Ottawa, ON – January 19, 2009 – OCRI’s annual knowledge-based industry survey released today shows two per cent growth in the number of companies in Ottawa but a four per cent decrease in the number of employees in the knowledge-based sector. The relative stability in these numbers is reassuring as the city enters a period of unprecedented uncertainty led by the global economic situation. With a strong technology base and diverse economy OCRI is optimistic that the city can continue to attract and retain critical talent and ultimately emerge from the worldwide financial downturn positioned for growth.
The information provided to OCRI by Ottawa’s knowledge-based companies indicates a two per cent increase bringing the total number of companies to 1,850 up from 1,819 last year. The number of employees has decreased by 2,778 from 81,910 to 79,132, or four per cent. The 2008 Year-end Knowledge-based Industry Survey, conducted by OCRI, indicates that 90 new companies entered the marketplace but 55 companies were removed from the database, primarily due to a merger or acquisition.
“These numbers indicate continued diversification of our knowledge-based industry and growth among our small and medium enterprises. The entrepreneurial spirit of Ottawa stands out as people continue to develop innovative technologies and launch new companies in a variety of sectors,” says Jeffrey Dale, President and CEO, OCRI. “We must continue to implement programs and develop new initiatives, such as new pools of capital, which will fuel innovation in our start-up community.”
Earlier this month, OCRI launched the “3 for Free” program which provides a free corporate membership to knowledge-based sector start-ups with less than three employees, who have been incorporated for less than three years. This lifeline for start-ups is designed to help companies navigate the economic crisis which has the potential to devastate young companies if they don’t have access to the services and expertise that can help them survive.
For the second year in a row, the cleantech, life sciences and wireless clusters demonstrated the greatest growth and experienced an increase in the number of employees with several companies growing by more than 50 employees. The cleantech cluster continues its rapid expansion with the largest increase in the number of companies by sector, up from 87 companies to 103, an increase of 18.39 per cent. Worldwide, the cleantech sector continues to earn significant profile and investment totaling more than $8 billion.
2008 was the first time in five years that the technology industry experienced a drop in employment. The contact/customer care center sector suffered the greatest loss of 3,689 employees and six companies. Despite job losses and the global economic downturn, Ottawa continues to hold the lowest unemployment rate in eastern Canada.
The Annual Technology Industry Guide, produced by the Ottawa Business Journal in partnership with OCRI, will be available on Monday, February 16th, 2009.
Visit http://www.ocri.ca/economicstatistics/htsurvey.asp for graphs of the above data.
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About OCRI:
Leading the way for Ottawa, OCRI is the city’s economic development agency. OCRI is the rallying point to bring business, education, research and talent together to create the winning economic conditions that allow Ottawa’s knowledge-based companies to thrive locally and compete globally. At OCRI we promote sustainable economic development to maintain our high quality of life. For more information on OCRI visit our website at www.ocri.ca and for more information on the Ottawa Region please visit www.ottawaregion.com.
For information contact:
Kim Cunningham
Manager, External Communications
OCRI
Office: (613) 828-6274 ext. 256
Cell: (613) 851-0768
kcunningham@ocri.ca
BACKGROUNDER:
- The live, Ottawa technology database can be viewed at www.ottawaregion.com
- Each year, OCRI conducts the survey of local Ottawa knowledge-based sector businesses primarily to develop an online database of information about companies, products and service providers.
- The survey data, reported directly from the companies provides information to help identify trends within the region and calculate the total number of companies and employees.
- Over 90 per cent of the companies operating in knowledge-based industries located in the Ottawa region responded to the survey in 2008.
- Knowledge-based industries are defined as those which are intensive in their inputs of technology and human capital. Locally, this has been defined as those that classify as primarily operating within the following sectors tracked by OCRI: telecommunications, software, contact/customer centre, defence and security, wireless, life sciences, semiconductor, environment, eBusiness, photonics and technology services that support these industries.
- It should be noted that industry definitions and classifications vary widely by country and therefore do not allow for comparative, quantitative evaluation.
- According to Cleantech Group LLC, a market tracking firm in San Francisco, the cleantech sector secured a record $8.4 billion worldwide in venture investments in 2008.
