Speaker 1 [00:00:01] Hi. It’s John here. If you had to do a word cloud for 2022, I suspect talent and labor would somehow pop large. Everyone knows there are labor shortages out there, and every organization across Canada seems to be hunting for talent. And there are few avenues as promising for that as Canada’s international education system. I recently had the chance to sit down with Martin Basiri to talk about these things and more as part of the Business Higher Education Roundtable. That’s a group of business and post-secondary education leaders who are trying to build greater connections between employers and educators right across the country. Martin is co-founder and CEO of Kitchener, Ontario’s ApplyBoard. If you haven’t heard of a play board, it’s a great Canadian success story. It has an AI enabled software platform that lets students from around the world quickly identify and apply for university or college programs across North America, the UK and Australia. In seven years, Martin, who moved to Canada as a student from Iran, has grown apply board to more than 1500 employees and attracted more than $600 million in venture capital. In this special live edition of Disruptors. We tackle how Canada compares to other countries in building a pathway to citizenship for immigrants and especially those who come here as students, and how companies can do a better job of attracting and retaining this global talent. Martin is part of that story, so please have a listen. Martin, it’s great to be with you, as always. You helped us at RBC produce a report that was published a few weeks ago called Course Correction, that looked at the state of international students in Canada, not only from the perspective of the education system, but from the economy. I don’t think it’s widely known that about 20% of permanent residents now come through our school system, and that’s about double what it was a decade ago. This is 170,000 new Canadians a year are coming out of our post-secondary system. That’s extraordinary. It indexes even higher for STEM courses. So when we hear there’s demand for all sorts of STEM skills, it immediately points to the need for international students. You’re part of that story. Maybe you can just quickly kick us off with a sense of how you came to Canada as an international student. Speaker 2 [00:02:24] Yeah. Thank you very much for having me here, everyone. This is my pleasure. I came to this beautiful country about 12 years ago. I grew up in a I don’t call it poor, but lower middle class family in Iran, where my parents were educator. And I wanted to just code and build software and hardware, and it wasn’t that much opportunity there. And I was building as much and University of Waterloo, like Vivek is here today. It gave me my life. It gave me a scholarship to come to Canada. And I only paid for my ticket. And, you know, I sold my car and I had $6,000 in my pocket. I came to this beautiful country and my aunt came to pick me up. And when we came out of Pearson and we were going north to Richmond Hill, I fell in love with Canada. I love everything and I have two younger brothers that I help by raising them was, Oh, I have to bring them here too. So right there I started like looking for ways how I bring them. Now, the problem is I don’t have money. They don’t have a scholarship. They didn’t think I had a lot of inventions or stuff in my high school and my bachelor, but they were in high school and so I found this way of bringing them to Canada. It was very creative, very cheap, and I convinced my parents to sell all of the retirement homes, whatever they saved in the life, with the hope that, oh yeah, don’t worry, they’re going to find jobs here and I’ll, I’ll support them anyway. When they came to Canada, it took about a year and now everyone wanted to know, how did we do that? And they became customers. And coming from not having money, it was the best thing. We were like, okay, sure, I’ll charge you and I help you as well to pay for their tuition fee. And so I’ve done it a little bit. Then I graduated, went to us just for paperwork because I wanted to start a company. But as international students, when you graduate, you can’t start a company that you’re you have to work for someone else. And I was like, if I have to work for someone else instead of I stay in Canada, let’s go to us. It’s a, you know, so I went there. Then naturally I went back to entrepreneurship. Now I’m in U.S. is stuck. I can’t come to Canada. My brothers in Canada, no, they graduated from college. They can’t come to us. So we’re like, okay, what do we do? Events back to helping other students get started, apply work. And this time we were like, whatever we were doing, manually coded, recoded, and we put all of the admission information of universities and colleges in one algorithm, and it does something like a, like a book income. So it just comes out. For example, I’m from Nigeria, this is my credential and it is how much money I have. I want to study business, maybe Saskatchewan, maybe for example, Windsor. It shows exactly what the university or college, what program they offer. But the deadline was a payment, everything. And they can apply to all of them with one application right now is also does it for US universities, Australian universities and UK universities. And it started working. Then the University of Waterloo again came to our rescue, helped us out. We gave us free office at Velocity. We’re very thankful for that and we stayed there 2015 for about a year. Then we became 20 people. They kick us off. So go graduates, go find your own office and then then apply. We’re like, we went and we it took four years to get to the point that we can raise institutional money. It was so hard. And then after that, life got a little easier for our money point of view, but harder from a responsibility point of view. So right now we help, I think, 425,000 students. So far, of course, not all of them are getting Visa for Canada, US, UK and Australia. We vote for about 90% of universities and colleges. So I think almost everyone except one university here we work with and is a very hard problem. Very challenging. Which is good because it’s always like some problem to solve. Speaker 1 [00:06:41] Is amazing story and congratulations on on your success although I think you’re just getting going. Remarkable. You’ve