Your Weekly Tune Up
Government of Alberta Fall session adjourned
Alberta’s Recovery Plan came into sharp focus during Alberta’s legislature sitting, with major advancements on creating jobs and diversifying the economy.
During the fall sitting, Alberta’s government passed numerous bills that fulfil promises on affordable housing, conserving our environment and bringing more transparency to infrastructure spending.
The government wrapped up the fall session this week, which started October 25. Key points
December 14: Government of Canada Fall Economic Update
The course we set for Canada’s public finances will have an impact on Canadians for decades to come. Canadians deserve more than a cursory update; we need a serious plan at a serious time. Read the statement from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
Alberta’s Recovery Plan for addiction and mental health-related prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery resources
A $140-million investment over four years is supporting the addition of new publicly funded treatment spaces; the elimination of daily user fees for publicly funded residential addiction treatment; a new patient matching tool, Recovery Access Alberta; and services to reduce harm, such as the Digital Overdose Prevention System (DORS), the introduction of a nasal naloxone pilot and the expansion of opioid agonist therapy. Find out more.
Quick Check Up
New Travel Related Measures
Last week, the Government of Canada announced new travel-related measures to slow the spread of the Omicron variant. The Public Health Agency of Canada has created an infographic to help industry relay the new regulations to travellers. For more information on travel to Canada please visit the Government of Canada website.
Fuelling Our Business Community
12 Days of Christmas Giveaway!!
From December 9th to December 24th Santa goes local for 12 Business Days of Giveaways!
Our goal with this giveaway campaign is to encourage people to shop local this Christmas season! #Santagoeslocal Each giveaway is donated by an amazing local business and will be different each day! Participants can be entered by commenting on our daily Facebook posts up until Christmas. You can also be entered by posting a photo of your local purchase and using hashtag #santagoeslocal and tagging us.
When you win!!! Claim your prize by presenting a receipt from a purchase made at a local business!
We look forward to spreading some holiday cheer and makes sure you are shopping local this Christmas season!
The Power of Community
Big Marble Farms is named as new partner for Family Leisure Centre
Big Marble Farms is an active member of the local and regional business community and has been for many years. They are also a Community Builder with the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce and are always exploring innovative ways to be sustainable in the way that they grow and package their locally grown produce. They invest in what sustainability looks like for their customers and for the planet.
The FLC will be renamed as the Big Marble Go Centre. Find out more.
Congratulations to Clayton Bos on receiving the Stars of Alberta Award
The Stars of Alberta Volunteer Awards honour the brightest and best community leaders and advocates with nine recipients, including one from Medicine Hat. Clayton contributes an average of 500 volunteer hours each year in support of a wide range of projects and activities. As Dean of the School of Arts, Science and Education at Medicine Hat College, it is not surprising that a focus of Clayton’s volunteerism is sharing the joy of scientific discovery and learning. And as a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) and chair of the organization for three years, Clayton is well positioned to help budding scientists in that journey of discovery. Find out more about Clayton's work, along with the other recipients of this years award.
Enriching Your Business
See all our Value Added Benefits!
Fill Up On Funding
Accelerate Innovation
Transform your business faster with the Scaleup and Growth Accelerator Program. Accelerators intensify learning experiences by compressing years of experiential learning into a few months: access coaching, community, capital and globally tested scaleup and pitch practices. Test, iterate and validate your product.
Ideal applicants are early-stage or growing companies engaged in innovation and novel technology development. Learn more about the Scaleup and Growth Accelerator Program at www.apexalberta.ca/tech-accelerators. Transform your product or service faster with the Scaleup and Growth Accelerator Program, funded by Alberta Innovates.
Jobs and Growth Fund in Western Canada
The Jobs and Growth Fund (JGF) provides funding to businesses and organizations to help create jobs, and position Canada’s economy for an inclusive recovery and long-term growth. Applications will be accepted through a continuous intake process. All projects must be completed prior to March 31, 2024, as no further funding will be available after that date. Please review the applicant guide for more information.
WISE Funding Assistance
The APEX Regional Innovation Network partnership is now accepting applications for female entrepreneurs, or those who identify as female, who want to start or scale up a technology, or knowledge-based business. Funding covers the full cost of the program. However, funding is limited and not all applications will be funded. Reviewers are looking specifically for candidates that have novel technologies, products, and services. Find out more.
Digital Innovation in Clean Energy (DICE) Open Call for Proposals 2.0
The second round of funded DICE projects will continue to develop technology that creates jobs in the digital economy, improve the efficiency of energy production at all levels, reduce GHG emissions and contribute to environmental innovations in water and land management. Up to $2.5 million is available over 18 months for DICE 2.0. Project funding can be up to but not exceed $350,000. Proposal submission deadline is December 22, 2021.
Continuous intake programs:
Government of Canada launches call for proposals under the National Trade Corridors Fund
With two theme areas, the strengthening Canada’s connections to global markets will target projects that support fluid and reliable trade flows between Canada and global markets, including the United States and Mexico. This theme considers projects that enable an increase in, or generation of new exports, and that improve the transportation system’s efficiency and reliability for Canadian supply chains. The second, Building internal trade corridors will target projects that support the resiliency of Canadian goods trade and supply chains by alleviating capacity constraints and bottlenecks along regional and inter-provincial trade corridors. Other objectives include strengthening modal interconnectivity and operability, and improve producers’ access to markets, industrial centres and/or multimodal hubs and gateways. Expressions of interest are now being accepted until March 31, 2022. Applicants who wish to explore funding opportunities for their initiatives are encouraged to consult the Increasing the fluidity of Canada’s supply chain webpage, which provides guidance on the process.
Advocacy in Action
Have your Voice Heard on Hiring Intentions
The Alberta Chambers of Commerce has partnered with the Government of Alberta on a second hiring intentions survey. If you're a business operator, this is your chance to have your voice heard on today's labour market. https://www.albertaperspectives.ca/c/r/ACC12-21
Next Level Events
Resitriction Exemption Program Safety Training
The REP Safety Training is a 45-minute online course to help workers assess and manage challenging situations that may arise during their daily work. The training is available at no cost to all Alberta-based employers and employees. Through the training, workers will learn skills to help them work safely and the confidence to effectively and professionally communicate COVID-19 safety requirements, such as requesting proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test, physical distancing or masking. Employers are required to enroll employees for the training on their behalf. An access code will then be sent via email to share with employees to take the training. Find out more and enroll today.
Other Events
WEBSITES & SEO: OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE FOR GOOGLE | Dec 14
Industrial Revolution 4.0 Webinar Series
Christmas Lights Across Canada with the IllumiNATION launch on December 21 at 6:00 MST
Meaningful employee engagement in a post-pandemic lens | Jan 12
U.S. State and Local Government Procurement 101 for Canadian Companies | Jan 26
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