Regional Economic Development News

Let's forget about James Cameron for a minute. Sure, the blockbusting 3D version of his 2009 hit film, Avatar, may be setting the world of cinema alight as the new standard for dazzling picture quality and a demonstration of the power of digital movie-making, especially in creating high-tech three-dimensional effects. Read More...

WATERLOO, ONTARIO – The Creative Enterprise Enabling Organization announced today that funding of $225,000 will be received over a three-year period from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) to assist in the development of an enabling organization which will help the Waterloo Region creative sector reach its full potential. “This is an Read More...

By Melinda Dalton, Record staff KITCHENER — For more than a century, boots and auto parts were the products rolling off the line at the industrial buildings on King and Breithaupt streets. But, as a second life is breathed into its yellow bricks by a Toronto-area developer, the complex could soon be Read More...

CP/Record staff OTTAWA - The next governor general says he’s proud to have the opportunity to serve Canada and its people, and he pledged Thursday to be a “stalwart defender” of the country’s heritage. “This major responsibility is a mark of confidence which touches me very deeply,” University of Waterloo president David Read More...

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada - During a special visit to Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) tied to the centre’s Global Outreach activities, the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper announced new federal funding of $20 CDN million to speed the growth of science and technology capacity in Africa by developing Read More...

Ontario is providing the Region of Waterloo with $300 million to build rapid transit. The project would be the largest single investment in transit infrastructure in the history of Waterloo region and includes light rail transit in both Waterloo and Kitchener, and bus rapid transit in Cambridge. These transit improvements will:  Read More...

By Rose Simone Record staff CAMBRIDGE - Just 18 months after opening a factory here, luggage maker Rimowa has expanded both the number and type of products coming off its local production lines. The Maple Grove Road plant has expanded from making 60 luggage cases a day a year ago to about 300 Read More...

Canada's Economic Action Plan invests in the Southern Ontario Advantage Toronto — The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), today unveiled a new strategic direction for economic development and growth in southern Ontario, during a keynote speech to the Economic Read More...

By Kevin Swayze, Record staff WATERLOO REGION – A $100 million expansion of Conestoga College is on track to open for students in September 2011. And in a few decades, the school is envisioned to grow into monster campus straddling Highway 401 – one that could be one of the biggest hands-on Read More...

By Mathew Ingram Google is expanding its Ontario, Canada-based engineering operation, which has either developed or worked on most of the company’s recent mobile offerings, including Gmail for the iPad and Google Buzz. Steven Woods, the director of Google’s engineering operation in Waterloo, said in a recent interview that the Read More...

May 18, 2010 Source: TheRecord.com Luisa D'Amato, Record staff WATERLOO — The University of Waterloo is getting two of 19 new research awards being given across Canada, each worth $10 million over the next seven years. The awards from the federal government – one for quantum computing research, and one for study of water Read More...

May 14, 2010 Source: 570news.com A high tech company in Kitchener has been recognized for its environmental initiatives and its willingness to hire new Canadians. Christie Digital has been named one of Canada's greenest employers and also one of the country's best employers for new Canadians. President and COO Gerry Remers says while Read More...

By Rose Simone, Record staff KITCHENER - It is a country with a commodity-fuelled economy and a relatively small population sitting next to a global economic powerhouse. That will sound familiar to Canadians, but it describes Australia as well as Canada. The two countries have "quite similar economies in many respects," Justin Brown, Read More...

April, 28, 2010 Source: TheRecord.com Record staff and news services CAMBRIDGE – Langdon Hall has been ranked 77th in the prestigious annual S. Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants ranking. Rouge restaurant in Calgary was rated No. 60. The rankings mark the first time since 2003 that any Canadian establishment had made the top 100. In top Read More...

April 26, 2010 Source: Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration McGuinty Government Acts To Protect And Retain Students Ontario is taking steps to become the destination of choice for international students by protecting the excellence of its post-secondary education and making it easier for international PhD students to stay in the province. The province intends Read More...

April 24, 2010 Source: The Record WATERLOO — The federal government will spend $400,000 to subsidize the salaries of co-op students from University of Waterloo who will help smaller businesses improve their technology and become more competitive. The announcement was made Friday by Kitchener-Waterloo MP Peter Braid, who said the money will go to Read More...

April 21, 2010 Source: Rose Simone, The Record KITCHENER — An economically confident Canada, with strong and diversified trading relationships, is also good for the American economy, the United States Consul General, Kevin Johnson, said Tuesday. Speaking during a luncheon at Bingemans in Kitchener, hosted by Canada’s Technology Triangle, an economic development agency, Johnson Read More...

April 20, 2010 Source: Exchange Morning Post Waterloo – TELUS yesterday announced it is investing $2 million in Kitchener-Waterloo in 2010 as it continues extending the reach and speed of its advanced wireline and wireless broadband services. “Since 2000, TELUS has made $18.6 billion in operating and capital investments to deliver advanced technology and Read More...

