Ottawa about 12 years ago. Opening a full-service bakery in Merrickville, Ontario, 16 months ago has been one of the greatest adventures of their lives. They enjoy the fast pace and friendliness of the historic village and “all of the wonderful people who come from all over the region. We are so grateful and love sharing our little place of deliciousness with everyone who walks through the front door. The community is great and we love how we can do this together as a couple.”

Westport Brewing Company is a small village craft brewery. It is surrounded by water and anchored in the heart of Westport, Ontario, with the front door to historical Main Street and a back porch overlooking Westport Harbor on the Upper Rideau Lake. They call it a quintessential cottage town where lakeside activity is ample and small town life is simple. “We always wanted to start a business in Westport, and having a background in brewing it was a really good fit,” says Kevin Quinlan, co-owner with his partner Tamara Phillips. “We set up the brewing tanks front and centre so our patrons can see the action and be part of the experience,” says Tamara. “There is so much this area has to offer, so we always say come to Westport and drink in the beauty.” Watch

Logistics village taking shape near Cornwall could be first of many, CEO says

BY HEDDY SOROUR news@obj.ca

Avenue 31, the Ottawa-based real estate and development company behind the National Capital Business Park, is launching a new project dubbed CaminoLong Sault, a proposed multimodal logistics village near Cornwall.

“Camino is a brand we want to grow to develop a series of inland ports in Canada,” Michel Pilon, CEO of Avenue 31, told EOBJ. “Our vision with Long Sault is to develop an inland port with rail access and the ability to cater to the shifting needs of large companies involved in consumer products, or a whole range of commodities and goods.”

The company has secured 675 acres on Hwy. 401 at Moulinette Road in Long Sault, west of Cornwall. The site has nearly two km of frontage on Hwy. 401 and three km of double CN rail line to the south, which is certified by Canadian National Railways as rail-ready.

“This project will attract huge investments to the Township of South Stormont,” said Tara Kirkpatrick, manager of economic development with the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG). “When complete, it is expected to create more than one thousand new jobs, which will stimulate our local economy and put SDG counties on the map as a top region to invest in.”

Camino-Long Sault addresses a Canada-wide scarcity of modern warehousing and logistics spaces. In a recent report, global real estate and investment brokerage CBRE says that availability of industrial space has been at all-time lows in the region, with rental rates rising every quarter for the past three years.

“(Hwy.) 401, a major transportation route to begin with, has seen significant interest for that reason and with transportation costs the way they are, anything along rail lines can carry a huge premium as well,” said Steve Piercey, vice-president of advisory and transaction services with CBRE.

In some small towns along Hwy. 401,

Piercey says older buildings have been turned into warehouse spaces. However, he adds, there’s little inventory to choose from now and rental rates have doubled in the past three years. For example, rental rates in Brockville used to average four dollars per square foot but are now more than eight dollars per square foot.

Avenue 31 is approaching the CaminoLong Sault project with a sustainability

drainage for the site. The company also plans to build a county road through the site using existing topsoil to plant trees and build berms.

The Camino-Long Sault project is at the draft plan of the subdivision application process and construction could begin this year. Avenue 31 is already in talks with potential anchor tenants. Aiming for larger volume warehouses, the company says it plans to provide 36- to 50-foot clearances on a portion of the total square footage, but ultimately that will depend on the needs of users.

Officials at all levels are welcoming the new development.

“Avenue 31 are great to work with, they’ve had public meetings to ensure the public has a say, they’ve been forthcoming since the commencement of discussion with the township and staff, and we can’t say enough about how accommodating they are as we are to them,” said South Stormont Mayor Bryan McGillis.

“This project, strategically located along the international border, along the rail corridor, as well as (Hwy.) 401, will be sure to garner interest,” said Nolan Quinn, MPP for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry.

“I am happy to see that South Stormont is recognizing the potential along this important corridor and are working on site plan logistics to make this happen. Our region can and should play a key role in easing the strains on national supply chains,” said Eric Duncan, MP for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry.

lens, taking advantage of the topography of the property and the availability of rail.

“From the beginning, we really looked at the natural features of the site and used them in the design,” said Jennifer Murray, vice-president of land development at Avenue 31.

There are 80 to 100 acres of woodland and wetland in the middle of the property that Murray says will provide natural

From Pilon’s point of view, the CaminoLong Sault project is the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Sometimes in a career you know you find something as a land developer, you find a piece of land where the story unfolds and you can’t believe how much potential it has and you just run with it,” said Pilon, adding that the name is inspired by the Camino trail in Europe. “This is the first of a network of multimodal logistic villages across Canada.”

New Ford distribution centre set to open in Casselman this spring

BY HEDDY SOROUR news@obj.ca

The new Ford distribution centre in Casselman is slated to be complete this spring, officials say.

The parts warehouse was announced in September 2021 and construction began in February 2022. The $100-million facility is being developed by Bertone Development Corp. of Saint-Laurent, Que. It is expected to open in the spring of 2023.

Situated south of Hwy. 417 close to the interchange with St. Albert Road and Route 700, the warehouse is expected to speed delivery time to dealers.

“Once construction is complete, the Casselman parts distribution centre will be a 562,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that will service 154 dealerships in eastern Canada and the Maritimes,” Rose

Pao, communications manager with Ford Canada, told EOBJ in an email. “In fact, the operation will manage and distribute approximately 45,000 different parts

received from plants across North America.”

The site falls on the boundary between Casselman and La Nation. The two municipalities have been working with Ford

STUFF Made and Built In Eastern Ontario

Canada to advance the project since 2018. Construction was originally slated to be complete by late December 2022, but delays pushed the opening into the spring of 2023.

“The plant is now near completion and the planned date for start of operations is around March (2023),” said Mireille Groleau, economic development and communications officer with the Municipality of Casselman.

“The (Casselman) facility will house 80 employees, both hourly and salaried, and will include a gym and spacious cafeteria. The team is looking to hire approximately 40 full-time and 25 temporary part-time employees,” said Pao.

The remainder of the positions will be filled by existing employees transferring from other plants.

“We have met some of the workers from the Oakville plant who made the move to Casselman and are settling in,” said Groleau.

The Casselman facility is one of two new warehouses the automaker is developing to replace its aging 900,000-square-foot Bramalea, Ont. location, which has been operating since 1964. The second facility, similar in size to Casselman, is being built in Paris, Ont.

Perth brewery comes through for consumers with gluten sensitivities

BY SARAH MACFARLANE sarah@obj.ca

The Perth Brewery is taking advantage of increased interest in gluten-free products to spread the word about its gluten-reduced beer.

The beer is not gluten-free, as it includes ingredients with gluten, but it is glutenreduced to the point where customers with severe allergies or sensitivities can drink it. Many consumers are even celiac.

Co-owner Jeremy Steeves, who operates the brewing company with his father and his father’s partner, said it is exciting to see a “large, healthy following” of customers who are adopting a gluten-free or glutenreduced diet.

Grains naturally contain gluten in varying amounts according to grain type, so traditionally brewed beer contains gluten. But at Perth Brewery, an enzyme is added during the fermentation process to reduce gluten protein levels.

