April 2023

Organizational Resiliency of Canada’s Biotech Sector During COVID Disruption Sparks Creation of New Resources

BioTalent Canada, Canada’s National HR partner for the bio-economy, has launched a set of tools: “Building Workplace Resiliency” resources, which are now available for use by bio-economy employers.

This broad set of resources was developed as part of a project, Building Resiliency and Sustainability for the Bio-economy to Withstand Disruption, funded by the Future Skills Centre, that examined the disruption and challenges faced by the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic and is designed to help employers with onboarding, retention and recruitment. The end goal is to develop resiliency within an organization and promote a strong talent pipeline through principles of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility leadership (IDEAL).

HealthPartners – How Partnerships in The Bio-economy Make Healthy Workplaces and Canadians

Stories of workforce shortages appear in Canadian media almost daily, and companies in the bio-economy are feeling the pinch acutely. A shortage of qualified workers means that, on average, there are two open job postings in life sciences companies for every candidate. The competition for talent has never been fiercer – and because employees can afford to be more selective than ever about where they work, workplace culture and corporate citizenship are becoming increasingly important differentiators.

According to research conducted by Imagine Canada, Canadian employees – particularly those with the highest levels of education, income, seniority and specialization, attribute great importance to the community contributions and corporate citizenship of their employers. Those who work at a company that they believe is highly committed to their community are 1.5 times as likely to report intending to stay at their employer for the next two years; 1.9 times as likely to be extremely or very satisfied with their job; and 2.6 times as likely to recommend their employer.

Digital Adoption and E-commerce Development Grants Available from ISED

Technology and the pace of change has accelerated a lot in the last few years. If you are having difficulty keeping up, or want to optimize your business’ digital capacity, consider applying for a Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) Boost Your Business Technology.

Boost Your Business Technology can help get your business online, give your e-commerce presence a boost, or digitalize your business’s operations. These grants are designed to help Canadian businesses become more competitive.

In addition to helping your business scale up its technology and become more resilient and competitive, the program also offers wage subsidies to hire youth to support the implementation of new technology and strategies.

Hear from Industry Experts about what’s driving talent in Canada’s bio-economy

Latest Episodes
Episode 10 – Bishop Water Technologies: Attitude is more important than technical skills
Episode 9 – Glissner: Disruption to make the world better
Episode 8 – Life Sciences BC: The surging growth of life sciences in BC
Episode 7 – BioVectra: Foward-Thinking, Fast-Acting
Episode 6 – Brunel: Recruitment and Diversification Strategies
Episode 5 – Anessa: The Powerful Benefits of Diversity
Episode 4 – CleanSlate UV’s: Solving Two Staffing Issues – Attraction & Diversification
Episode 3 – Applied Biological Materials Inc.: Scientific (and Talent) Discoveries
Episode 2 – EMILI: Growing the Digital Ag Eco-System AND Leaving No One Behind
Episode 1 – Health Cities: One part science, two parts human resources

Listen Now

Career Starter Wage Subsidy Now Open

One way to solve a shortage of qualified talent is by accessing one of our wage subsidy programs, like the Career Starter program which is now accepting applicants! Career Starter provides bio-economy employers with 50% of a youth’s salary to a maximum of $15,000 in wage subsidies for a three to six-month placement.

This program helps transition barriered youth into the labour market, and introduces employers to skilled labour in places they may not have otherwise considered looking.
In addition to the wage subsidy, the program can provide additional supports including: