Perfect your pitch at digital Bootcamps

Are you looking to master your pitching skills to highlight your products or  services for new buyers, investors and partners or simply to wow the judges at the upcoming Canadian Export Challenge (CXC)?

The Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) invites you to join Startup Canada and Volition for a series of virtual pitch‑building bootcamps to help participating entrepreneurs prepare for the upcoming CXC pitching competitions this fall. These sessions will provide key insights to create and refine a flawless 90‑second pitch using proven narratives and pitch‑building techniques.

You'll learn how to:

• Build a compelling pitch, without memorizing a script
• Engage and connect with your audience
• Portray confidence and be memorable

Dates and times:

• June 16th, 2020 (1pm EST, 11am MT, 2pm ADT)
• July 14th, 2020 (1pm EST, 11am MT, 2pm ADT)
• August 18th, 2020 (1pm EST, 11am MT, 2pm ADT)

The CXC is presented by Startup Canada in collaboration with the TCS, along with Export Development Canada (EDC), UPS, Mastercard and Scotiabank, and powered by Google. This year marks the third annual, and first fully‑digital edition of the CXC for Canadian startups and scale‑ups to grow their business globally.

Fine‑tune your pitching techniques at a digital bootcamp. Register now.

Have questions? Startup Canada can be reached by email at cxc@startupcan.ca.

Minister Ng encourages entrepreneurs and innovators to apply for the Canadian Export Challenge (click to view)

Turning Point Initiative Aims to ‘Reimagine New Brunswick’

Ten economic development, business, and community development organizations from across New Brunswick will present a virtual conference and podcast series designed to reimagine New Brunswick in a post-pandemic world.

Turning Point: Recovery and Reimagination in New Brunswick will consist of eight virtual conferences and related podcasts in both English and French over a four week period. The first conference will be held this Thursday on the province’s fiscal realities and will feature Premier Blaine Higgs and economist Richard Saillant.

All eight conferences will feature leading economists and a panel of public and private sector experts. The series will be big on interaction with conference attendees. The goal of the series is to design a sustainable roadmap for economic and social growth as New Brunswick emerges from the pandemic.  Read more here 

The Federal Government has announced 
Temporary Foreign Workers will now be allowed in Canada  

The Government of Canada is providing an update on travel restrictions put in place to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Exemptions to the air travel restrictions will apply to foreign nationals who have already committed to working, studying or making Canada their home, and travel by these individuals will be considered essential travel for land border restrictions.

The exemptions include

• seasonal agricultural workers, fish/seafood workers, caregivers and all other temporary foreign workers
• international students who held a valid study permit, or had been approved for a study permit, when the travel restrictions took effect on March 18, 2020
• permanent resident applicants who had been approved for permanent residence before the travel restrictions were announced on March 16, 2020, but who had not yet travelled to Canada.

Read more here 

Prime Minister announces more support for workers and business
through Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan

The Government of Canada is taking strong and quick action to protect our economy, and the health, safety, and jobs of all Canadians during the global COVID-19 outbreak.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced a new set of economic measures to help stabilize the economy and help Canadians affected by the impacts of this challenging period.

These measures, delivered as part of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, will provide up to $27 billion in direct support to Canadian workers and businesses, plus $55 billion to meet liquidity needs of Canadian businesses and households through tax deferrals to help stabilize the economy. Combined, this $82 billion in support represents more than 3 per cent of Canada’s GDP. This wide-ranging support will help ensure Canadians can pay for rent and groceries, and help businesses continue to pay their employees and their bills during this time of uncertainty.

This plan builds on coordinated action taken since the beginning of this outbreak, including the more than $1 billion COVID-19 Response Fund, which provided funding to provinces and territories to strengthen critical health care systems. It represents over $500 billion in credit and liquidity support for people and businesses through cooperation between financial Crown corporations, the Bank of Canada, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), and commercial lenders to ensure businesses can continue to operate.