That enzyme has been a part of the Perth Brewery process since the “early days” in the 1990s, but the brewery has not advertised or marketed its products as glutenreduced. This is partly due to the stigma and misconceptions that gluten-reduced products compromise flavour, said Steeves.

“We really did hesitate to market it for a long time because we didn’t want people to have a misconception that our beer wouldn’t taste like traditional beer would,” explained Steeves. “But we are now in 2023 and we feel like there are a lot more people who have an understanding and an interest in gluten-reduced products and in their health overall.”

Mathieu Lafleur, 27, found Perth Brewery by “sheer coincidence” while Christmas shopping in the area in 2021. Lafleur has a serious allergy to gluten and he says he is now a loyal convert to Perth Brewery beer.

“It’s the only beer I drink,” he said. “It tastes like real beer … It’s really a quality product.”

Lafleur’s allergy is severe enough that it requires him to have cutting boards, strainers and a toaster separate from

those of his partner to ensure there is no cross-contamination. He says he does not have any side effects from the Perth beers, unlike regular beer: “It’s like night and day.”

Customers like Lafleur can drink any of the beers from Perth Brewery. Lafleur’s favourites include the mocha stout and “Crandemonium” cranberry radler around

BY ROB THOMAS news@obj.ca

Nancy Sendell didn’t set out to become a “pot-positive” entrepreneur.

“I moved to Westport from Toronto back in 2019 with the brilliant idea of buying a house here and opening up a bed and breakfast,” Sendell says.

She bought an adorable farmhouse in the well-known tourist hub on Big Rideau Lake and started building a small business to help with the mortgage.

She opened her new bed and breakfast just in time for the first wave of COVID in Ontario.

“So I stumbled on through a couple of seasons of really not great income coming in,” Sendell admits.

the holidays and the calypso IPA in the summer, which is one of the brewery’s most popular beers.

Since finding Perth Brewery, Lafleur has introduced his dad, an avid beer-drinker, to the gluten-reduced products and said his whole family loves them. “Those cranberry radlers are a staple in the house now,” he said.

“The big thing for me is to be able to share a beer with my dad again without having to make him compromise on the taste of a gluten-sensitive beer,” said Lafleur.

“We would really like to make our customers aware of this, now that there is a growing interest in overall health and consumables,” Steeves said. “We also hope to attract new customers that might have these sensitivities and could benefit from our products.”

Steeves divides his time between the brewery at 121 Dufferin St. in Perth, which recently marked 30 years in business, and various sales and events opportunities. When he tells people that the beer is gluten-reduced, he said he gets a very excited reaction.

“I’ve had people tell me I’ve more or less saved their lives by giving them a beer that they can drink that actually tastes good,” he said.

and less experienced crowd, would be a great way to differentiate her business from other B&Bs in the area.

To supplement her slim earnings, she took on part-time work with cannabis company Canopy Growth, headquartered in nearby Smiths Falls. While working there the 64-year-old says she realized that the legal cannabis business was much more sophisticated than the little illicit baggies of green stuff she remembered from her youth.

She also came to believe that the drug could be a real benefit to people in their 60s living through knee surgeries, sleeplessness or chronic pain.

“Believe it or not, once you get in your 60s, all that stuff comes into play big time. So I thought there was an opportunity here to get information out,” she says.

She also thought catering to the “cannabis-curious,” especially the older

“What I’m offering here is a safe and responsible way to consume cannabis in a cute little village that’s got a winery, a brewery, some great live music and we’re right on the Rideau Trail and next to a lot of other beautiful little trails,” she says.

Sendell is also happy to share her cannabis expertise. In fact, she’s rolling that into a bit of a side business. She is in the process of becoming a certified cannabis sommelier through B.C. company CannaReps. In the spring, she hopes to begin hosting educational workshops geared for people 55 and older.

“I find that most budtenders are much younger and have very different views and tastes when it comes to today’s array of cannabis products,” she says of her decision to target an older demographic.

What a trip: Westport B&B owner appeals to the ‘cannabis curious’

In the midst of a housing shortage and plummeting vacancy rates across the Ottawa region, Turkey-based GNCR Homes is offering rental units at Hazeldean Crossings as a family-friendly option in the community of Stittsville.

Located

RENTAL UNITS WITH AN AIR OF SOPHISTICATION

The most important thing to know about these units is that the amenities and finishes go far beyond “builder basic”.

According to one of the GNCR partners, civil engineer Ibrahim Aslan, building a high-quality product is a critical part of their business plan. “We were able to source quality materials at a fair price due to our long-standing business connections in Turkey.”

The windows for example offer a thick sound barrier to noise, and the kitchen cabinets bring an air of sophistication to the living area, as well as ample storage that reaches the ceiling

The bulk of these stacked townhouses — meaning each unit has two floors — are 1100 square foot two bedroom units, with 86 in total. The units on top boast two oversized balconies (one off the primary bedroom and the other off the living area) and the bottom units offer outdoor space.

The 10 three-bedroom units are especially geared for family living, with each offering 1600 square feet of space and a spacious two-car garage. They’re big enough to house your SUV as well as the bicycles you’ll ride along the portion of the Trans-Canada Trail that snakes through Stittsville.

Some of the features that take these airy, light-filled spaces beyond “builder basic” include keyless entry, central air and heat with an independently controlled thermostat, ensuite laundry, two and a half bathrooms including a powder room on the main floor, soaker tub in the main bathroom and a walkin shower in the ensuite bath and gas hookup for your BBQ.

And these features are surrounded by quality finishes including solid oak handrails, European custom cabinetry with soft-close hinges, quartz countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms, and ceramic backsplashes and tile.

WHY STITTSVILLE?

Stittsville is the perfect place for families, as well as young couples who are looking to start one.

You’ll find a wealth of shopping options, restaurants, and even child care on Hazeldean Rd. For commuters, there’s easy access to the highway as well as public transportation right on the corner. Stittsville’s main strip is dotted

with independent coffee shops, a local playhouse, and is just a five-minute drive away.

Fittingly, Hazeldean Crossings was designed with community in mind. It’s a place where you can get to know your neighbours as you enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning on your balcony And while the townhouse complex is nestled in a suburb of single family homes, its presence doesn’t overpower the neighbourhood.

This is the first Canadian project for GNCR Homes, a company that’s been a fixture in Turkey for the past 50 years. Their presence in Canada is four years young, with other housing development projects already underway in Ottawa, as well as future plans to invest in clean energy.

The second project is located on St. Laurent Blvd. which includes two towers (Everest North and South) with 293 units in total. These units are all residential rental units. It is expected to be completed by summer 2024.

If you’d like to know more about renting at Hazeldean Crossings, contact Jennifer Davies at jdavies@ primecorp.ca or Kaitlyn Gascon at kaitlyn@primecorp.ca with Primecorp Property Management Inc. To learn more about GNCR Homes’ other Ottawa projects, contact Ibrahim Aslan at aslan@gncr.com.

at the corner of Hazeldean Rd. and Victor St., the location is ideal for raising a family in a close-knit community.

These new family-friendly Stittsville rentals are anything but average

VOICE OF BUSINESS Unite | Influence | Grow ottawabot.ca

CITY BUILDING

TheOttawa Board of Trade is the voice of business and a key economic partner in Canada’s Capital Region. We have been advocating at all levels of government during this budget season for priorities, policies, and programs that create a competitive and predictable environment in which businesses grow.

We are also focused on the city building priorities that provide a foundation for enhancing quality of life for all. A vibrant downtown

core, an integrated transit system, affordable housing and world class health care attracts the investment and talent our region needs to reach our full potential. We applaud the new Mayor and council for their ongoing commitment to consultation and consensus building. Local business leaders are excited to work together. Our ability to leverage the ingenuity and resilience of the private sector to drive community

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

• 5 Star Translation Inc.

• AI Guides

• C’est Bon Ottawa

• Canada’s 2SLGBTQI + Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC)

• Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW)

• CCSR Advisory Services Inc.

• CFT Group

• Christina Nesrallah, CHS

• ComForCare Home Care - Ottawa-Champlain

• Dentons Canada LLP

• Edelman Public Relations

• Fairmont Chateau Laurier

• Infinity Convention Centre

• Inside Edge Properties

• KIDA DESIGN INC

• Laiterie de l’Outaouais

• LaPierre Law Office

Events 2023

Mark your calendars for events designed to connect, celebrate, and contribute to the success of your business and the growth of our city. Many sell out, so check in often for the latest!

prosperity is our edge in a global economy. Of course, we all have a part to play in shaping our city. Small businesses are the heart and soul of our culture and our economy. Many are still recovering. Maintaining our commitment to support local business and talent is critically important to our collective future. Buy local, Ottawa!

Sueling Ching, President and CEO, Ottawa Board of Trade

• Light Your Leadership Inc.

• Malleum

• Mariana 2 Mars Technologies

• Métropolitain Brasserie

• PAL Airlines

• Paradigm Properties Inc.

• Priority Mind Management Canada - Ottawa

• PWL Capital

• RBC Insurance

• Real Property Management Evergreen

• Revelation Marketing

• Royal Lepage Performance Realty

• Spiria Digital Inc

• Stantec

• Stratus Building Solutions Ottawa Inc.

• The Metcalfe Hotel

• TITAN CAPITAL GROUP

• Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO)

• With People Inc.

• XEFINA CONSULTING

Maximize Your Membership

Mondays at 1:30 pm | Virtual Members & Future Members

Post Budget Breakfast

– Twenty Two, The Westin Hotel

March 29

Mayor’s Breakfast

February to November | City Hall

City Building Summit

April 25, 2023 | Shaw Centre

Women Wine & Wisdom

May & November

Welch Ottawa Business Growth Survey

June

Forty Under 40 Gala

June 23, 2023

Ottawa’s Best Networking

Golf Tournament

August

Talent Summit

October

Best Ottawa Business Awards

November

Ottawa’s Economic Outlook

December

Check for details and registration at ottawabot.ca

Evening in the Maritimes

May 11, 2023 – Westin Ottawa Hotel

Ottawa’s business and community leaders set sail for an East Coast-themed event featuring delicious food, unique auction items, and curated prizes. Join us for a whale of a good time to raise funds to support people living with disabilities in Ottawa.

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As grocery bills soar, local startups plant seeds of ‘food sovereignty’

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

Amid skyrocketing food costs that have put Canada’s biggest grocery store chains under the microscope, Eric Levesque’s vertical farming brokerage is seeing a bumper crop of new business.

Levesque is CEO of Cultivatd, a Cornwall startup that helps to arrange the sale and purchase of indoor farms, vertical farming systems and other agriculture services.

The firm, which earns most of its

income from commission fees, has signed partnerships with 65 of the agriculture industry’s biggest tech suppliers from around the world. Just over a year after landing US$3 million in seed capital, Cultivatd is closing on another funding round that’s expected to bring in several times that amount.

“It’s been pretty crazy for us here,” says Levesque, who founded Culivatd two years ago with business partner Eric Bergeron. “It’s definitely hit a vein in the industry, and that’s why we’ve been able to grow so quickly.”

Cultivatd’s headcount has doubled to 20 over the past 12 months as the company scrambles to keep up with the flood of global interest in non-traditional agricultural methods such as vertical farming.

Levesque says vertical farms that use methods such as hydroponics to grow crops without soil consume up to 95 per cent less water than traditional agricultural operations and could be vital to feeding a global population that’s expected to rise from eight billion to more than 10 billion in the next two decades.

“Everybody wants a vertical farm and nobody knows where to start,” he says. “This space is about to grow exponentially over the next five years.”

The startup’s rise comes as food supply chains are under growing scrutiny amid a rapid escalation in the prices of everything from produce to meat.

Soaring food costs have been blamed on a number of factors, including extreme weather and events such as the war in Ukraine that have disrupted supply chains.

Local agtech entrepreneur Jon Lomow says food inflation is a symptom of a “lack of food sovereignty” in Canada, where an estimated two-thirds of all produce consumed annually is imported.

“We are susceptible to big shocks in the supply chain as a country,” says Lomow, founder and CEO of Ottawa-based Fieldless Farms. “That’s why we (Fieldless Farms) exist.”

The four-year-old company produces two types of hydroponically grown lettuce at a 20,000-square-foot, climatecontrolled indoor farm in Cornwall that runs on renewable energy.

Fieldless Farms’ pesticide-free greens are now available in more than 40 Farm Boy stores in Ontario as well as Massine’s Your Independent Grocer and McKeen Metro

Glebe in the capital. Lomow says retailers can’t keep the locally grown greens in stock.

“We sell every leaf we grow,” he says. “Clearly, the demand is big.”

After landing $17.5 million in venture capital in 2022, Fieldless Farms is now tripling the size of its growing facility to 60,000 square feet.

Lomow wouldn’t disclose how much lettuce the company produces, but he says output is expected to rise tenfold by the end of the summer as the operation becomes more automated and greater economies of scale kick in.

Still, inflation has eaten into the business’s bottom line.

The price of packaging, for example, has nearly doubled in the past year, Lomow says. But so far, Fieldless Farms hasn’t passed those extra costs on to customers – in part, Lomow explains, because its products don’t have to travel nearly as far as imported lettuce to get on grocery store shelves and his company is “more efficient” in its use of nutrients.

“(Inflation) does impact us in a serious way,” Lomow says.

“But we are able to manage it, I would say, a little better than (producers of) imported products.”

Over at Cultivatd, Levesque says the firm is close to launching two funds, one in Canada and one in the U.S., to help finance new vertical farming operations.

The veteran entrepreneur says it’s all part of Cultivatd’s push to become a “head-to-toe” service provider that helps clients choose technology partners, backs new agricultural ventures and works with customers on the ground to help them operate their farms more efficiently.

“This is kind of the next progression for us,” Levesque says. “We are anticipating some very, very big revenue to come.”

“Everybody wants a vertical farm and nobody knows where to start.This space is about to grow exponentially over the next five years.” – Eric Levesque

Shopify-Amazon alliance makes sense given economic headwinds: analyst

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

Aprominent analyst predicts that Ottawa-based Shopify could forge an alliance with e-commerce behemoth Amazon as both companies grapple with shifting consumer habits and an economic slowdown that’s eating into consumer spending power.

