Ontario Clean Technology Industry Association

6 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 “It’s a win-win: The transportation, as well as the building sector, are huge emitters and we will have to tackle both in order to decarbonize our economy and to meet our climate change targets. And, let’s not forget, all of these policies will fuel economic growth and create good well- paying jobs in our province.” BVM: Is education a major benefit for your members? Althaus: “Yes, not just for members but for all of our stakeholders. We showcase one of our members in every edition of our monthly newsletter, in addition to sharing government funding programs and anything that is happening in the cleantech sector. We also consult regularly with our government stakeholders on both provincial and federal levels. There are people in government specializing in cleantech – sometimes in different sub-sectors, such as hydrogen, water, etc.– so, we have frequent interactions with them. They also attend our webinars. Webinars are an important component of the education work we’re doing. “Through the webinars we also educate cleantech ventures about topics that are relevant to them. At the beginning of 2021, all of a sudden there was a lot of media attention brought to SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) as a mechanism to draw in capital. Nobody really knew if it was a good thing or a bad thing. So we held a webinar with RBC and MaRS to discuss that and to dig deeper into the subject. It’s fairly complex and we really needed those financial experts to provide insight and to address our members’ questions.” BVM: How are you bringing government sectors into the discussions? Althaus: “OCTIA hosted a roundtable with different players around the battery supply chain. Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job ONTAR IO CLEAN TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY ASSOC I AT ION