Thank you.
And good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here.
First off, I'd like to congratulate the organizers of Expoplast for their innovative approach. Bringing together seven manufacturing tradeshows to create one super show makes great sense.
I heard from some of the participants earlier, and they agreed that assembling the equipment, process and resource sides of manufacturing creates a certain synergy that stands to benefit everyone here today.
Ladies and gentlemen, I do not have to tell you that your industry is an important part of the value chain of many sectors.
Plastic is everywhere in our daily lives—from the lid on our morning coffee to smartphones, laptops and the lighter, more fuel-efficient automobiles that we drive.
Your excellence in innovation and production technologies is what makes Canadian-made products world-class.
As you know, manufacturing is an integral part of our economy, and it has been that way for several decades. It supports growth, contributes to our exports and employs Canadians in the millions.
As manufacturing continues to evolve, it is increasingly becoming knowledge-intensive. It is cutting-edge, innovative and strongly diverse, relying on information technologies, modeling and simulation.
Many manufacturers today are as likely to be wearing a white lab coat and using a 3-D printer to prototype a part as they are to be operating a chain-driven line.
It's not your grandfather's manufacturing sector.
And you know this better than anyone. You represent the new frontier.
Innovation, technology adoption and greater investment in machinery and equipment are the basis for a successful, competitive and advanced industry.
As manufacturing thrives on knowledge, it contributes to creating a dynamic innovation ecosystem, creating knowledge-based jobs.
I would now like to take a few minutes to discuss what our government—and what our business leaders—must do to make Canada the place where advanced manufacturing flourishes.
This past summer, I held a number of round-table discussions with Canadian businesses across the country. And, among others, I had a good and honest chat with Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters President Jayson Myers.
Certainly, we discussed some of the big challenges facing your sector, such as:
- Investment;
- Labour;
- Red tape; and
- Integration with the U.S., to name a few.
But we also touched on the strong economic fundamentals that make Canada an excellent place to do business. Our government has focused on doing what only governments can do.
We took decisive action, through Canada's Economic Action Plan, to support the Canadian economy when the global recession was at its worst.
Our government provided vital support for the auto industry to help avert the collapse of a broader ecosystem of parts suppliers. And we have seen a return on that investment.
And now, with the world economic outlook still uncertain, we are working to strengthen Canada's position as a trading nation.
We are building infrastructure, creating an efficient transportation corridor by investing $228 million to fix and improve the Jacques Cartier and Champlain bridges.
The reconstruction of this corridor will make it safe for the 60 million trips and estimated $20 billion of international trade that take place across the Champlain Bridge each year.
We have also created a sound economic framework. Paying down the debt. Lowering taxes. Reducing red tape. Promoting increased Canadian exports to global markets. And managing prudently.
The result? Canada has come through the economic downturn better than most. We're one of only two G7 countries to have recouped all of the jobs lost during the last recession.
Our debt-to-GDP ratio is the lowest in the G7. We're one of a very few countries in the world to have kept its triple-A credit rating. And we've set out a clear plan to return to a balanced budget.
Put simply: the Canadian economy is performing.
And you'll notice I said the Canadian economy.
We do not have two separate economies in this country—one based on resources and the other on manufacturing.
We have a single, strong and mutually reinforcing economy spanning the country. An economy grounded in a solid fiscal environment that creates a key strategic advantage for manufacturers.
Giving Canadian manufacturers a strategic advantage matters because manufacturing matters.
There are close to 1.8 million manufacturing jobs in this country, with nearly half a million in Quebec.
Manufacturing accounts for 16 percent of the province's GDP and a significant percentage of its employment.
The plastics industry alone contributed almost 4 percent of manufacturing GDP. And globally, Canada produces 2 percent of the world's plastic products.
And for hundreds of communities across the country, manufacturing remains their economic lifeblood.
These numbers are important, but they don't tell the whole story. Because behind the numbers are jobs. Jobs that support families. Jobs that provide competitive wages and anchor communities. Jobs that drive innovation and productivity. Jobs that give us the capacity to create new products, processes—and possibilities.
Of course, research and development is a great start.
And as part of the Canadian manufacturing sector, you are well on your way. You invest heavily in R&D. In fact, manufacturers perform almost half of all R&D in Canada.
That's critical because in tomorrow's economy what will really matter is grey matter—the ideas, innovation and ingenuity that create new technologies, new products and new ways of doing things.
Manufacturing lies at the intersection of innovation and fabrication, where creative ideas are turned into commercial opportunities. That's why, beyond establishing sound economic fundamentals, our government has introduced measures that benefit manufacturers specifically.
We've lowered the corporate tax rate from over 22 percent in 2007 to 15 percent today. And we've removed the federal capital tax.
We're eliminating tariffs on machinery and equipment, making Canada the first tariff-free zone in the G20. When we're done, this will mean savings of almost $400 million a year for Canadian businesses.
We extended the temporary accelerated capital cost allowance to 2013, helping manufacturers to restructure and retool and, ultimately, become more productive and more profitable.
And we've focused on reducing red tape so you can spend less time filling out forms and more time running your businesses and creating jobs.
But we need to increase competitiveness. We need to increase productivity. To spur innovation, our government has committed over $1 billion in the next five years by:
- Doubling the budget of the National Research Council of Canada's (NRC) Industrial Research Assistance Program;
- Refocusing the NRC on demand-driven, business-oriented research; and
- Providing funding for venture capital activities, including $400 million to increase private sector investments in early-stage risk capital.
We have also changed the Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy to ensure that government defence procurement generates high-value-added business for Canadian industry.
Of course, a key part of supporting manufacturers is ensuring that you have global markets for the goods you produce. That's why we've undertaken the most ambitious trade expansion plan in Canadian history.
Since 2007, our Global Commerce Strategy has led to new free trade agreements with nine countries, as well as deeper trade ties with priority markets like Brazil, China, India, Japan and the European Union.
Now, because manufacturing is a high-tech industry, we need to have people with the skills and the know-how to be able to succeed.
That's why our government has increased support for skills development, including a hiring credit for small businesses, an additional $5 million over six years to strengthen foreign credential assessment and a boost in apprenticeship funding for tradespeople.
So, a number of initiatives on a number of fronts. Taxes. Technology. Trade and talent. All are key for manufacturing.
But we know more can be done.
At the end of the day, the future of manufacturing in Canada does not lie in Ottawa or in Québec City or in Halifax or in some government program. It lies with you.
Our government can have a vision for manufacturing. We can have a vision for the future. But we can't implement it without you.
You are the job creators, you are the innovators and you are the future of this strong and proud sector.
By working together, by listening to and learning from one another, I am confident that we can develop the solutions needed to succeed.
Thank you.