Rick Watson said that, as Shopify diversifies from its roots as a provider of web development tools for small business and Amazon continues to evolve its tech stack, the two heavyweights might consider entering into some sort of business partnership in a bid to benefit both.

Amazon upped the ante in the battle against Shopify last spring, launching Buy with Prime, a program allowing third-party merchants to access Amazon’s shipping and logistics network to fulfil orders through their own sites.

Watson, the CEO and founder of New York-based RMW Commerce Consulting, noted that Shopify is developing a “plausible” logistics business to compete with Amazon.

Meanwhile, he said Amazon’s biggest market for Buy with Prime is Shopify merchants “because that’s where most of the merchants are in the tier that would be the best fit for that program.”

During a recent conference call with

analysts to announce Shopify’s fourthquarter and full-year 2022 financial results, Shopify president Harley Finkelstein said he welcomes Amazon’s move.

“When it comes to Buy with Prime, we think any company that’s going to make their infrastructure available to merchants to sell more is a great thing. We like it,” said Finkelstein.

He added that Shopify is still in discussions with Amazon about the program but added “there’s no update at this time.”

It seems a far cry from the Ottawa-based company’s stance four years ago, when CEO Tobi Lütke famously remarked, “Amazon is trying to build an empire, and Shopify is trying to arm the rebels.”

But Watson argued that as Shopify shifts away from its traditional smallbusiness customer base in favour of catering to bigger-value enterprises, an alliance of sorts between the two firms could make good business sense.

“Not only are (Shopify executives)

not focused on arming the rebels in the future, they also revealed on the call that they’re talking with the ‘empire’ about their Amazon Buy with Prime service,” he said. “I predict that will lead to a kind of partnership between the two. I think it’s in the interest of both companies.”

Watson’s remarks came as Shopify’s stock price plunged after the Ottawabased e-commerce giant delivered a fourth-quarter loss of more than US$600 million and issued revenue projections that fell below analysts’ expectations.

“Investors were hoping that the headcount reductions and the price increases would translate to operating leverage and higher profitability, not a return to losses in the first quarter as is implied by guidance,” Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, said in a Reuters report. There was another figure in the firm’s earnings outlook that seemed to spook investors: Shopify’s first-quarter 2023 revenue forecast calls for growth in the “highteen percentages” – well below the rates of between 50 and 100 per cent the e-commerce juggernaut routinely saw early in the pandemic.

Industry observers said that Shopify is still feeling its way through a shifting consumer landscape as the rush to online spending from earlier in the pandemic abates and rising inflation and interest rates chip away at disposable income.

Shopify recently raised its annual subscription prices by 30 per cent and introduced a wave of new products

aimed at attracting more enterprise-level customers that will use its services to run their online stores and e-commerce payment tools.

At the same time, the company has tried to become more cost-efficient, slashing its workforce by 10 per cent last year and implementing measures such as reducing the number of employee meetings.

As a result, Shopify’s fourth-quarter operating loss of US$188.7 million represented about 11 per cent of its revenues, down from 25 per cent in the previous quarter.

Watson said that’s clear evidence that Shopify is closing the gap on its operating margin losses – a road that should eventually lead to profitability as the company lands bigger customers and rolls out more products to generate new income from those enterprise clients.

“With the new CFO (Jeff Hoffmeister) coming in, I think they seem to be committed not to raise their operating expenses to a great degree, and they signalled that they’re not going to be investing a lot in new warehouses, which I think is probably a good move,” Watson said. “On the other side, they have pretty good product momentum and they seem to have most of their competitors on their heels.”

Watson said he saw no cause for alarm in Shopify’s latest revenue projections, noting the economy could be headed into choppy seas and it’s prudent to err on the side of caution.

“Are you going to go out on a limb and commit to (a revenue growth number in the) low twenties? It probably doesn’t make a lot of sense in this environment, so I think it probably shows some discipline not to overcommit. Who knows what’s going to happen in the next few months in this economy?”

– With files from Canadian Press

Germany’s Infineon buys GaN Systems for US$830M

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

GaN Systems, a trailblazing Kanatabased semiconductor developer, is being acquired by German chip powerhouse Infineon Technologies AG for US$830 million in a deal the companies say will accelerate the local firm’s growth.

The transaction comes less than 15 months after GaN Systems raised US$150 million in fresh venture capital to ramp up research and development of its high-speed power semiconductors that are now used by more than 2,000 customers, including BMW, Dell, Samsung and Siemens.

GaN and Infineon have reached a preliminary agreement on an all-cash purchase. The transaction is expected to close later this year pending regulatory approval.

GaN chief executive Jim Witham told Techopia a sale was never on the firm’s radar until Infineon first approached GaN’s management a few months ago.

“Our path forward was, ‘Put the pedal to the medal, take that (VC) cash and grow our business and push towards an IPO.’ And then this came up and plans changed,” he said in an interview.

Witham said GaN Systems and Infineon have “known each other for years.”

They target similar markets, making the acquisition a “nice fit,” he explained.

“The companies’ goals and plans are similar,” Witham said. “The way that they operate and the way we operate has a certain chemistry.”

In a statement, Infineon chief executive Jochen Hanebeck said the acquisition will speed the German organization’s push to solidify its position as a global leader.

“Adoption in applications like mobile charging, data centre power supplies, residential solar inverters, and onboard chargers for electric vehicles is at the tipping point, leading to a dynamic market growth,” Hanebeck said. “The planned acquisition of GaN Systems will significantly accelerate our GaN roadmap, based on unmatched R&D resources, application understanding and customer project pipeline,” Hanebeck added.

GaN Systems’ semiconductors use a compound called gallium nitride, a byproduct of aluminum and zinc production known for its high heat capacity and conductivity. The product is deposited on silicon to create chips that are smaller, faster and more efficient at converting power into current than their silicon-only counterparts.

Demand for the lighter and more energyefficient chips has surged as the number

of mobile devices grows, data centres consume more energy, and manufacturers of electric cars look for ways to squeeze more mileage out of batteries before they need to be recharged.

Global market research firm Yole Group predicts revenues for gallium nitride power applications will grow by an average of 56 per cent annually to about US$2 billion by 2027.

“Power electronics is kind of sexy these days, whereas maybe a decade ago, it wasn’t,” Witham said.

The Kanata company’s sale comes amid a global semiconductor supply chain crunch that has led many countries, including Canada, to seek ways to repatriate chip production from plants in Asia.

Earlier this year, the federal government announced it was creating a $150-million fund to “make targeted investments to build on Canada’s domestic strengths associated with the development and supply of semiconductors.”

Benjamin Bergen, president of the Canadian Council of Innovators, said the global shift toward “reshoring” semiconductor production has “major national security and economic implications.”

Bergen declined to comment directly on Infineon’s acquisition of GaN Systems. In an email to OBJ, he said “the issue here is the bigger context” of what position Canadian companies will occupy in the global semiconductor supply chain.

“As a country, Canada needs a national semiconductor action plan which fortifies and builds upon our homegrown Canadian companies,” Bergen said. “Without a clear roadmap which mobilizes Canadian industry, we risk winding up with yet another branch plant industry where profits and economic benefits accrue primarily to foreign multinationals.”

