Vital updates:

• This weekend is Canada United Shopping Weekend. RBC, the national network of Chambers of Commerce, Canadian business associations and more than 50 of Canada’s leading brands have launched the GoCanadaUnited campaign. Canadians are encouraged to watch the Canada United videos online at GoCanadaUnited.ca, like posts from @GoCanadaUnited on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn and use #CanadaUnited to demonstrate their support. For each of these actions, RBC will contribute 5 cents to the Canada United Small Business Relief Fund. You can learn more about the movement and, if you’re a small business owner, get involved or apply for the Canada United Small Business Relief grant by visiting GoCanadaUnited.ca.
• Today, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, announced that the Government of Canada is partnering with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) employers across Canada to create 900 internship opportunities for students through the Science Horizons Youth Internship Program. Science Horizons supports jobs in clean-technology sectors by offering internships to recent post-secondary graduates in STEM. The program includes specific opportunities for Indigenous graduates, graduates from rural and remote areas, and women in STEM fields. Science Horizons is now open for 2020–21 applications. Up to $15,000 in Science Horizons funding is available to employers for each intern they hire, and interns will receive experience working on environmental projects lasting six to twelve months. About 90 percent of interns secure a full-time job or return to school after their internship. Interested employers can apply here.
• The Call for Nominations for Canada’s Volunteer Awards is open until September 30, 2020. Many small businesses and large companies are engaged in their communities through employer-supported volunteering programs. Canada’s Volunteer Awards recognizes socially responsible businesses of all sizes. In addition to receiving an award at a ceremony from the Government of Canada, recipients can select a not-for-profit organization to receive a grant of $10,000 (national award) or $5,000 (regional awards). If you know a worthy socially responsible business and/or social enterprise for an award in the following categories:
  • Business Leader – recognizes businesses and social enterprises that demonstrate social responsibility to benefit their communities.
  • Social Innovator – recognizes non-for-profit organizations and social enterprises that use innovative approaches to address social challenges in their communities.
• Ontario is creating opportunities for young people through the inaugural work and membership of the Premier’s Council on Equality of Opportunity. To further support disadvantaged youth and job seekers from underrepresented groups, the province is investing $2.2 million to help them develop the skills they need for successful careers.
• The Council of the Great Lakes Region (CLGR) has joined with Pollution Probe and the US Business Council for Sustainable Development to launch the Ontario Materials Marketplace. Made possible with funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Ontario Materials Marketplace connects businesses and institutions to develop and scale new reuse and recycling market opportunities. It is estimated that 22 million pounds of plastics enter the Great Lakes every year. The Ontario Materials Marketplace pilot has been designed to connect the province’s IC&I and recycling sectors to help find new solutions to improve the recovery of valuable plastics and other materials, and to create reuse opportunities in the economy for those materials. This will help participants in the IC&I sector reach their recycling and broader sustainability goals. Interested businesses can set up an account here.

Reading recommendations:

• Canada’s economy shrank at fastest pace on record in Q2 despite sharp bounceback in May and June, Pete Evans, CBC News
• The TikTok Ban Should Worry Every Company, Stuart Madnick & Keman Huang, Harvard Business Review
• Safety concerns persist with return to work: Surveys, Jim Wilson, Canadian HR Reporter