built in seven years. We wanted to have this conversation not only just to hear your story, but you’ve got a great window on what’s going on in the world and where international students are coming from, where they’re going, and what some of the challenges are in between as we come into a new school year in the fall. Now, what are you seeing out there in the world? Speaker 2 [00:07:09] So let’s look at Canada as a as a company. So we are only as good as our people. Our fertility rate is 1.47 means we are not replacing our population. We are in huge deficit for about 50 years and it’s just getting worse is not coming back up. So if you rely on immigration, normally we bring people in their thirties as a skilled immigrant, a better ways to bring people for international students when they come. And they they’re normally in their twenties. They adopted a country of ours. And by the way, they’re more likely to have children because they come at that earlier stage, which is good, because we want as a country to be sustainable. We don’t want to always rely on one generation immigrants. We want bring them earlier to be sustainable. So it’s an amazing fact. And also international students and work people who we bring with work, they’re double more productive to economy than a normal immigrant. So perfect. International student is what we have to like work. But what we need to do, we need to make our government, our job market and our universities all align. So we have to see what do we need in terms of different areas in labor market in, for example, 2030 and after then work backward universities teach those ones and government incentivized do the right incentivize. So what we see government done, beautiful government of Canada done beautiful. They came with this idea of what if we give every single international students postgraduate work permit three years. You started two year of college or two year of university. They give it to you, boom. And that’s why Canada became almost the first thing it was at the same time that in UK conservatives came. So Theresa may thank the UK numbers Australia. It was Indian government to start having tension with Australian governments. So the students start coming and then of a boom. It started from when Donald Trump got elected because everyone now we are the only country that everyone come. And Canada, we went to that beautiful growth. And then what happened is gentlemen from UK, which by the way is working with apply for right now George Johnson is a younger brother of Boris Johnson said oh let’s copy Canada so they have now for year for graduate or fair mate and UK start booming but what a what a very big difference. And then so UK it started going up from 2019. They achieved their 11 year target of 600,000 international students from 237,000 in less than three years during pandemic years. So to give you like she was talking about the time of visa right now an average visa has taken four months in Canada. The diversity of markets, six months. Think about if you want to show up in fall semester, you need to have your visa already for 1st of March university. Sometimes don’t even open their acceptance till then. How can you already applied? So what does it mean? Means uncertainty of visa, uncertainty of time. So what is happening right now? UK and Australia is cooking all of the best talents. So the top talents are not coming to Canada. So we should expect to see more suffering happening in U15. Speaker 1 [00:10:37] So we’re still getting the numbers in aggregate, but the quality is is changing. Speaker 2 [00:10:41] Quality changing and you will see more of a more shift. So right now, colleges are about 50% body of the all international students, universities are only 25%. You will see more of that going to the colleges. So more and more, we see universities come down, colleges go up, and the total, the quality also go down. Even though Canada is the cheapest among just four countries, we are the cheapest. We have the safest. But it is funny because we have this metric in Norway, all the universities, the colleges want diversity. And in India we have this pin drop area that they’re historically very tied with Canada and they always want to come together. And it’s unbelievable. Even from Punjab area, the top of the funnel is weakening. Even Panjab students who are, of course, in friends, family, everyone here in Canada, they don’t want to come here anymore. Why not? Because first four months wait for a visa, which means you already have loan or where your money is taught for months and months. Second, even the minister himself or the most expert Irctc members sit down here and you give them the best students they can say if these are students, get visa or not complete is objective. There is no rule. We sent to exact same students. Sisters. One girl. Grade 11, one grade 12. Going to the exact same high school, same. That same high school from Iran. One of them in four days got the visa. One of them is seven months, got rejection. Speaker 1 [00:12:17] Photos and to Canada. Speaker 2 [00:12:18] Yeah. So what does it mean? Is like one of them went to one office or the other one went to another officer. So when is unpredictable then? The visa rates are either 48% or if you are a top talent visa rate of your case, 99%. Visa rate of Canada is 48%. Why would you put your life and everything one year, one and half year of your life to maybe you come over there? And this is a stat that shocked everybody. 