Witham said that while GaN Systems will soon be under foreign control, its new owner intends to continue investing heavily in its Canadian operations.

“It’s full steam ahead with respect to Ottawa and GaN transistors,” he said. “We’re still in the early stages of (the technology’s) growth. We’re kind of at a tipping point, and this is the time to accelerate investment and do more. That means doing more in Ottawa and taking advantage of the base and the foundation that we’ve put here and building on it.”

GaN Systems currently has about 200 employees, including nearly 100 at its head office and R&D hub in Kanata.

“Power electronics is kind of sexy these days, whereas maybe a decade ago, it wasn’t.”

‑ JIM WITHAM, CEO, GaN

Masters of disruption: How uOttawa’s engineering students solve tough real-world problems

Design Day continues to deliver unique product — and recruitment — solutions for business

With disruption and innovation being the rule rather than exception when it comes to launching a new product or being a market leader, businesses now-a-days are facing more competition than ever.

That’s why it’s a good thing uOttawa engineering professor Dr. Hanan Anis was ahead of the curve when she founded Design Day seven years ago as a way of connecting businesses with the next generation of outof-the-box thinkers.

A modest beginning becomes a thriving ecosystem

When Anis was granted one of 10 engineering research chair positions in Canada — the only one in the Ottawa region — she saw the need to better connect the work happening within the faculty with the broader business community.

Borrowing from other cities like Toronto and Halifax, Anis launched Design Day, a one-day event that showcases student projects that solve a real-world problem for a real-life client.

Since then, Anis has grown Design Day from an initial hands-on course with eight students who she

would pile into her car, to 500 students and a buzzing ecosystem of professors, lab managers, teaching assistants and project managers collaborating with industry.

“I’ve never worked with university students before, and my jaw kept dropping at what they came up with,” said Trudy Metcalfe-Coe, a recent Design Day participant from the Inuuqatigiit Center for Inuit Children, Youth and Families, who challenged students to create a portable greenhouse. “They took everything into account. They all need to be proud of themselves.”

Solving two birds with one stone

“We never want made-up problems,” said Hanan. “Helping industry with the ideas our students generate is a win-win.”

It’s more like a quadruple win, because Design Day has also re-engineered the recruitment process. “Participating in Design Day is like conducting a very long interview,” said Anis. “By the end of the process the client knows who the best teams are — last year there were job offers on the spot.”

The breadth of problems Design Day solves across different industries, sectors and faculties is another

part of its success. Recently the school worked with the Ottawa Hospital to provide a virtual reality system for cancer patients.

Forging interdisciplinary connections is another priority. Prior to the pandemic, engineering students collaborated with the Faculty of Arts to create an art exhibit on recycled material, combining tech and recyclables.

“Getting people with very different backgrounds together starts off quite hard because they speak different languages,” said Anis. “But once they start communicating, I love seeing the beauty of the unique ideas they come up with.”

Why partnering with Design Day is a good idea

For businesses that get involved, Design Day grants them direct access to students who have been trained to think outside the box, often resulting in market-ready products.

“This is our first semester as a client so we were not sure what to expect, but thus far our expectations have been surpassed,” said Erin Hunt, co-director of Mines Action Canada. “The students are putting forward projects that are well thought out, unique and responsive to our feedback. It is exciting to see how each group is taking the parameters of the project, developing a concept and then the skills they need to turn the concept into a prototype.”

If your business or organization could benefit from a custom solution to a challenging problem, the best way to get involved is to reach out for a quick chat to get the conversation started.

“The more we interact with different members of society to understand and respond to their needs, the better,” said Anis.

I love seeing the beauty of the unique ideas they come up with.”

— Dr. Hanan Anis

Getit hopes merger puts delivery firm on fast track to profitability

BY DAVID SALI david@obj.ca

Ottawa-based food delivery enterprise Getit Technologies is merging with Vancouver mobile commerce app developer Perk Labs in a move the companies hope will better position them to compete toe-to-toe against industry behemoths like DoorDash and Skip the Dishes.

Perk Labs, which trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange, the U.S.-based OTCQB exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, closed an agreement to acquire Getit last week in an all-share deal valued at about $4.7 million.

Getit co-founder and CEO Ryan Hardy will take over as chief executive of the combined enterprise, which has two dozen employees. Former Perk Labs CEO Jonathan Hoyles becomes chief legal officer, while Getit co-founder Ben Lacroix takes on the role of chief development officer in charge of sales and partnerships.

Hardy says joining forces with Perk Labs, which specializes in online ordering, payments and loyalty software, will give the combined entity a strong foothold in three different market segments: last-mile delivery, mobile ordering and digital payments.

“There’s not a lot of technologies that consolidate all of these together,” he says. “And what we found is that between our two companies, we can be this kind of threepillared force.”

It’s the latest iteration of Getit, which was launched in late 2019 as a service to deliver drinks and snacks to fans’ seats at sporting events.

The company soon switched gears as stadiums shut their doors to spectators during the pandemic, pivoting to deliver food and other merchandise. Getit now serves 200 local businesses, including Beyond the Pale Brewing, The Grand

Pizzeria and Bar and Zak’s Diner.

The firm’s app, called Getit Local, has processed 50,000 deliveries in partnership with local limousine service Responsible Choice. Getit’s base platform is free to join for merchants – who are charged an 18 per cent commission fee that Hardy says is lower than many other third-party delivery apps that charge 30 per cent or more – while consumers pay a flat delivery fee based on distance.

Although the company has carved out a growing local niche in the crowded last-mile delivery space, Hardy says he and Lacroix were looking for a way to generate more revenue by building delivery and payment apps for bigger clients like hotel chains, stadiums and major sports organizations.

Eight months ago, the pair met Ottawabased boutique investment banker Patrick Power. A former high-ranking executive at Corel and Newbridge Networks who went on to found Nuvo Network Management, Power now serves as chairman of James Edward Capital Corp.

value, the nine-person Vancouver company has burned through more than $40 million in capital since its inception in 2014 while developing products that have barely made a dent in the market.

In the fiscal year ending last Nov. 30, Perk Labs racked up a net loss of $3.4 million on revenues of just $31,500, compared with a $1.5-million loss on sales of $29,000 the previous year.

Hardy seems unfazed. He says he’s confident that adding Getit’s delivery knowhow to Perk Labs’ expanding tech stack will result in a can’t-miss value proposition for customers.

is so imperative to local businesses now,” Hardy adds. “We live in an Amazon world.”

But the CEO says he sees perhaps an even bigger upside in creating “custombranded” apps for clients to provide seat- and ticket-booking portals and other services under their own logos.

“There’s no dominant player in (custom) app creation yet,” Hardy says. “For us, by adding that layer, we can now … say, ‘Hey, for a couple hundred more bucks we’ll give you your own custom app that ties all of this together beautifully.’”

With Power’s help, Hardy and Lacroix connected with Hoyles and his team at Perk Labs.

“After two or three months of chatting, we realized that both companies were fighting in very highly fragmented spaces,” Hardy says. “We’ve really elevated to this upper echelon of (software) features that we didn’t think we were going to get our hands on for (another) year or two.”

