STORM AREA X.O.
Ottawa’s AV (autonomous vehicle) industry is flush with cash following a $17 million government investment into its local testing facility.
With this joint investment between Invest Ottawa and the federal government through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), staking $10 million and $7 million respectively, the city will be supporting a number of companies who are leading the way in AV development, as well as the facility itself.
“The enhanced capabilities at Invest Ottawa’s Area X.O., made possible by support from FedDev Ontario, will support the next generation of digital infrastructure and help to grow our regional economy and create good local jobs,” said Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre Catherine McKenna.
The newly named Area X.O., formerly the Ottawa L5 Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Test Facility, will receive a new, fullyequipped 5G mobile command centre with drones capable of deploying a standalone and secure 5G network anywhere, thanks to the investment.
In addition, the facility will also be upgraded with new cybersecurity technology and an authentic railway crossing and mobile dummy test targets that enable precise and repeatable test scenarios between autonomous vehicles and vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.
The companies partnered with this investment include Accenture, BlackBerry QNX, the City of Ottawa, Ericsson, Hexagon AutonomouStuff, InDro Robotics, Kongsberg Geospatial, Microsoft, Nokia and TÜV SÜD.
KING OF KENORA
CARSTAR Kenora was honoured recently at the Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Awards banquet, where owner Peter Scheibler took home the award for Entrepreneur of the Year.
Scheibler was one of 12 other nominees in his category, and CARSTAR Kenora was among more than 40 businesses being recognized for their success in the Kenora district.
“It’s humbling. I received so many messages through social media, text messages, phone calls and emails. A lot more than I ever would have expected. Obviously, it’s good for the business. It shows we’re running a good business here and trying our best to tough it out through this difficult time. We, of course, were also directly affected by COVID – we were slow for like three months straight. So, we had to change some things around but didn’t have to lay anyone off so that was nice. Everyone stuck together and we just kind of pushed through.”
With more than 20 years of experience under his belt in the auto industry as a painter, Scheibler took the reigns at CARSTAR Kenora in 2016. “I started here in December of ’97 as an apprentice painter. That’s how it all began. I went to college to be an automotive painter and then around the year 2002 I was given the option to help in the office. I had an injury, so I was going to be off for two to three months, so they got me doing some office work. Honestly, I never looked back at the painting part of it. That ultimately led to an opportunity to then buy the business in July of 2016. So, I’ve owned it now for just over four years.”
For Scheibler, the key to a good business is a happy business—simple as that.
STUDENT SKILLS
Loyalist and Durham College are partnering through the Ontario Tech University collaboration with an investment of more than $750,000 to help with student placement in the auto industry.
The initial investment of $37 million from the province is meant for helping people train for jobs in the automotive, transportation and construction sectors; much like Durham and Loyalist College are with their share of the $37 million.
The two colleges will form an executive committee to oversee the development of a network that can bring together industry professionals and students to help them find a placement.
The colleges are calling the new local training initiative, the Career Fund’s Auto Stream. The government hopes this investment will help students, recent grads, and apprentices, expand the current work-integrated learning opportunities in their local community or college. Automotive employers who host these student placements will also benefit from highly skilled labourers from the new collaboration, according to Loyalist College president and CEO, Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan.
“This initiative by the ministry of labour, training and skills development will strengthen Ontario’s competitive advantage globally by connecting next generation talent with the automotive manufacturing jobs of tomorrow,” said Dr. Vaughan. The $37 million investment will be allocated to 86 projects the government believes will help many Canadian job seekers develop the skills they need to be an auto industry professional.
The new local training initiative will be provided through multiple universities, colleges, community and industry organizations in Ontario.
JOINT CUSTODY
The Government of Ontario has announced a $1 million grant program that they are hoping will encourage employers to take on more trades apprentices. The Group Sponsorship Grant (GSG) announced by the provincial government in mid-November will provide funding to employers with annual maximum funding of $1 million to help guide apprentices through their training.
In one of a number of documents released to the government’s website, the Ministry of Labour claims that “by sharing apprenticeship management and training responsibilities, employers can streamline administration, structure training, and reduce the pressure on any one employer to see an apprentice through the completion of training within a trade.”
Applications for the program are currently open for employers and those accepted will be signed on for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three. The government expects the review period for applications to take up to two months.
