“Governments, including mine, are acting as a brake on growth. We move too slowly and we burden ourselves and our job creators - our entrepreneurs - with too much process.”

Premier Dalton McGuinty, speech to the Canadian Club of Toronto, February 3, 2009

Ontario - In the new global economy, companies that get to the global market first have an advantage. The McGuinty government recognizes that to effectively help Ontario companies win that race to market, it must not only deliver world-class programs and services that support innovation, but do so at the speed of business – and in a way that puts the needs of the customer (Ontario’s innovators) first.

That belief is an integral part of Ontario’s Innovation Agenda, a plan – and a nearly $3-billion commitment -- to make innovation a driving force of Ontario’s future economy.

It is also the driving force behind a formal review of the Ontario Commercialization Network (OCN). The goal of this review is to ensure that our province builds the kind of world-class innovation system needed to turn good ideas into the new industries, world-class companies and great jobs that will shape our future.

Today, that Review has reached an important milestone: the Steering Committee — a group of leaders from industry, academia and finance who guided the Review process — have submitted their key findings and recommendations to the province, outlining how to create an OCN that is more responsive to the needs of Ontario’s world-class researchers and innovators.

“Innovation is all about people: talented people with good ideas that have the potential to seize global market opportunities. This review is about going from good to great, doing more and finding better ways to support these people. We want to make it easier for Ontario’s innovators to access the support they need to turn their good ideas into great jobs and a higher quality of life for us all.”
John Wilkinson, Minister of Research and Innovation, March 13, 2009

The full report is posted at www.ontario.ca/INNOVATION