We stared Monday off with our Canadian Business Workshop where we had our participants hear from a lawyer, IP, accountant and regulatory. We believe that it is imperative that our companies understand the laws and ins and outs of setting up a Canadian subsidiary. We want them to have a good understanding of what it takes to
We had Ivan Bergerman from Bergerman Smith LLP - Lawyers speak about how to set up a subsidiary in Canada.
We then had Harm Deckers from HMD Consulting. He spoke with our Navigate participants about how Canadian IP and patents work along with how to work towards getting them.
Erin Taraborrelli from Source Nutraceutical, Inc. joined us to speak about Canadian food regulations for novel ingredients and the pathway on how to have your item approved in the Canadian market.
Our final speaker was Brett Thiessen, CPA, CA from KPMG speaking on the Canadian accounting rules, corporate taxes and considerations for internationally owned Canadian subsidiary's and reporting requirements.
Our afternoon was followed with a tour from Mark Pickard at InfraReady Products Ltd. "InfraReady Products was started in 1994 by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) in an attempt to add value to cereal grains before they left the province. With only the equipment, no products and no clients, Mark Pickard, the SWP’s project champion and 2 employees, started to carve out a unique niche in the food ingredients market, aiming to be the secret ingredient in many different food applications. In 1998, the company had grown to 13 employees, 100 products, and exported ingredients around the world. Accounting for a minute portion of the balance book, the SWP decided to divest itself of InfraReady, and offered Mark the opportunity to carry out a management buyout to ensure the company’s work would continue. With the help of 2 investors, Mark was able to continue his dream of offering wholesome food ingredients to the world’s food processors.
Today, InfraReady continues to grow, offering over 250 custom designed products, made from a wide range of raw materials, including cereal grains, oilseeds and pulses. All ingredients are whole grain, sourced from the best producers, and designed to meet client needs."
The morning was used for our participants to meet with industry members.
They then had a lunch seminar with Genome Prairie. Lester Young and Jerlene Halliday spoke with our participants about the genomics application and how it funds downstream research and development projects that address real world challenges. They also spoke about the collaborative nature of their funding opportunities.