CITY CLERK Clause embodied in Report No. 10 of the, as adopted by the Council of the City of Toronto at its meeting held on November 6, 7 and 8, 2001. 2 Action Plans for Small Office/Home Office and New Business Immigrant Your Passport to Business Success (All Wards) (City Council on November 6, 7 and 8, 2001, adopted this Clause, without amendment.) The recommends the adoption of the following report (October 2, 2001) from the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism: Purpose: The purpose of this report is to review the Action Plans conducted by Enterprise Toronto to support business formation by new business immigrants and Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) entrepreneurs and to describe implementation of the Action Plans by the Economic Development Division through Enterprise Toronto and its partners. Financial Implications and Impact Statement: The production of the Small Office/Home Office and Ontario Business Immigrant Action Plans was part of the Economic Development Division s 2001 Workplan and has no further financial impacts on the Division s year 2001 budget. Recommendations: It is recommended that: (1) the inter-departmental staff committee currently addressing issues affecting new immigrants review the Ontario Business Immigration Committee s Action Plan to determine what additional resources are available to foster success of New Business Immigrants; (2) Urban Development Services Official Plan team consult with the Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) sector committee concerning proposals under the new Official Plan to permit home-based business and the nature of the restrictions that may affect these businesses;
2 (3) the attached Action Plans be provided to Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Human Resources Development Canada and Industry Canada, and that Economic Development Division staff determine with these agencies what additional services can be provided to foster successful business formation by the SOHO and new immigrant businesses; (4) the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, through the SOHO committee, request HRDC to fund a research project of the SOHO sector in Toronto to determine the scale of the sector, the classification of businesses, and the impediments to successful SOHO business formation; and (5) the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto. Background: Within the Economic Development Division, the mandate of Enterprise Toronto is to foster and support small business formation. The Economic Development Division s 2001 Work Plan respecting Enterprise Toronto identified the small office/home office (SOHO) sector, new business immigrant, women and youth as important prospects for new small business formation. To determine the best approaches for supporting entrepreneurial activity by these groups, Enterprise Toronto formed four representative working committees and hired a facilitator to work with each committee. This report outlines the Action Plans of the SOHO and the Ontario Business Immigrant committees. A subsequent report concerning women and youth entrepreneurship will be provided upon completion of these action plans. Comments: Rationale for Assisting SOHO and New Business Immigrant Entrepreneurs Home-based businesses provide an important opportunity for new entrepreneurs because they reduce business start-up costs. Many successful businesses have begun as home-based businesses. While the size of the SOHO business sector is difficult to determine, it is generally agreed to be a large and growing part of the economy. Successful SOHO businesses increase employment and household income. Home-based businesses may also reduce environmental impacts by reducing travel-to-work impacts and costs. Successful new entrepreneurial immigrants also provide many benefits to the Toronto economy. New Business Immigrants, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), have committed to establish a new business that, by the end of two years, will create one new job for a non-family member. Supporting these new Canadians is important because several hundred new business immigrants are admitted to Ontario each year, the majority of whom choose to live in the Toronto area. There are also several thousand other new Canadians arriving in Toronto whose goal is to establish a successful business. The SOHO and New Business Immigrant Action Plans were developed using a facilitated stakeholder committee approach. The key recommendations of each action plan are briefly described below.