Read more here 

Federal Work-Sharing Program

If your workplace is feeling the impacts of COVID-19 due to a reduction of business, consider applying for the federal government’s Work-Sharing program. The Work-Sharing program aims to help employers avoid layoffs and provide employees with income support during times of temporary reduction in normal business activity that is outside of an employer’s control.

Work-Sharing is available to employees eligible for Employment Insurance benefits and requires that employees agree to a reduced schedule of work. Employers and employees must apply for the program together, with union involvement as well if applicable. Applications must be submitted at least 30 days in advance and benefits will generally be available for up to 38 weeks. However, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the federal government has implemented special measures to address employers experiencing a downturn in normal business related to the outbreak. The changes include waiving the mandatory waiting period between Work-Sharing agreements and extending the number of weeks that benefits may be received from 38 to 76. These special measures are effective March 15, 2020 to March 14, 2021.

What is a Work-Sharing Unit?

A Work-Sharing unit includes a minimum of two employees who perform similar work and agree to reduce their hours by the same percentage, over a specific period of time. A unit must reduce its hours by 10%-60%. All employees in the same job description must reduce their hours of work, regardless of whether they are part of the Work-Sharing unit (i.e. one employee cannot refuse to join the unit and continue to work normal hours).

Who is Eligible?

Employers must be involved in a year-round business in Canada for at least two years in order to be eligible for the program. This includes private businesses, publicly held companies, or not-for-profit organizations. A business must be experiencing a recent decline in sales or production levels of at least 10% in the last six months to be eligible for a Work-Sharing agreement. An employer must be able to demonstrate that the recent decline is directly or indirectly related to impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and that the work shortage is temporary and beyond the employer’s control. In order to be eligible, the decline cannot be due to a recurring slow-down. Finally, employers must be willing to submit a recovery plan outlining measures that will be implemented to support the on-going operation of the business.

In order to be eligible for the Work-Sharing program employees must be eligible to receive Employment Insurance benefits. Employees involved in the program must be year-round, permanent employees, and may be full or part-time as long as they perform the main functions of the business. Those employees eligible for the program are those which comprise the employer’s “core staff”. Finally, employees in a work sharing unit are employees who agree to reduce their normal working hours and share the work that is available at the workplace.

Whole Foods Market’s top product trends predictions for 2020

Meat-plant blends, new varieties of flour, West African foods, and zero-proof drinks are among the key areas Whole Foods Market says could take off in 2020.

Here’s a look at the organic grocer’s forecast for on-the-rise flavours, culinary influences and more:

1. Everything Butters & Spreads
2. Foods from West Africa
3. Meat Plant Blends
4. Out of the Box, Into the Fridge Snacking
5. Zero-Proof Drinks                                                   READ MORE HERE 

Atlantic Trade and Investment Growth Strategy

SIAL Canada
August 5-7, 2020
Montreal, QC

Food and Beverage Atlantic, working jointly with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, is seeking Atlantic Canadian companies to attend SIAL Canada in Montreal, Quebec from April 15 to 17, 2020. SIAL is now the only event of its scale in Canada, with more than 1000 national and international exhibitors hosting over 18,500 buyers from Canada, the U.S., and over 50 other countries.

This project is being supported by the Atlantic Trade and Investment Growth Strategy, a partnership between the Government of Canada and the four Atlantic Provincial governments.

SIAL Canada is the only national trade show that offers a complete range of food products under one roof to meet customers’ expectations. Buyers and decision makers across the whole industry, from grocery, wholesale and specialty retail to food service and manufacturing, will converge to uncover the hottest trends, latest product launches and the industry’s vision for the future.

The 2019 SIAL Canada Show in Toronto had over 18,500 professional buyers from over 60 countries, and there were over 1000 exhibitors from these countries. The top 5 of the 60 plus countries and regions visiting SIAL include Canada, United States, Mexico, the European Union and China.

Read more here 

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