80% of the visas in UK are done under five days. 80%. We are average four months right now and the other 20%, you may say, okay, so the other 20%, how long does it take is an average 16 days. So they’re the this to this is 16 days. Speaker 1 [00:13:08] Or is this four months? Speaker 2 [00:13:09] So Australia now came they gave the visa fee their first. Even Western Australia government is incentivize recruiters in other countries they pay them commission to send them as students and they have the cheapest. UK is about 50% on average more expensive. Australia is about 70% more expensive. So people are going to more expensive destinations. And unfortunately what was our mode which took us. It got copied and they just made it better. You committed for years. Now Australia can with six years postgraduate work permit and said oh if you study a stem that I need or health care I give you six years. So now you are a student. You are comfortable as you can go anywhere in the world, no longer bored. You can go to UAE, you can go to a Singapore visa. The UAE right now is under 30 days there, like zero income tax. Come here. Why should you come to Canada, if you may, after a year and a half, you may at 48% get a visa. Speaker 1 [00:14:18] One of the challenges we may not appreciate in this country is that the past decade of international student flows is not going to be what the next decade looks like. We in Canada relied heavily on Chinese students and that worked very well. There was a system and culture that worked exceedingly well for a lot of Canadian schools, as well as the students gone, as you say now we’re heavily reliant on India as a primary source of students. That’s starting to face challenges. Do you want to share some insights into what you’re seeing from the Indian market? Speaker 2 [00:14:48] Yeah. And 23rd of September, the foreign minister, the foreign affairs minister of India issued an official notice that Canada is now no longer safe and they see hate and crime is exactly what happened 11 years ago. 50% of our total international students coming from India, we are too reliant on one country. And on top of that, 66% of colleges and universities and if you look at trends, is not like diversity to get better, diversity get worse. Two out of three students that go into our colleges can vanish and it it vanished in Australia. So here’s a difference between international students and something like banks or a SAS product. SAS product, you get someone, you have them for years to keep using your software. International students, you can be the top today every year you need to find newest do this next year all can go so our entire sector not only we didn’t build diversity right now UK if you relax there are international students and three years of pandemic when we went down and we still don’t know if we should give them online or offline, they went from 37,000 217,000 international students from India. As you guys know, China since 2017. Then Canada and China, they have tension is just on decline. You 15 going to hurt to the most because they’re especially non undergrad they rely on the Chinese students they priced it up so much that only Chinese and Korean, Japanese, all three of them vanished. The only other students that they were going was Saudi Arabia. That what happens with Saudi Arabia, that sector 90% vanished. 90% of US students vanished overnight. Speaker 1 [00:16:40] Many of these challenges are solvable. Let’s start with the the visa challenge, because in some ways this is what apply board solved for a similar challenge. It’s technology and and matching systems. What can we do quickly to reduce the visa stress? Speaker 2 [00:16:57] Put the responsibility on universities, colleges and the sector same way that works in UK and say that work in Australia. So what they do they say. University so right now so let’s say I’m a university I can give anyone a letter of acceptance. I don’t bear any responsibility. If they get my acceptance, they come and they don’t show up. In fact, majority of universities don’t even report to government if their student showed up or not. I don’t bear any responsibility for their students. Have money or not. Nothing because the government don’t ask them. Of course, no one take responsibility for something that they are not asked for. But let’s look at the UK and Australia. Universities are responsible to check so many things like financial interview with students, integrity of students, everything and government become like a randomly check a student and they say University, be careful, you should not have more than 10% rejection. You need to tell me every single semester if the students attending your school or not. Can you believe we have 330,000 students we bring to the country? No. University? No. How many students got their visa? How many students got visa with their acceptance? Nor the government know how many of this the students are actually studying. So the solution is what Minister Champagne said on the when we met said Don’t come to government with your problem, come, come to government. The solution is us. You and universities go to government said this is the solution. Please use it and let us take some of that burden from you because government right now they’re saying the reason that you have delay is there are so much of checks they have to do their fraud and we don’t have enough labor in place to do that. So that’s phase one just to solve to the problem. Speaker 1 [00:18:44] So let’s let the schools take responsibility for the students. Speaker 2 [00:18:47] Not only as schools, as schools, banks and private companies and all the middlemen, whoever is doing the test companies, the test of language like a tougher party. And it’s those companies that they administer this test. They have to take responsibility. Everyone makes them responsible. And it very simple, like, for example and by the way, we have all the technology for it in Canada. It’s funny like apply, but we are a Canadian company and we are like a product of this. We have the technology universities have the manpower universities already checking the transcript of the students why someone else should exactly do the same job, you know. Speaker 1 [00:19:25] So it sounds simple. Why? Why isn’t it happening? Speaker 2 [00:19:29] Maybe one is like, first, that shift of mindset of come to government, the solution of the problem. I think we as a sector, we are always like raising the problems we never got together of say, hey, let’s ten of us solve something and go. And it has worked before like we have done is here see I can they provided pilots that now is permanent. Right. So we know it’s possible. I think one of them is on us that we have to get united together and go. The other thing is on government, I think our government is our government is and they do have to like be more accessible to the sector to listen to them and provide things like during the pandemic, we see how much their delays cost. Our data shows that on average, around 30% of us students who are supposed to start fall semester, they didn’t get their visa. And I’m pretty sure all of you guys are have that problem 30%. And the funny is majority of universities