Although Perk Labs is a publicly traded entity with a multimillion-dollar market

Explaining that many merchants now shell out thousands of dollars a month to subscribe to third-party delivery apps like Skip alongside point-of-sale platforms like Stripe and reservation-booking services such as OpenTable, Hardy says his firm will soon be primed to offer “four to six of these services in one suite of products for a fraction of the cost.”

Hardy contends that Perk Labs probably “focused a little bit too hard on R&D versus selling (products).” However, he says the company is still in a relatively good financial position, with little long-term debt.

“For them, not having delivery as a company, it definitely made it hard for them to compete in this space because delivery

The firm expects to finalize a publicplacement round within the next 30 days that should raise “a few million dollars,” he adds, providing the company with a bit more financial breathing room.

“That’s going to give us the runway we need to keep entrenching ourselves further in the community as a dominant player with these three pillars of services,” Hardy says.

Getit already has a presence in Calgary, where about 30 businesses use its app, and has its sights on entering the Toronto market by early 2024.

Hardy says if all goes according to plan, the company’s balance sheet will be in the black within the next two to three years.

“We really do feel like we’re in a position to turn the tides and present a profitable business by 2025, 2026.”

“We live in an Amazon world.”

‑ Getit co founder and CEO Ryan Hardy

FUNDRAISER

Now we’re on a roll: SnowBall soirée for Snowsuit Fund a smashing success

Organizers of the SnowBall know a thing or two about weathering the storm, winter or otherwise.

After nearly three years of COVID, they brought their hugely popular winter bash back this year and, boy, did they make up for lost time with this year’s party in support of the Snowsuit Fund.

Nearly 400 attendees filled 50 Sussex, the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, for a multi-level cocktail party presented by Canadian Tire. It was a night of food, drinks, live music and DJs. Sandra Plagakis from KiSS 105.3 radio station was there to emcee. There was also valet parking and a beauty bar, an online silent auction and a raffle for an Air North trip to the Yukon.

Fun-loving partygoers were seen

having a blast on the dance floor as cover band The Start struck up an irresistible playlist of British rock, pop and R&B music, surrounded by a room decorated in a UK theme.

Pure Kitchen, Pelican Seafood Market & Grill, Madahòki Farm, Heart & Crown, Starling Restaurant and Bar, Restaurant e18hteen and DineWell Catering all took part. Local beverage partners included Broadhead Brewing Co., Dunrobin Distilleries, Kichesippi Beer, Tim Hortons, Stream Water and Top Shelf Distillers.

Everyone received gift boxes filled with hair and beauty products from master stylist Fiorella DiNardo-Nocita, co-owner of Fiorella Salon at 90 George St. and a long-time supporter of the cause.

Sharon Bosley House, owner of Avant-

Garde Designs and fellow businesswoman Carole Saad, owner of Lou Lou Lounge, worked together to create a stunning venue that felt warm and cozy, fun and exciting, chic and elegant.

The organization, which has been around for more than 40 years, raises funds for the purchase and distribution of new, quality snowsuits to children of lowincome families. Every $50 raised means the organization can help another child.

The evening attracted many longtime supporters, including the Ottawa Senators’ Chris Phillips and his realtor wife, Erin Phillips, former television broadcaster-turned-professional fundraiser Lianne

is supported by the generous patronage of Mark Motors and Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties Inc. STORIES AND PHOTOS BY CAROLINE PHILLIPS

Sharon Bosley House, owner of Avant-Garde Designs, and Carole Saad, owner of Lou Lou Lounge.

Former Snowsuit Fund beneficiary Oscar Arrieta and his wife, Florencia Alba.

Laing, and Tarryn Gunnlaugson from BMO Private Wealth, to name a few.

Steph Kelly, partner at Copper Thread Coaching, with Sandra Plagakis, morning radio personality with Rogers Media’s Kiss 105.3 FM.

Home realtor Erin Phillips and her husband, retired Ottawa Senators player Chris Phillips.

Mark Ford, senior security project manager with RHEA Group, and Lise Clément, principal at Lansdowne Consulting Group.

Tim Hortons store owners, from left, Ashley Verreault, Lesley Holmes, Ingrid Kohling, Jennifer McBride, Azhra McMahon and Susan Dennison.

Brazeau Seller Law associate Michael Marcogliese with articling student Julia Gadd, Brazeau Seller Law partner Trina Fraser, former chair of the Snowsuit Fund board, articling student Kate Marland and Deborah Meltzer, trademark agent and associate lawyer with MBM Intellectual Property Law.

Jim Foster, co-owner of Pelican Seafood Market & Grill, with his executive chef, Ben Baird.

SoPa so good: Launch party a hit

Those who say Ottawa rolls up its downtown sidewalks at 5 p.m. had better reconsider: there’s a new buzzworthy entertainment district in the area south of Parliament — or SoPa, as it’s quickly becoming known.

The official launch party held in February at Queen St. Fare could not have gone any better. The sold-out crowd started streaming into the food hall as soon as doors opened, packing the place for a night of culinary delights and drinks, surrounded by a lively atmosphere of music and community.

The evening served as a reminder that the downtown is not all government and business; it also offers a social and cultural scene. If you don’t

know where to find it exactly, SoPa has produced a physical map to help you.

The level of public support, said organizers Devinder Chaudhary and Scott May, has been “overwhelming.”

“The question of whether SoPa is going to be a success is answered by the 200 people here tonight, just by their sheer presence,” Chaudhary told OBJ.

Early on, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe took to the stage with Somerset Ward Coun. Ariel Troster to present a framed letter of congratulations to organizers of SoPa. It was gifted to Chaudhary and May for their leadership in the rebranding of the downtown district.

May co-owns Bar Robo inside Queen St. Fare. Chaudhary owns nearby Aiana

and is also a board member with the Ottawa Board of Trade, a non-profit association that serves as a voice for business in Ottawa.

The launch party was supported by a fabulous group of chefs who work at and/or own restaurants located in the SoPa district.

The executive chefs were Chaudhary’s son, Raghav Chaudhary (Aiana), Joe Thottungal (Thali), Adam Vettorel (North & Navy), Stephen La Salle (Cocotte Bistro) and Katie Ardington (Beckta). From the 1 Elgin restaurant at the National Arts Centre were executive sous chef Connor McQuay and his colleague Christopher Commandant.

“I think a lot of people have expressed concerns about the future of downtown Ottawa; there’s a lot of change happening,” said Sutcliffe.

“But, I’m excited about the future of downtown Ottawa. I think we have a lot to look forward to, and it’s because of initiatives like this one that I think,

for downtown Ottawa, the best is yet to come.”

The launch took place the same day Ottawa city council approved a motion to reopen a section of Wellington Street, across from Parliament Hill, that’s been closed to traffic since the highly disruptive trucker convoy protest a year ago. The area will once again be accessible in March at the earliest.

The crowd broke into cheers as the mayor updated it on this new development. There’s so much potential for the area, Sutcliffe added. “I think there’s a huge opportunity for Wellington to become so much more than it is right now, as part of a revitalized downtown Ottawa.”