April 19, 2010 Source: Jeff Outhit, The Record WATERLOO — Plans are taking shape to double the built size of the University of Waterloo campus over 40 years. On Monday, Waterloo councillors approved conceptual plans to expand the research and technology park north of the current campus, and also to develop nearby vacant Read More...

Asahi Shimbun The Asahi Shimbun Globe Like an “angle raise” shot in curling where one player knocks a teammates’ stone closer to the centre, Canada welcomes human resources from around the world who, together with team support from companies and schools, move the country to advantageous positions in world markets. Read More...

April 15, 2010 Source: By Rose Simone, The Record KITCHENER — Medicalis Corp. has a new chief executive officer and is hiring more software engineers in Kitchener. The company, which develops software that helps the health-care system avoid wrong or unnecessary tests, has hired Oran Muduroglu as CEO to replace Ron Kelly, who left Read More...

April 14, 2010 Source: Greg Mercer, The Record WATERLOO REGION — United States Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson paid his first visit to Waterloo Region — a place known around the world for innovation, he said — with radar, BlackBerrys and theoretical physics on his mind. Before returning to Ottawa late yesterday Read More...

April 13, 2010 Source: Rose Simone, The Record WATERLOO REGION — Area companies that make rooftop solar products are getting a multi-million dollar boost from an Ontario government program that pays people to produce energy on their rooftops. Canadian Solar Solutions Inc, of Kitchener, ATS Automation Tooling Systems in Cambridge and Arise Technologies Read More...

April 12, 2010 Source: The Canadian Press and The Record OTTAWA - Fewer apartment and condo construction projects dragged down the overall number of housing starts in Canada last month. A report today from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. showed that the overall seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts slipped to 197,300 units Read More...

April 09, 2010 Source: Chuck Howitt, The Record WATERLOO REGION — With 80 per cent of its document shredders sold south of the border, Shred-Tech relies heavily on the American market. So the rising loonie and the falling American dollar are huge concerns for Robert Glass, president and chief executive officer of the Read More...

April 8, 2010 Source: 570News The first in a series of public meetings regarding the future of transportation in the region takes place tonight in Cambridge. The region is hosting the open forums in a bid to gather feedback on its latest Transportation Master Plan and its Draft Regional Transportation Corridor Guidelines. The Master Read More...

April 06, 2010 Source: Rose Simone, The Record WATERLOO — The founder of Kitchener’s The Cora Group has given $3 million to support a University of Waterloo centre that nurtures fledgling entrepreneurs, and has in turn been recognized by the renaming of the centre in honour of his family. Commercial real estate developer Read More...

April 06, 2010 Source: The Record WATERLOO REGION — Home sales jumped about 45 per cent across the region in March, compared to the depths of the recession a year ago. And average selling prices climbed, too, but more in Kitchener and Waterloo than in Cambridge. In Kitchener, Waterloo and surrounding townships, 731 homes were Read More...

April 06, 2010 Source: Johanna Weidner, The Record KITCHENER — A Kitchener manufacturer of doors and trim will be moving and growing thanks to a federal grant. Riverside Door & Trim got just over $820,000, the bulk of almost $1.06 million handed out Tuesday to three local companies from the Federal Economic Development Agency Read More...

March 31, 2010 Source: Scott Tracey, Guelph Mercury GUELPH — In less than five years, city residents might be able to catch Guelph Transit in front of their homes and get off in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge or even Milton. The transit authority is considering several options to extend service beyond city limits, including Read More...

March 20, 2010 Source: Lynn Haddrall, The Record Where will the next generation of great scientific thinkers be found? Right here in Waterloo Region. It has been 10 years since the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics was created in Waterloo. If you’ve walked or driven by the institute recently, you will have seen that Read More...

March 18, 2010 Source: Liana B. Baker, MarketWatch After some lean times, venture capital is trickling back into Canada from the U.S., and that pace could quicken thanks to a new piece of tax reform proposed in Canada's annual budget. Over the last two years, U.S. venture capital in Canadian companies has plunged by Read More...

March 16, 2010 Source: Rose Simone, The Record WATERLOO — Sandvine Corp. is receiving a five-year research and development funding commitment from the Ontario government that is worth up to $25.5 million. Under the agreement with the province, Sandvine, a maker of broadband networking equipment that manages the flow of web traffic, is eligible Read More...

March 13, 2010 Source: 570News An inaugural board of directors has been appointed to the Prosperity Council of Waterloo Region's Task Force on Creative Enterprise. The board's creation follows two key recommendations and will provide a wide range of services to the arts, culture and creative sectors. The 20-member board's first task will Read More...