and colleges try to say mandated I only going to do in-class not going to do it online and by September 1st 30% of us do the law show of what should we do okay online again and they have problem with the academy teachers and everything else. Speaker 1 [00:20:49] We’ve got just a couple of minutes left to if we can resolve these challenges and pain points. What are the bigger issues that Canada needs to think about in the decade ahead in terms of maintaining our leading position when it comes to international students? Speaker 2 [00:21:03] Yes, we need to align what business at the end of this story. As in Canada, we want top talent and as universities we want our alumni to be fine. Very successful drives right now. Great that we bring a lot of STEM students, but that’s not enough. Like we bring 52% of our students are studying business. They’re only 20% of the jobs are business. That sounds right. We need to create way more software developers and way less project management. I can’t call head of nursing of Ontario, but you guys can’t. We need to push them so you can have. Nursing student hundred 10,000 health care need right now in Canada 12% of job can you if we don’t have nurses, we’re going to die. If you go to a hospital, I go to a hospital. We’re going to solve this. And not only that. Also, we need to like push on blue collar workers. Now, you remember they’re talking about we don’t have truck drivers. We don’t have people like do piping hatchback has a huge shortage in things and colleges are perfectly established to to create trades. But trades, we are very behind. And I think Canada can be the leader on that. That’s second. Third. We should do what worked. We should be takes like for example if you go right now computer science you 15. We should give them six years postgraduate work permit. Why should we give them same advantage if they got a two year college of study, for example, business or their studies four or five years for computer science that we know the society need or nursing so we can incentivize them for Canada need. The good news is the three database that we’ve done that the study we know exactly with a very good accuracy what Canada needs in 2030 every year. So we know what is the need of Manitoba in 2030. These are the jobs so we can work backward. The schools in Manitoba teach this and then alumni become more successful. Speaker 1 [00:23:14] All of these challenges come down to information flows between students, educators, governments, employers. What’s just as we wrap up. What are the one or a couple of things that Canada can do to elevate our game in terms of sharing information and using technologies like you’re developing? Speaker 2 [00:23:33] I think our brand is everything we’ve seen on us. How brand is matter. So does it matter? You are the you could be the biggest economy in the world. If you feel if people feel unsafe or unwelcome, they don’t come. And we took advantage of during these years, all these talented people came to Canada. It was because us was unsafe or unwelcomed. The biggest asset of Canada is our brand for safety. So right now, when India last week said, oh, Canada is not safe for Indian students, very valid response. There was a couple of videos. They’re sending visuals right away. React to the students. The market can shift overnight. We should react. Is that. No, they’re welcome. And in fact, we want them here. They’re going to be CEOs of companies. They’re going to be the head of ITC of the companies. They’re going to be the nurses. They’re going to be successful people. We need to as a sector and this is not on government. I think it’s on us. Every of us have to take responsibility. And one other thing, if I add at the end of the story. What applied to exist for and what the universities and colleges exist for. We are all here to serve as students, to educate the board, and I think we have to understand international students is extremely lucrative business. But at the end of the story, it’s a business for educating the world. So if you have a greater responsibility to making sure every single of those students are successful in their lives. Speaker 1 [00:24:57] It’s a competitive in an increasingly competitive world, especially in in education. And Canada needs to be more ambitious. That’s one of the messages you’re saying and you. Martin, reflect that ambition. You’re a great Canadian story. But when Martin saw the ads, just to give you a sense of his ambition, when he saw the RBC boardroom, he said, I’m going to have a board table bigger than that, apply board. Speaker 2 [00:25:21] So you. Speaker 1 [00:25:24] May have a buyer. Speaker 2 [00:25:25] Hundred thousand to get through the fair. Speaker 1 [00:25:28] But that kind of ambition is great to see so alive and well in the country. Martin, thanks for being part of the conversation. Speaker 2 [00:25:36] Thank you for having me. Thank you. Thank you so much. Speaker 1 [00:25:43] That was Martin Basiri, co-founder and CEO of ApplyBoard. Thanks to Martin for sharing his inspiring story with our listeners. Stay tuned for our upcoming special three part series called The Growing Challenge. In it, we explore how Canada can lead the world in food production using cutting edge technologies, data systems and smart thinking to help feed a growing and divided world and do so sustainably. You won’t want to miss it. Until then, I’m John Stackhouse, and this is Disruptors, an RBC podcast. Talk to you soon. Speaker 3 [00:26:17] Disruptors, an RBC podcast is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by JAR Audio. For more disruptors content, like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit rbc dot com, slash disruptors.

Speaker 1 [00:00:01] Hi. It’s John here. Today we’ve got a special live edition of Disruptors to share with you. It’s a conversation I had with the investing legend, John Ruffolo. I met with John recently at the Elevate Festival in downtown Toronto, the largest gathering of creative thought leaders in Canada. John, as you may know, is the former founding CEO of OMERS Ventures and made a bunch of early winning bets on Canadian tech powerhouses. Hootsuite, Wattpad and Shopify were all part of his portfolio. But more recently, John has been fighting his way back from a near deadly cycling accident, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. We talk about John’s road to recovery. His new firm, Mavericks Private Equity, as well as what Canadian entrepreneurs can learn about resilience from his inspiring life story. Have a listen. John, it is so amazing to be with you in person for a bunch of reasons that we’re going to talk about today. But thank you for your for your inspiration. It’s great to have you. Great to be in person. Speaker 2 [00:01:02] Thank you. Speaker 1 [00:01:02] John. We’re going to talk today about resilience, resilience as an individual, resilience for entrepreneurs. How do you be a resilient entrepreneur and resilience for an economy? If you don’t know the John Ruffolo story this year, you’ll probably cringe from me saying this, John, in many ways, the godfather of what we have today in tech, if you believe Toronto is a global tech center, which it is, John, deserves a huge amount of credit for that. When he started OMERS Ventures a little over a decade ago, people really didn’t know what you would do with it. But Shopify, Wipeout, Wave, Hootsuite are all or became the companies they became in part because of John’s investment, but also his mentorship of entrepreneurs. So I want John for you to share some of the insights you’ve had about resilience through the past decade. But let’s start with your own personal story. You were in a horrific accident. Yes. And I hope you can share a bit of that with the audience today. Take us back to that that moment, if you don’t mind. Speaker 2 [00:02:04] Sure. Thank you, John. Thank you, everyone. Yeah. So almost two years to the day, right in the peak of the pandemic. And at the time, I was trying to fundraise for our new firm, Mavericks Private Equity. And we’re now getting into the glimmers of the pandemic. The world’s not going to. And in our lead, investors had said, okay, you know what? Let’s start the closing process in October. And so now we’re starting to gear up and I’m excited and I’m a big cyclist. And every Wednesday, when I would stay at home, I would take a nice, long ride out. I live in the East End and go out to north of the city. And on this particular gorgeous day, I was run over from behind by a tractor trailer going at 80 to 90 kilometers an hour. And just I hit me with such massive force that it took me clean off of the stem of the bike. My bike was unrecognizable, but not only did it obliterate my my vertebrae and obviously damage my my spinal cord, but the force of the impact gave me another damage in that it just broke the rest of the bones of my body. And the worse was probably like my pelvis was split into six pieces, a bunch of my organs were damaged and I was losing 50% of the blood in my body. Speaker 1 [00:03:37] And I said, I’ve read that a doctor said to you, you’ve got one in a million chance. Speaker 2 [00:03:41] Yes. Speaker 1 [00:03:42] What’s what made you the one, two? Speaker 2 [00:03:45] Well, when he said that I was asleep in a coma, but he said that as being nice. So two of my partners called and this was the CEO of Sunnybrook and is a friend. And they just said, Can you tell us what is your friend’s going to die in 48 hours? And they were in shock and they said, What do you mean, die? And the response was, okay, maybe he’s got one in a million chance of survival. And part of the problem that I’m facing right now is that no one knows what sort of expectations there are for me because no one survived that sort of trauma on their body. And so right now, even today, as I continue to make great progress, there is no one to really understand what’s really happening. And the only thing that I do attribute it to is really mind over matter. And this is the whole resilience comment. I know that sounds kind of hokey, but I literally was constantly dreaming of walking and knew what was going to happen. And you know, one sort of funny story wasn’t funny then, but so here I am, miraculously don’t die. And it was 36 hours that they finally decided to do surgery on me. Surgery would have killed me immediately. I get through it. I get out of the coma. They removed the intubation. Six days later and I finally wake up in a hotel room and it’s like, Wow, you’re alive. Oh, by the way, you’ll never walk again. And I was with my wife at the time, and my jaw dropped again as I was like. And then the doctor left the room and almost simultaneously I said, Go yourself. And you know, no one’s going to tell me that I’m not going to walk. And yet I’m thinking about my dad. I’m not going to walk again. And but it was that me trying to convince myself and, you know, my walking’s pretty strong right now. And the one thing I did do 11 months later, I did go back to Sunnybrook in the exact same intensive care ward, had a walker, and I walked right down the hall. And what I said to the doctor who was there and they’re all crying. And I said, Don’t you ever tell anybody they’re not going to walk because you don’t know. And don’t take away hope from someone. And it’s all about hope. Speaker 1 [00:06:30] Resilience is about hope. Speaker 2 [00:06:31] It’s about hope. Unidentified [00:06:32] You know? And. Speaker 1 [00:06:36] So it is mind over matter, but there’s a lot of hard work and a lot of sweat that connects mind to matter. And John said to me off stage, a year from now, he’s going to walk onto the stage. So that’s that’s mind over matter. I will. And tell us a bit about the sweat, literally, that you’re putting into this, because your daily regimen is, you know, worthy of of an Olympic competitor. Speaker 2 [00:07:01] Yeah, it’s it’s it’s grueling. One of my teammates, Vivian O’Leary, is here and she like she manages my calendar. I basically have two full time jobs. And part of this is the unfortunate thing. It really is a product of privilege. I actually think it’s wrong fundamentally. I have a team of approximately ten doctors, four physios, a masseuse, a chiro, a physical trainer, a neurosurgeon, and a physical interest, and a Pilates ten. I pay for all ten. But what I’ve learned is there’s a bit of a fiction here in terms of our health care system, in that we have a very good acute health care system. They saved my life, no question. But when I went to hospital for four months, a physio again, Vivian will tell you the story. I literally broke out there. There are, I’m sure, posters of never have this guy come back because I called out everything. And