Ottawa Centre Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi further rallied the crowd with his excitement and enthusiasm over the future of the downtown core. It’s going to require imagination and a willingness to take bold risks, he recognized. But, Ottawa is a G7 capital, after all, he said.

From left, chefs Christopher Commandant and Connor McQuay (1 Elgin/NAC), Joe Thottungal (Thali), Katie Ardington (Beckta), Adam Vettorel (North & Navy), Stephen La Salle (Cocotte Bistro) and Raghav Chaudhary (Aiāna) volunteered their time for the launch party of SoPa.

Ottawa Board of Trade (OBoT) board member Melissa Reeves, COO of Linebox Studio, with Laura McElligott, head of operations and marketing at Casa Verde Construction, with singer-songwriter and entrepreneur Tara Shannon and Erin Benjamin, president and CEO of the Canadian Live Music Association.

Devinder Chaudhary, co-organizer of SoPa, and celebrity chef Vikram Vij.

is

by

BOOK LAUNCH

Business leader Thomas d’Aquino launches new memoir: Private Power, Public Purpose

It was an impressive turnout, both in quantity and quality, for the launch of business leader, policy thinker, philanthropist and arts patron Thomas d’Aquino’s new memoir, Private Power, Public Purpose: Adventures in Business, Politics and the Arts

He held his event at the National Arts Centre, where, more than half a century ago, he danced the night away in white tie and tails with his wife, Susan Peterson d’Aquino, during the opening celebrations of the NAC.

“To be able to be here tonight to launch this book is a great privilege,” said d’Aquino, 82, before paying wonderful tribute to one of our “great heroes”, the late Peter Herrndorf,

retired president and CEO of the NAC. Herrndorf, who was also 82, passed away from cancer just days before.

D’Aquino is probably best known for his time as “CEO of the CEOs.”

He was head of the Business Council of Canada, previously known as the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, and the Business Council on National Issues before that, from 1981 to 2009.

Among the nearly 200 attendees were former governor generals David Johnston and Michaëlle Jean, former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz, Canadian Museum of History CEO Caroline Dromaguet, Librarian and Archivist of Canada Leslie Weir, Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister David Morrison,

Canadian Heritage Deputy Minister Isabelle Mondou, National Gallery of Canada retired CEO Marc Mayer and several heads of diplomatic missions.

Also present was Jayne Watson, long-time CEO of the NAC Foundation.

D’Aquino started writing his 462page memoir during the pandemic lockdowns, getting up around five o’clock each morning to spend a few hours writing on his iPad. He thanked more than a half-dozen friends who read chapters of his manuscript and offered comments.

Stephen Poloz and author Andrew Cohen reviewed his manuscripts. His executive assistant Cheryl Eadie helped him prepare his drafts.

David Harrison, deputy minister of foreign affairs, with Maureen Boyd, board chair of the Parliamentary Centre.

Catherine Clark on stage with Canadian business leader Thomas d’Aquino, author of Private Power, Public Purpose: Adventures in Business, Politics and The Arts.

Shannon Day-Newman and Don Newman, retired broadcast journalist with CBC.

Sue McNee with Marc Mayer, former CEO of the National Gallery of Canada.

From left, Canadian Museum of History CEO Caroline Dromaguet with Sonia Del Re, senior curator with the National Gallery of Canada.

Stephen Poloz, former governor of the Bank of Canada, with German Ambassador Sabine Sparwasser.

Thomas d’Aquino and Susan Peterson d’Aquino.

Catherine Clark, president of Catherine Clark Communications, with Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

From left, retired hotelier Steve Georgopoulos with former governor general David Johnston.

OBJ.social

supported

the generous patronage of Mark Motors and Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties Inc. STORIES AND PHOTOS BY CAROLINE PHILLIPS

Meet District Realty’s new vice-president, Ken Halef

District Realty is pleased to announce that Ken Halef has accepted the position of vice-president of operations & finance.

Halef began his career at District Realty in 2021 as the director of finance. With his keen eye for detail and vast experience in accounting and finance, he quickly proved to be an asset to the company. His hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed, and Halef was soon promoted to the position of vice-president of operations & finance.

As a member of the executive team, Halef oversees the Property Management portfolio and collaborates with his colleagues to manage District Realty’s 75+ Ottawa properties as the company celebrates its 36th anniversary.

Halef’s journey to the nation’s capital began in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Along the way, he’s held several senior management roles in both public accounting and private sector industries. This has given him an extensive knowledge of accounting, finance, and operations from several diverse settings. His background in various industries has helped him develop a unique perspective on how to run a business, and this knowledge has been invaluable to District Realty. He continues to bring new ideas to the table, and his contributions have helped the company grow and evolve.

Halef obtained his Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary’s University in 2011 and later earned his CPA designation in 2017. This solid educational background has been a driving force behind his success in the field of finance and accounting. Furthermore, Halef is a former athlete, having won multiple national championships in boxing. This experience has taught him the discipline and determination that is required to succeed in any field. Outside of the office, Halef prioritizes his family and is a dedicated husband and father to wife Berna and daughters Leona and Levina. In his spare time, he enjoys supporting his daughters’ interests in taekwondo and dance classes.

Former Syntronic exec moves to Tallysman Wireless, part of Calian Group

Ottawa tech leader Darrell Wellington is returning to his roots in Canadian technology by joining Tallysman Wireless, a division of the Calian Group of Companies, as its new president.

His goal is to continue building the upward trajectory of Tallysman, as well as its subsidiary, Tallymatics.

“I think we have a really big opportunity to take the company to new heights and really grow it,” he said in an interview with OBJ. “Tallysman and Calian have an impressive track record.”

Tallysman manufactures products and components used for GNSS (global navigation satellite systems), including radio-frequency, highperformance antennas and intelligent location-based wireless infrastructure solutions for tracking systems.

The company is growing quickly with increased global demand for leading-edge applications of precise GNSS timing and location services in agriculture, autonomous vehicles and robotics. Its timing applications support growth for clients in a range of sectors, including renewable energy, financial translation processing and 5G mobility.

Wellington has more than 20 years’ experience, including eight years at Swedish tech firm Syntronic, where he was senior vice-president and general manager for the past four years, based in Ottawa. “Working with the Swedes was great; they have a unique approach to things.”

Wellington boosted Syntronic’s operations in Canada and recruited new talent to its Ottawa office. He hopes to do the same at Tallysman by

making an impact on a global scale.

“I really wanted to get back to my roots, which were Canadian tech companies,” said Wellington, who lists Calian CEO Kevin Ford as one of the reasons he joined. “He encouraged me to take the role.”

The company employs 60 people but has “aggressive growth plans” to hire. It’s looking to add designers and developers, along with other positions.

Wellington takes over from founder, president and CTO Gyles Panther, who

describes his successor as a “worldclass” leader. “Darrell is an energetic, entrepreneurial technical leader and I am confident he will play a pivotal role in the future growth of Tallysman’s GNSS business,” stated Panther in a release announcing the appointment.

Wellington’s fascination with computers and technology can be traced back to his childhood in the small southwestern Ontario town of Chatham. “I was always taking things apart, trying to fix them or break them,”

said Wellington, who not only played Pac-Man on a Commodore 64 home computer, but also modified the code to his advantage. “When there were no ghosts, you could do quite well.”

