The Empire Club of Canada
Thursday, June 13, 2024
With more than 700,000 new jobs created in Ontario since 2018, manufacturing employment at its highest level in 15 years, and $11 billion in new investments attracted last year alone, the province is witnessing record growth across a variety of key industries, including the automotive, life sciences, tech and manufacturing sectors.
Join Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, the Hon. Vic Fedeli, for a keynote speech and fireside chat, where he will share insights into how the province has been supporting the revival of Ontario’s auto manufacturing sector and birth of a fully integrated EV supply chain, supporting transformation in the life sciences sector, and creating the climate for job creation in every region of the province.
The Honourable Victor Fedeli is a lifelong entrepreneur, serving the Ford government as Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
His business experience led his firm Fedeli Corporation to be ranked in the Top 50 Best Places to Work in Canada in 1989. It also served him well when elected to two terms as Mayor of North Bay, restoring hope and restoring solvency.
In 2011, Vic was elected to the Ontario Legislature and is now serving his fourth term as MPP for Nipissing.
He is married to local humour writer Patty and is always seen in one of his trademark yellow ties.
Flavio Volpe is an internationally recognized champion of Canada’s automotive industry. Since 2014, he has proudly led the APMA, representing 200+ suppliers to the worldwide automotive industry.
Working closely with officials in Ottawa, Washington & Mexico City during the 2017-19 NAFTA renegotiations, he led the effort to secure an unprecedented increase in Regional Content for suppliers in the new USMCA. In 2022, he was named to the Ontario Premier’s Council on US Trade & Competitiveness.
When the global COVID19 pandemic created a dangerous medical equipment shortage in Canada in 2020, he launched one of the biggest peacetime mobilizations of the country’s industrial capacity in its history. Dubbed a ‘Manufacturing Hero’ by the Toronto Star for his leadership, this work resulted in the largest build-orders of critical ventilators, PPE & test swabs in Canada’s history.
In 2022, when anti-government actors illegally blockaded the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor costing the industry $1B, he led the APMA to secure an injunction in Ontario Superior Court to force the reopening of Canada’s most critical international border crossing.
A passionate technology leader, his response to the Prime Minister’s challenge for a net-zero economy by 2050 was to launch an all-Canadian, zero-emissions, autonomous concept prototype, Project Arrow. Described by the Globe and Mail as ‘an audacious play to build an all-Canadian electric car’, Project Arrow was revealed at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to global coverage & serves as a premier showcase of Canada’s automotive technology cluster.
Flavio is a sought-after voice by leading global publications including The Economist, New York Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC, CNBC, FOX & the Washington Post. He speaks frequently on industry issues at House of Commons Standing Committees in Finance, Industry and Trade.