where I found the unfairness is you shouldn’t have to have money to recover. This is part of our society is what we pay our taxes for. And so I will do that. And if you see me funding a lot of start ups that are in the disability post-acute space, that’s why I’m doing that, because I just think it’s unfair. So just to give you a sense to the I’ll just give you today. So from 1030 to 12, my physio comes in with another physio assistant. I’m walking with two poles now up to about 400 feet is the maximum I could do practicing the walking in it. You know, they’re there in case I kill myself and took 15 minutes for lunch. Had another at a business call on the by the way, I did 3 hours of work before they came. My driver came to bring me here. After I’m going, driving and bring me right back home. I have my missus physio ready for another 90 minutes and then once I’m done that I am cycling quite a bit again and I go back on to my peloton. I’ll do that for 45 minutes, have a little bit of dinner, and then do another three or four hour shift. So it is a killer to do that, but and yet say, why would I? Other than being stupid and a glutton for punishment, it’s if I didn’t do that, I’m not sure my mind would be in the right frame of mind in order to help the physical recovery of my body. Speaker 1 [00:09:44] So I remember hearing me resilience. It involves a team. It’s not a solo. It’s not a sport. It’s a lot of work. What if, John, what have you learned about yourself through this? Speaker 2 [00:09:57] Well, I learned that I was kind of foolish. And then let me explain why. So people have asked, what is it? When you look back at a career of making successful investments, what was the streak? And the string was finding that founder with resilience. And, you know, I could explain to you what I really mean very specifically, but it was resilience that was the single string. And it was easy for me to parrot that and explain and saying, you know, I pointing to these folks. Little did I know that I had to actually prove that to myself. And it’s one thing to build a business. And during when we were fundraising for mavericks, you know, with the pandemic, I ran over by a vehicle. Like, it’s like, okay, God, okay, I get it here. You’re testing me. That was enough now. And but I really realized what resilience really meant. And two things for me. One personal, one business personally. So and I didn’t realize this at the time when I was lying on the ground. So I was dying and I probably had 60 minutes to live and they got me to the hospital in 25 minutes, but 2 minutes post-impact. I woke up not knowing that I’m. I think and my sense is in the ground, it’s just shredded at this point and just in in bad shape. And I wake up and I say, oh, my God, I’m paralyzed. You know it, by the way, you just it’s a feeling of nothingness below your waist. And I felt that I had a choice. I really did. To live or die at that moment. And the two things that came to mind was my kids. My son would have been 14, my daughter 11. And I thought, oh, they’re too young not to be fatherless. So I started with my left forearm trying to get up, not knowing that everything’s broken all the way down my body. And so I couldn’t physically get up. I was trying and I remember this one woman witness. She said, Don’t get up, you’re in bad shape. And then they took up my phone, added my kit and phoned my wife had to even give my password, for God’s sakes, because they couldn’t do the face thing on there. And I’m like. And I and my wife’s like, What’s going on? Go, come and get me. It’s really bad. So. So the personal resilience on your family and the power of that is there’s nothing comparable. But at the same time, you know, when we were building Mavericks, it was really like, we’re not doing it to make more money. I don’t need to make any more money. But it was really about the future of this country and really building the scale up. And I really felt I could have I did that for a reason. And I remember when I’m in the hospital, so it’s about six weeks in and I’m lying on my back. I can’t actually even move. I couldn’t I couldn’t get up because all of the I, I broke all of my ribs in in multiple places. And I had what’s called the flail. My ribs actually stuck out. It was really gross. And so I couldn’t move and I’m bored out of my mind. And I started calling up the investors. And the first one gets this long pause and I go, Hey, how’s it going by? Say, John, like you’re basically you’re alive. And I go like, yeah. And I just yeah, I just following up, you know, we talked about October and there was a long pause. It was like with a bear you had said, oh, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m at this trial. Rehab rehabs called lenders and now I’m the lenders. Because are you on your back in the medical. Yes, because why are you calling me? And I just said, like, what am I going to do? And this is what Canadians this is Canada for you and how we’re so relationship driven. This the response was universally, hey, why don’t you take care of yourself and when you get out of hospital will close the deal. They did it three months later from a hospital. That’s Cam. That’s Canada for you. So. Speaker 1 [00:14:49] John, I want to shift a bit to learn more about mavericks. Tell us what the mission is, what the ambition is, and what you’re hoping to do with it in the next in the next short while. Speaker 2 [00:14:58] Yeah. So, you know, it’s interesting, you know, for those of you who have followed a lot of our thought leadership, we were very concerned that the interest rate environment was going to trigger a massive resetting of valuations. And, you know, one of my colleagues, Peter Hodge, if you follow him, was even actually modeling out what the impact would be in anybody who was paying attention would have realized a very small move in interest rates was disproportionately going to impact valuations. So we were expecting a massive correction and we have a lot of great companies that have gone through the start up system and there was not going to be any capital available to them, really front end and a risk base capital. And we wanted to build a fund that would cut checks that were very significant, at least from a Canadian perspective and, you know, required checks. We cut on average, 50, $75 million in U.S. dollar checks, which was