3 Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) Action Plan Traditionally, many new entrepreneurs have used their homes as a base of new business to reduce start-up costs. More recently, the increased scale of the service sector contributes to home-based business formation, particularly for business services and supports. Information technologies also increase the viability of home-based business in many areas, from word-processing to consulting. The SOHO Action Plan (Attachment No. 1) was developed to support home-based business formation. To accomplish this, the plan proposes that Enterprise Toronto should: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) become the hub and chief information source on seminar activity and educational services to the SOHO sector; create a SOHO newsletter on Enterprise Toronto s website, create a data base of SOHO operators, and a list of most frequently asked questions; develop relationships with existing and prospective partners to provide mentoring services to the SOHO sector (e.g., The Board of Trade, Chambers); broaden advisory capacities in the areas of banking, accounting, import/export, legal issues, and e-commerce; and sponsor small business forums and networking events. Implementation of these proposals has already begun and will continue in the 2002 Economic Development Division Work Plan. As part of implementing recommendation (e) above, Enterprise Toronto and several partners are planning a Small Business Forum to be held at the Toronto Convention Centre on November 22, 2001. Planning staff advise that the new Official Plan will permit home occupation in all residential areas and, therefore, it is important that the SOHO business sector be consulted in the drafting of these policies. It is also important to determine the scale of the SOHO business sector, and it is likely that HRDC will be receptive to supporting a research project on this subject. Economic Development Division staff and the SOHO committee will discuss such a research project with HRDC. New Business Immigrant Acton Plan The New Business Immigrant Action Plan (Attachment No. 2) was developed under the direction of an inter-governmental stakeholder committee, called the Ontario Business Immigration Committee, comprised of representatives from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT), and Economic Development Division (Enterprise Toronto) staff.
4 Implementation of phase one of the resulting Action Plan has already begun with the launching of the Passport to Business Success (PBS). The PBS consists of a brochure and supporting information materials (Attachment No. 3) that provide new Canadian business immigrants with valuable information concerning initial business contacts. This pamphlet was designed by Economic Development Division staff and paid for by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The Passport to Business Success is distributed at the airport by CIC staff to arriving New Business Immigrants. In the Toronto area, Enterprise Toronto is identified as the lead agency supporting business start-ups. Since the majority of new Canadians choose to live in Toronto, CIC is piloting the program in Toronto with the intention of implementing it in all major Canadian cities. Phase two consists of further promotion, tracking and development of additional partnerships to support new business immigrants. Tracking new business immigrants will be accomplished by increased sharing of data bases and information between the three levels of government. Enterprise Toronto will assist in promoting the program to Enterprise Toronto partners and other agencies, which have an interest in providing services to new business immigrants. Phase three of the program consists of monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the program is operating effectively and to undertake continuous improvement. Conclusions: Completion of the SOHO Action Plan provides the basis for improving services to the SOHO business sector, which is an important economic sector generating a large volume of small business formation, employment and income in Toronto. Implementing the SOHO Action Plan can be accomplished during the balance of 2001 with outstanding activities included in the Economic Development Division s 2002 Work Plan. Implementation of the plan will enhance Enterprise Toronto s service and support to all small businesses, and complements supports to new business immigrants. It is also apparent that more information is required concerning the scale and nature of the SOHO business sector. Since SOHO represents an important and likely growing area of employment and entrepreneurial activity, HRDC is being requested to fund a study that will identify the scale and composition of the sector with the goal of increasing the success of SOHO businesses. The Ontario Business Immigration Committee Action Plan represents an example of the importance of inter-governmental co-operation. With the launching of Passport to Business Success, phase one of the plan is now complete. The inter-governmental committee will continue its work in 2002. Enterprise Toronto s role in implementation includes being the primary information resource to new business immigrants in the Toronto area and in involving Enterprise Toronto partners to support new business immigrants. Contact Name: Ms. Brenda Librecz, Managing Director, Economic Development Division, Telephone: 416-397-4700, Fax: 416 397-5314, blibrecz@city.toronto.on.ca.
5 (Copies of Attachment No. 1, entitled Small Office/Home Office Action Plan, Attachment No. 2, entitled Ontario Business Immigration Committee Strategic Action Plan 2001, and Attachment No. 3, entitled Your Passport to Business Success brochure cover, referred to in the foregoing report were forwarded to all Members of Council with the October 22, 2001 agenda of the and copies thereof are on file in the office of the City Clerk.) The following persons appeared before the in connection with the foregoing matter: - Ms. Anne Solomatenko, Regional Manager, Business Partnerships Project, Citizenship and Immigration Canada; and - Ms. Chantal G. Ramsay, Manager, Business Immigration Section, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.