Wellington got a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo. It’s where his parents first met and went on to graduate. His two brothers are also UWaterloo alumni.

He moved to the nation’s capital through a co-op program in 1999 and has lived here ever since. “I’m pretty attached to Ottawa and don’t have any plans to leave,” said the married father of two.

Wellington’s first job in Ottawa was at MOSAID Technologies. He later worked his way up in product development at Research In Motion during the height of the BlackBerry craze. That’s when he saw how the technology he was helping to develop improved people’s daily lives.

“I loved being at an airport or out in the public and seeing people using the phone I had spent a year of my life perfecting.”

Ottawa’s high-tech sector has a bright future, Wellington believes. “I think there are some more challenging times ahead in the short term but, in the long run, it should be very positive.”

Wellington, who’s part of the Invest Ottawa global expansion committee, credited Nortel’s technology boom of the late 1990s with attracting techsavvy workers from around the world to the region, creating a solid base of talent that still exists today.

“It’s kind of like Silicon Valley; once you’ve got it, you got it.”

— by Caroline Phillips

ON THE MOVE ACROSS

OTTAWA

Well-known Ottawa lawyer Lorraine Mastersmith has been appointed firm managing partner at Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP and now sits on the national leadership team. She was most recently head of the Ottawa office’s business law department. Mastersmith co-owns KIN Vineyards in Carp with her husband, Shaun McEwan, president of ADGA Group.

Kelly Santini LLP has welcomed the commercial and construction litigation team of John Melia and Kara Takagi to the firm. As a commercial and construction lawyer, Melia brings more than 20 years’ experience representing Canadian and international clients in the construction industry. Takagi has six years’ experience resolving commercial and construction matters, including liens, bond claims and real estate and leasing disputes.

Former city councillor Catherine McKenney is the new executive director of CitySHAPES, a non-profit organization that aims to build better cities across Canada. McKenney co-founded CitySHAPES with Neil Saravanamutto, a former chief economist of the G20 Global Infrastructure Hub. McKenney was long-

time councillor for Somerset Ward and ran for mayor last year.

J.L. Richards & Associates has appointed Jason Ferrigan, former president of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, as its chief planner. In his new role, Ferrigan leads the company’s team of professional planners, who serve public and private clients on a wide range of projects. JLR also announced the appointment of Correy Collins and Brent Grover as associates to the multidisciplinary engineering, architecture and planning firm.

Stephanie Montreuil has joined the Ottawa Board of Trade as its senior director of communications and public affairs. Montreuil, who is bilingual and has experience in the private sector and working for member-driven national associations, was most recently senior director of communications and media relations for the Railway Association of Canada.

The social media-savvy Christie Shayler has joined the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation as its new director of marketing and communications. She was part of the team at TRUEdotDESIGN for the past nine years, serving as communications and events manager. “It’s a big move from TRUEdot but I’m really excited,” she said of her new role.

Ottawa business leader Andrew Milne has joined Relish Studios, a multidisciplinary content studio, as its new vice-president of growth. Milne was formerly working for Field Effect as its chief revenue officer and was founder of full-service digital agency bv02. He’s also a former Forty Under 40 recipient.

Patrick Champagne, who worked in the office of former mayor Jim Watson, has accepted a job with IBM as an enterprise strategy senior consultant. Champagne was part of Watson’s team for almost six years, most recently as his press secretary.

Heidi Hauver, one of the recipients of a WBN Businesswoman of the Year Award in 2022, is the new chief people officer for Canadian security workforce management solution provider TrackTik. She was most recently vice-president of people experience for Shinydocs. She also worked at Invest Ottawa for nearly five years, holding the position of vice-president of talent strategy and human resource.

HATS OFF

Congratulations to Ottawa home builder Gemstone Construction for winning a 2023 CHBA National Award for Housing Excellence at an awards gala held in Banff on Feb. 16. The family-run local business took home a Canadian Homes Builders’

‘I’m re-wiring’: Freiheit announces plans to leave Shepherds of Good Hope

BY CAROLINE PHILLIPS caroline@obj.ca

After nine years of guiding Shepherds of Good Hope toward greener pastures, Deirdre Freiheit is ready to pass her staff of leadership to someone new.

The president and CEO of both Shepherds of Good Hope and its fundraising arm, Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation, has announced her plans to step down June 30.

“Upon deep reflection over the past months, I believe I have accomplished what I set out to do when I arrived at SGH/SGHF nine years ago this

month,” Freiheit wrote in a heartfelt letter emailed to her teams, friends, volunteers and community partners.

“In fact, with the outstanding teams that we put in place, we have achieved more than I could have ever hoped. We’ve done it together.”

She expressed her confidence that SGH/SGHF “will continue to support many of the most marginalized people in our community with dignity, grace, compassion, intelligence and a deep belief that there is hope for all who

Association award for best bathroom renovation. Gemstone is led by president Josh Zaret, with father Neil and brother Adam as principals and Stephane Gervais as chief operating officer.

IN MEMORIAM

Donald Blakslee died Feb. 6 at age 92. Blakslee was raised in Sydenham, Ont., graduated from Ryerson University and immediately began a hotelier career. For almost 50 years, Blakslee was general manager of The Lord Elgin Hotel, where he and his family resided in the penthouse, earning him the nickname “Lord Blakslee.” He was a well-known leader in the tourism industry and an advocate for the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club and Kiwanis Club of Ottawa. Blakslee also enjoyed spending time at Kingsmere Lake in the Gatineau Hills. He is survived by his wife of almost 65 years and two sons.

One of Canada’s greatest cultural leaders, Peter Herrndorf, has died at age 82. Herrndorf was president and CEO of the National Arts Centre from 1999 until he retired in 2018. He also held leadership roles at the CBC, Toronto Life magazine and TVO prior to joining the NAC. The NAC’s flags flew at half-mast all of February in honour of Herrndorf.

come through our many doors at SGH.”

The letter thanked staff, executive and senior leadership teams, community leaders who have served on both organizations’ boards, and the community partners and volunteers. She gave a special shout-out to the local restaurants and chefs. “Nobody knows the time and commitment they give to us and to so many charitable organizations across the city.”

Freiheit joined SGH in March 2014 after having served as executive director

for eight years with Health Charities Coalition of Canada and, before that, president and CEO of the Canadian Lung Association for nearly six years.

“I am not retiring; rather I’m ‘rewiring,’” Freiheit stated in her letter. “After leading three organizations as CEO during the past 23 years, I have no intentions of taking on another CEO role in my future.

“I do, however, have opportunities to pursue other interests that I’ll be exploring in the coming months.”

Freiheit has been an “inspirational leader,” SGH board chair Dave Donaldson, retired dean of the school of business at Algonquin College, told OBJ. “She’s built a really strong team and is leaving this organization in amazingly good shape as a result of her strong leadership.”

Moments That Matter

Business should absolutely mix with pleasure. Our hotel offers 349 luxurious guest rooms, a conference centre, a casino, a theatre, a spa, casual fine dining, bar experiences and nightly entertainment.

To book your visit, please contact our experienced sales team at 819-790-6471 or sales@hiltonlacleamy.com