kind of the whole in the market place. And it was really designed to not only capture technology companies, but traditional businesses that were enabling the technologies. And it was to fill a hole. And the asset class is called technically a growth private equity asset class as distinguished from late stage venture. And no one really captured that asset class in Canada. So we thought that was the hole. And, you know, we closed the fund last year, but we did wait an entire year despite us screening a thousand deals. We just knew that the market was going to implode. And so now we’re so excited that, you know, yes, there is a valuation correction, but that’s not a business correction. Another could be a business correction if we fall into a deep recession. And, you know, that’s a bit of a different story. But we’re really looking for these great founders who want to build. And this is the key. You want to build a Canadian based business that you want to stay here. You want to grow it very, very big. You know, like a Shopify. You can hire employees all around the world. But this is what’s missing for this country. And this is what I believe. And our team believes it is the path for the future prosperity of our country. Speaker 1 [00:17:31] We’re out. Please. Thank you. It’s been a really volatile year. Do you think we’re at or near the bottom? Speaker 2 [00:17:41] No. So. We are in the falling knife stage. So it goes through a few stages. And by the way, because I’m an old guy, this is the fourth time I seen it. It repeats itself all the time. John, you’ve been through a few of these as well. And so we go through the shock stage where people think that it will just revert back and then they start to realize, oh, it won’t end. Remember, the aberration was 2019 to 2021. We’re not in the aberration. We’re in the normal period. That’s the problem that people have to really understand that. So it’s really acknowledging that. Okay, I see where we are then it’s the falling knife stage and that’s where we’re in right now, where there’s lots of uncertainty. And the companies are starting to figure out, oh, there’s not an endless money supply. You know, their business models maybe where, where, where we’re terribly unproductive, etc.. And so you’re going to see I save for one more quarter. Right now, not a lot of activity. But remember, there is a historical amount of dry powder out there. I do believe in Q4 we’re going to start to see people choosing companies that have got their business models correct. So I think there’ll be capital for that. There’ll be a lot of acquisitions. You’re going to see privatizations in the in the in the public markets. But 2023, I think, is going to still be a period of volatility. And the second shoe is a recession. And while I personally believe I actually think we’re in one right now and in a little bit as a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I don’t know how deep it’s going to be. And if it’s deep, then there’s still further room to go down because the demand for a lot of the products or services are going to decrease. So the real message and if anyone wants to see, we kind of list of the kind of the top ten rules that you really should do right now. But the real message is watch your cash. Don’t change your strategy of panic. Businesses will still grow. And some of the greatest businesses that I’ve seen strengthen themselves during these recessionary times because they were getting kind of fat in the first place. So you’re going to see a lot of this stuff. And if you’re looking for talent, there is going to be talent going to be going to, you know, the perceived winners. So and they’re going to get stronger. So, you know, the real key is trying to figure out how to get through. And I’m going to guess around the next 18 months and getting through on the other side, leaner, meaner. But I am more excited now than I was when this happened. You know, whether it was 2008 and certainly in 2002, in 2002, they weren’t even businesses and we created eight years of a horrible wasteland. I don’t think we’re in that situation today. Speaker 1 [00:20:51] You’ve had the fortune, good fortune of dealing with a few generations of entrepreneurs. Now, how are entrepreneurs today of this generation different? Speaker 2 [00:21:03] I think that compared to 20 years ago, where the first question was how much money I’m going to make, you know, by virtue of the exit, etc.. I don’t see that very often anymore. And now I see far more passion based investors. I don’t know if he’s here today, but when we were sitting out there and in the speaker’s area is a gentleman here that talked about his young kid having a medical condition and now building the business based on that. And it’s a medical based business that’s passion. And this guy, he’s going to do everything he can to build this business. This guy is going to rocks are going to fall on you. Hopefully you don’t get hit by a tractor trailer, but 99% of the time, those massive obstacles come crashing on you in. This gentleman is going to do everything in his power because he wasn’t focused in on the money, but the money might come. That is a massive generational change that I just and thrilled about when a particularly when I’m speaking to younger individuals. Speaker 1 [00:22:15] We’re unfortunately out of time. But I wonder, John, if I can wrap up with a question back to the original point about resilience and what entrepreneurs and founders need to see in themselves and building themselves to be resilient through these challenging times. Speaker 2 [00:22:32] So a few things. You said it earlier. It took an entire community to get me where I am right now. And it’s not only my doctors, it’s my team at Mavericks, my cycling team, etc. It takes a community. Well, I just so happen to surround myself with folks that are positive and give me hope and telling me, you know, you’re going to crush it, even though I know they know. Hold that this guy is in bad, bad shape. It’s the same thing with you in here. Surround yourself with folks that give you hope and you know when you’re going out and getting advice to folks from folks and seek as much as you can, you know, don’t surround yourself with sycophants either, making sure that you’re really asking people, how can I fix things, etc.? But at the end of the day, it is that hope no. One. Don’t let anyone take it away from you and you’ll just be surprised what you can achieve when you maintain that hope. Speaker 1 [00:23:40] Don’t let anyone take away your hope. What a what a great message for us all. John, thank. Speaker 2 [00:23:44] You so much. Thank you. Speaker 1 [00:23:49] That was John Ruffolo, managing partner of Toronto based private equity firm Maverix Private Equity. Thanks to John for sharing his inspiring story with our listeners. I’m John Stackhouse, and this is Disruptors, an RBC podcast. Talk to you soon. Speaker 3 [00:24:07] Disruptors, an RBC podcast is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by Jar Audio. For more disruptors content, like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and visit rbc dot com slash disruptors.

