Industry Canada

Wind energy is the fastest growing renewable energy source in Canada with an average annual growth rate of 60 percent since 1998 with installed capacity increasing from 26 megawatts (MW) in 1998 to 3,432 MW by summer of 2010: 950 MW of that was installed in 2009. Canada is expected to experience significant growth in the upcoming years.

There is growing recognition of the significant effect the activities of the private sector have on society -- on employees, customers, communities, the environment, competitors, business partners, investors, shareholders, governments and others. It is also becoming increasingly clear that firms can contribute to their own wealth and to overall societal wealth by considering the effect they have on the world at large when making decisions.

This plan acknowledges that preparing for this successful future also means supporting our dedicated and professional employees through workforce renewal and by creating an organizational culture whose hallmarks are openness, dialogue, respect, diversity and transparency. To that end, this plan integrates human resources and business planning, providing details of the Department's workforce renewal initiatives, along with planned activities in corporate priority areas such as communications, information technology and management.

This business plan outlines Industry Canada's key strategies and business objectives for 2009–2010 and how the Department intends to achieve them. This plan also describes the strategic enablers — critical functions such as human and financial resources management, information technology and information management, communications and marketing, and audit and evaluation — that will provide the foundation for success.

Industry Canada’s annual business plan is an important management tool, communicating departmental priorities and expectations for the coming fiscal year to employees and interested Canadians. The plan sets out key strategies, business objectives and operational drivers; provides information about the Department’s operations; and describes how various sectors and branches contribute to Industry Canada’s mandate to help Canadians be more productive and competitive in the knowledge-based economy.

Industry Canada's annual business plan communicates the Department's key strategies, priorities and management expectations for the coming fiscal year to employees, Canadians and other stakeholders. The plan links key activities to departmental and Government of Canada priorities and sets out, in concrete terms, what Industry Canada intends to achieve and the contribution of sectors and branches within the Department to those achievements.

Industry Canada's Community Access Program (CAP) gives thousands of Canadians affordable access to the Internet in places like schools, community centres and libraries. It provides access to those people who might not have computers or Internet access in their homes or workplaces.

An innovative economy requires a highly skilled workforce. The Skills Research Initiative (SRI) aimed to build the knowledge base required for policy in order to ensure that the skilled labour force needed by an innovative economy will be available. The SRI was a collaborative, medium-term policy-research program sponsored by Industry Canada (IC), Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

With the business media's attention being placed on the transformation of large, well-known firms into exemplars of the new e-economy, is the plight of the over 99% of Canadian firms that are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) being over-looked?1 SMEs created 36% of net new jobs in the Canadian economy between 2002 and 2003.2 Unfortunately, they also lagged large firms in the adoption of Internet Business Solutions (IBS).3 A lukewarm SME response to IBS adoption may weaken any national strategy to bolster Canada's international competitiveness.

Over the last two years, the Canadian e-Business Initiative (CeBI) has focused on spreading the e-business message to the Canadian small-business community. We have experienced a large degree of success. Through the Net Impact and Fast Forward report series, we have raised SME awareness of the value of networked e-business solutions and their contribution to the bottom line.