Winnipeg is an accredited member-city of the World Winter Cities Association for Mayors (WWCAM), a network of over 20 northern cities worldwide dedicated to promoting winter technologies and experiences.

Concerted efforts over the years have been made to maximize and promote Winnipeg’s winter identity. From a recreational standpoint, attractions like The Forks (Winnipeg’s No. 1 tourist spot), Festival du Voyageur (Western Canada’s largest winter celebration), Assiniboine Park Zoo and FortWhyte Alive all highlight winter in one-of-a-kind ways.

The economic windfalls of our cold climate are realized in the GE Aviation Engine Testing, Research and Development Centre; the BellMTS data centre (cold weather reduces cooling costs); New Flyer Industries’ manufacturing plant (its locally built electric buses undergo cold-weather testing to ensure reliability); and Red River College’s MotiveLab (opening spring 2018), a highly specialized extreme-weather testing facility set to be the first of its kind in Western Canada.

EDW organized a group of stakeholders to provide Winnipeg with a framework and a set of development tools to improve competitiveness, deepen social inclusion and enhance the city’s ability to adapt in today's fast-moving broadband economy. The group consists of Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS), Manitoba Hydro, the Manitoba Research Network (MRnet), Fibre.ca, Cisco Systems, the Cisco Innovation Centre, IBM, the University of Winnipeg, Red River College, Innovate Manitoba, Innovation Alley, Sisler High School, the Louis Riel School Division, the Information and Communication Technologies Association of Manitoba (ICTAM), the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, the City of Winnipeg and the Government of Manitoba’s Growth, Enterprise and Trade Department.

The role of the group is to:

• Develop a smart city platform that enables an efficient and effective means to deal with current and anticipated challenges and opportunities
• Develop action items and form task groups to execute identified actions
• Provide a forum to share resources, including ideas, information on new programs, initiatives, approaches, marketing materials, and financial and human resources
• Help refine the vision of smart city factors in ways that support Winnipeg’s economic future
• Leverage resources (financial and otherwise) necessary to carry out specified projects

The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), based in New York City, has now launched ICF Canada. EDW was in Toronto to participate as a board member at the inaugural ICF Canada board meeting, where EDW was asked to serve as one of the regional vice-chairpersons. EDW will help formulate the ICF Canada governance model and key smart/intelligent community projects. Locally, EDW’s Smart City Caucus will also promote ICF Canada initiatives moving forward.

ICF Canada will work with communities to support efforts to build upon the key principles of successful intelligent communities, including:

• A focus on broadband infrastructure
• An emphasis on building a knowledgeable workforce by attracting and retaining talent
• Digital equality
• Sustainability

EDW expects to leverage its position on the board to broaden partnership opportunities with other Canadian cities currently developing initiatives intended to advance multiple intelligent community principles.

In 2014, 2016 and 2018, Winnipeg was awarded Top7 Intelligent Community designations (the city’s highest-ever finishes) in the annual awards program presented by the ICF.

Partially supported by Invest Canada-Community Initiatives funds, a major recent initiative involved identifying and providing an assessment of strategic foreign-owned companies within Winnipeg’s marketplace. In addition to providing a sizable employment and investment base, these companies positively impact overall productivity, encourage/stimulate technology transfers and increase overall investment in the domestic economy.

The report’s findings facilitated a deeper appreciation for the scale, scope and disposition of foreign-owned companies in Winnipeg. This work supports the formulation of new support strategies and mechanisms directed at building and strengthening relationships among stakeholders within the city’s economic ecosystem.

EDW organized a group of stakeholders consisting of the Industrial Technology Centre, the Orthopaedic Innovation Centre, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, the Composites Innovation Centre, the Manitoba Aerospace Association, and the Government of Manitoba’s Growth, Enterprise and Trade Department to promote opportunities and concerns pertaining to Winnipeg’s advanced manufacturing sector. The group's goal involves identifying the specific actions required to strengthen long-term strategic support by leveraging past investments, addressing challenges and seizing opportunities to grow and diversify the sector—particularly via small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The role of the group is to:

• Serve as a forum to communicate and update members on each other’s initiatives
• Be responsible for identifying high-level issues and possible responses/actions
• Develop action items and form task groups to execute identified actions
• Help leverage resources (financial and other) necessary to carry out specified projects

Along with the Orthopaedic Innovation Centre (OIC), the Government of Manitoba and Magellan Aerospace, EDW has been part of a working group tasked with investigating the development of an advanced digital manufacturing hub in Winnipeg. EDW supported the development of a Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) proposal promoting this initiative, which resulted in the OIC securing $5 million from WD.

This funding stimulated additional private investment by Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, a world-renowned additive manufacturing company that has agreed to establish its first Canadian manufacturing facility in Winnipeg. The opportunity to increase additive manufacturing capabilities in Winnipeg and Manitoba was highlighted in a report commissioned by EDW that provided critical baseline information to support this new investment.

EDW continues to work with the Creative Campus Leadership Caucus in collaboration with the Creative Manitoba, On Screen Manitoba, the Winnipeg Arts Council, Artspace, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, CentreVenture Development Corporation, the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and qualified consultants to develop a structured approach to build on the Exchange District’s assets to help stimulate investment and growth. The strategy is designed to leverage existing strengths while concurrently addressing the real barriers that inhibit the Exchange District from reaching its maximum potential.

EDW is part of a national working group formed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) seeking input from municipalities on trade and investment. Ongoing feedback will provide the group with a clearer understanding of the existing efforts and capabilities of municipalities to support trade and investment initiatives.

Current efforts nearing completion are focused on the impact of trade and investment associated with the Canadian/EU Trade Agreement and the potential ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As well, EDW continues to work closely with its municipal partners to identify opportunities to attract new foreign direct investment through strategic research and targeted business outreach.

The National Research Council is investing $60-million in a new manufacturing research facility within CentrePort Canada in Winnipeg. Once completed, the 60,000-square-foot high-tech facility will be used for advanced aerospace and automotive manufacturing research. With its strong connections to the advance manufacturing and aerospace sectors, Winnipeg is the perfect location for the research facility.