Industry committee  We do. In the case of the companies that work out of the University of Waterloo Velocity space, the university pays for that space; the companies themselves are subsidized by the university. Other small companies pay rent. We also have these large corporate partners, like the GMs and the TD Banks, which rent corporate innovation labs, and they pay a premium on that so we can subsidize the start-ups.

Industry committee  We're strategic partners, so we—

Industry committee  There are some existing networks and examples that can be leveraged. Lloyd Longfield and I worked in the early days of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs, and I would say that it's come a long way in the last 10 years. It's a series of regional innovation centres that offer a common programming, and the core notion is what Victoria just mentioned, which is that there's no wrong door.

Industry committee  I think your assessment is absolutely right. The talent market is really tight in the technology industry all across the country, not just here in Ottawa. I think this is where we need to start creating more of that workforce-ready talent, by working with the universities and colleges to make sure they are producing the kinds of skills that companies need.

Industry committee  Yes, the Myo armband by Thalmic Labs.

Industry committee  Thalmic Labs is a great example of that kind of wearable device, or smart manufacturing, or advanced manufacturing type of start-up. They came through a program at the University of Waterloo called Velocity, which is focused on helping students and new grads start their companies.

Industry committee  I think by and large our client companies would say that they're not producing enough. The quality of the grads they do produce is certainly very good, but to be a systems design engineering student at the University of Waterloo, you need to have an entrance average of well over 93% or 94%.

Industry committee  For hardware-focused, device-enabled, manufacturing-focused start-ups, I would say they are probably 15% to 20% of our client base.

Industry committee  Talent is probably the number one challenge faced by all the companies we would work with—the shortage of the right kind of talent to fill their needs. Whether it's sales and marketing talent or technical talent, companies can only grow if they can get the right people. Our partners are working really closely with the colleges and universities in their communities to try to make sure there's that intersection between what industry needs and what those institutions are producing in terms of new grads.

Industry committee  May I respond?

Industry committee  On the ground, in the facility day-to-day with BDC, we've been seeing more of them in the last four-or-five months. I find that encouraging. I understand the concern and frustration. I think there really has been a shift in the intention to be more accessible and to have their feet on the ground in local ecosystems.

Industry committee  Yes.

Industry committee  I did not.

Industry committee  Mentors save time. They save me from making the mistakes that somebody else could avoid. They are hugely important. The small and mid-sized enterprise companies do struggle a little, because their heads are down trying to build and scale their business, but increasingly I see the ecosystem starting to build supports to help those companies scale.

Industry committee  That's a great question. I am by no means an expert in the manufacturing sector. What I can say is that where we are dealing with manufacturing firms, or food processing firms, or what have you—those that are creating physical goods—the advantage they are finding to strengthen their business and to gain more customers is to do things more quickly, more efficiently, with fewer errors.