March 10, 2010 Source: Jeff Outhit, The Record WATERLOO REGION — As the economy faltered, this region added only 3,100 residents last year, the smallest increase in population since 1996. Planners had forecast the region would add 6,100 residents. On average, the community has been adding almost 8,000 residents a year over the Read More...

March 10, 2010 Source: Terry Pender, The Record WATERLOO REGION — Statistics Canada says the number of visible minorities living in this region will double by 2031. And people who work with and study immigrants say this region has work to do when it comes to helping immigrant settle, find work and integrate. The Statistics Read More...

March 9, 2010 Source: Exchange Morning Post Waterloo – Following a huge success last year, Lutherwood is hosting its second annual job fair to help connect approximately 40 Waterloo Region employers that are hiring with an anticipated 1,000 job-seekers. Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Subscriber’s Lounge 400 East Avenue Wednesday March 10, 2010 2:00 – 6:00 pm “Our local labour market Read More...

March 04, 2010 Source: Chuck Howitt, The Record WATERLOO REGION — The company has gone out of its way to hire immigrants as interns and kept some of them on as permanent staff. Staff members have acted as mentors to other immigrants during the difficult early months in a new country. Other employees Read More...

March 03, 2010 Source: Brent Davis, The Record WATERLOO — The province will invest nearly $34 million in software developer Open Text as the high-tech firm creates hundreds of new jobs in Ontario over the next five years. The Waterloo-based company plans to spend a total of $225 million over the next five Read More...

March 3, 2010 Source: Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board While Canada’s athletes were racing for Olympic Gold; Waterloo region’s homebuyers were racing to buy real estate. REALTORS® of the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board (KWREB) traded 553 homes in February through the Multiple Listing System (MLS®) for a total value of $153,120,645, marking a 31.7 Read More...

March 02, 2010 Source: Melinda Dalton, The Record WATERLOO REGION — The local tourism board could soon be taking a lead role in an ambitious plan to create distinct tourism regions and boost Ontario’s visitor dollars. The Waterloo Regional Tourism Marketing Corporation, with the endorsement of 29 surrounding municipalities, has applied to be Read More...

March 02, 2010 Source: Exchange Morning Post WATERLOO – Capacity Waterloo Region (CWR), a five-year pilot project to build an enabling environment that brings resources from all sectors together to support the people that build lasting social change, announced today that Cathy Brothers has officially joined the project as its first-ever Executive Director Read More...

March 02, 2010 Source: Rose Simone, The Record KITCHENER – It’s official. The new centre that is being created to foster the development of the digital media economy in Waterloo Region will make its home in the redeveloped historic Lang Tannery building in downtown Kitchener. After months of speculation the centre would be a Read More...

March 1, 2010 Source: Exchange Morning Post Ontario is helping researchers in Waterloo Region make new discoveries that will improve the lives of people around the world while building our economy at home. The province is investing $20,826,487 to support 6 leading-edge research projects at the University of Waterloo. The funding comes Read More...

March 1, 2010 Source: Exchange Morning Post TORONTO - Covington Capital Corporation ("Covington") is pleased to announce the completion of a CDN$2.5 million investment in Waterloo-based Aimetis Corp. ("Aimetis", the "Company") as part of a total financing round of $5 million. Established in 2003, Aimetis is a provider of network video surveillance technologies designed Read More...

March 1, 2010 Source: PRNewswire ONTARIO, Canada, Canadian Solar Inc. ("the Company," "Canadian Solar" or "we") (Nasdaq: CSIQ) today announced its headquarters, located at 650 Riverbend Dr., is home to Kitchener's first Ontario Power Authority (OPA) approved microFIT (Feed-In-Tariff) solar installation. The 3.2 kW DC Canadian Solar system was installed on Canada's first Read More...

February 24, 2010 Source: Chuck Howitt, The Record WATERLOO REGION — In what will be a first for Waterloo Region, Canada’s Technology Triangle is organizing a trade mission of local business and institutional representatives to China in May. While local company owners and business development officials have travelled individually to China in the Read More...

February 23, 2010 Source: Terry Pender, The Record KITCHENER — City councillors reached an important milestone Monday in their decade-long effort to redevelop a strategic parcel of land next to City Hall. During a closed-door meeting councillors gave their final authorization to staff for an agreement between the City of Kitchener and Brampton-based Read More...

February 18, 2010 Source: Agfa Agfa HealthCare announces new facility to support research & development, commercialization of healthcare technology and drive job creation Agfa HealthCare, a leading provider of IT-enabled clinical workflow and diagnostic imaging solutions, today announced construction of a the new global Agfa HealthCare Research & Development facility in the Research and Read More...

February 17, 2010 Source: 570News Two local manufacturing companies will split over two million dollars in loans from Ottawa to create almost 100 new jobs. Grand River Foods Ltd. in Cambridge gets over 1.1 million to get new equipment for a more efficient processing operation, and add 20 new permanent full-time jobs. Bend All Automotive in Read More...