In January this year, during his keynote address to the World Economic Forum, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated his stance that Canada is resiliently open for business. Trudeau used his speech to the Davos forum participants to highlight Canada’s many other profitable sectors aside from the oil industry.
“Canada’s natural resources remain a vital part of the economy — even as sliding oil prices take their toll on regions like Alberta — but there’s more going on north of the 49th parallel than just hewing wood and drawing water,” said Trudeau.
Trudeau then went on to point out the government’s continued belief in the Canadian economy. “We have a diverse and creative population, outstanding education and health care systems, and advanced infrastructure,” he said. “We have social stability, financial stability and a government willing to invest in the future.”
Analysts believe government investment in innovation, manufacturing and other sectors will give the Canadian economy a boost amid the low exchange rate and continued depressed oil prices.
However, business owners are also finding ways to create opportunity amid the financial pressures Canada is currently facing – those business owners who are adapting to the current economic environment have found their efforts especially rewarded.
We have all heard the old adage warning against putting all your eggs in one basket. For Calgary businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Riaz Mamdani, this is much more than an old proverb, it is his way of conducting business and a philosophy that has been successful for him.
Riaz Mamdani is the CEO of Strategic Group, a real estate company based in Calgary. Over the years, Strategic Group has primarily focused its business interests in investing and developing commercial real estate properties.
However, when the economy in Calgary began to shift in late 2015, Mamdani moved Strategic Group’s business focus away from commercial real estate and began to focus on developing investments in Calgary’s residential rental sector instead.
“We are always looking for the next opportunity. At the same time, we are willing to adjust our business interests in response to changes in economic environments,” Riaz Mamdani explains. “… increasing [Strategic Group’s] presence in the rental housing market was a product of us realizing that we needed to adjust strategically because of the economy.”
Interestingly, real estate is just one of the baskets that Mamdani’s Strategic Group has. Last year, Shift Networks, a VoIP service provider and subsidiary of Strategic Group, merged with Connect Telecom Inc. The deal was one that Riaz Mamdani facilitated. “The merger was the best result after our eight years of growing Shift Networks,” said Mamdani. “We are committed to creating value outside of the real estate industry and this merger fall in line with that goal.”
Riaz Mamdani and Strategic Group aren’t the only ones in Canada reacting constructively and positively to the current economic environment. Consider Kitchener and Waterloo, areas that are often referred to as Canada’s Silicon Valley. Home to the headquarters of Blackberry and Canada’s tech-focused University of Waterloo, this region is a prime location for Canada’s technology revolution. Moreover, the growing amount of startups in the area are helping to fuel innovation and local businesses.
“There’s a renewed vibrancy to Kitchener’s downtown,” The Globe and Mail’s Camilla Cornell wrote. “It has a new moniker (the Innovation District) and in the past 3 1/2 years, 45 startups have set up shop there, spawning 800-plus jobs.”
Some of the startup boom in the area is a result of the efforts of The Communitech Hub and Velocity Garage, two neighbourhood high-tech incubators that help nurture startups to fruition.
The revitalization introduced by the city’s startup community has created a renaissance for Kitchener’s once derelict downtown. “It really is largely a good-news story,” says Chris Plunkett, director of external relations for The Communitech Hub. “People want to live a downtown lifestyle and we’re showing that doesn’t necessarily have to mean living in Toronto.”
Despite the many headlines forecasting uncertainty for the Canadian economy, businesses and indeed whole cities are finding ways to invest in innovation while building for Canada’s future.
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