Speaker 1 [00:00:01] Hi. It’s John here. Speaker 2 [00:00:02] And it’s Theresa. Speaker 1 [00:00:03] Theresa! It’s been a moment since we were in front of these microphones. How was your summer? Speaker 2 [00:00:09] Oh, my summer felt too short, as always. But my friends and I traveled to Colombia for the first time. A beautiful country. And I got to try fresh chocolate, fresh coffee on the very farm where they were planted and harvested. And that’s one of the best parts of traveling for me, the joy of experiencing and learning new things in new countries. How was your summer, John? Speaker 1 [00:00:30] It was fantastic. Maybe not as exotic as Colombia, but we got to the Maritimes and P.E.I., which is one of our favorite places in Canada, certainly, and extraordinary seafood, as always in abundance and traveling through Atlantic Canada. It was also amazing to see what isn’t in abundance, which is people. Canada, as we all know, has all sorts of challenges in the labour force, and it’s only getting more acute as we come out of the pandemic. And no matter where you go in this country, it’s fascinating to see the role that students and international students are playing in filling that void. There are now, believe it or not, 600,000 roughly international students in Canada at all levels of study. It’s a really important part of our country’s progress economically and socially and will likely continue through the 2020s. Speaker 2 [00:01:22] And we have a new report hot off the presses that aims to tackle those very issues. It’s called Course Correction How International Students Can Help Solve Canada’s Labour Crisis. And there are some pretty telling numbers in there about what they mean for our education system and our economy. For instance, a little under one fifth of all new permanent residents have had prior Canadian study experience. And critically, John, international students are 30% more likely than domestic students to study engineering and more than twice as likely to study in math and computer science. These are the top two areas of projected labour shortages in Canada, but we’re seeing increasing competition for this talent. The number of international students per year is set to be more than 7 million globally by 2030. So advance and emerging economies around the world are eyeing new ways to educate and keep this top talent. But the challenge for Canada, I think, is how do we create clear pathways to citizenship and employment for our most promising students? Speaker 1 [00:02:24] Absolutely. And over the next three years, Canada is set to welcome more than 1.3 million new immigrants. Immigration already accounts for almost 100% of labour force growth. We’re going to have to look at not only ways of attracting international students, but keeping them here and getting them on that pathway from classroom to citizenship and probably finding new ways of doing that. Can we find the resolve and the ingenuity to fully integrate today’s students into the labour market of tomorrow? This is Disruptors an RBC podcast. I’m John Stackhouse. Speaker 2 [00:03:04] And I’m from Theresa Do. On this episode, we’re looking at Canada’s international education system and how we can build a talent pipeline to meet the needs of a rapidly changing economy. After the break, we’ll hear from a Vancouver based entrepreneur who came to Canada as an international student. She was born in Thailand and is now helping other students find permanent work here. Speaker 1 [00:03:30] But first, we’ll introduce you to a woman who works with governments, colleges and universities to achieve Canada’s international education goals. Larissa Bezo is president and CEO of the Canadian Bureau for International Education. That’s an Ottawa based nonprofit working to make Canada a world leader in international education through advocacy, capacity building and partnerships. Larissa, welcome to Disruptors. Speaker 3 [00:03:52] Thanks, John. Speaker 1 [00:03:53] I wonder if we can start first with your organization and give us a bit of background on what specifically you do. Speaker 3 [00:04:00] So as you mentioned, CBE is a national association. Canada’s education institutions right across the spectrum from K-12 school boards, across the post-secondary space. Those institutions are CBUS members. And in a space where we have a federation and constitutional authority around education is provincial jurisdiction. There’s a need for actors such as CBC to help represent Canada in that global arena. So CBC is, in fact, that association that helps broker relationships and certainly supports mobility, including inbound student mobility for Canada. Speaker 1 [00:04:32] And as we said in the intro, the arena is growing quite significantly. Probably not. A lot of Canadians appreciate that international student enrollment in Canadian post-secondary institutions more than doubled between 2010 and 2020. And since 2016, that growth has been entirely driven by international students. I wonder, Larissa, how risky it is to rely so heavily on that trend. Speaker 3 [00:04:57] You know, you’re right to point out we’ve seen exponential growth. Our previous federal international education strategy set a target by 2015, which we surpassed several years in advance. We saw almost 285% growth pre-pandemic over the last decade. And since the pandemic, if to take into account the contraction that we saw over that two year period, we’re still seeing 135% growth overall in terms of the inbound number of students across all levels of study. And all indications as we look at the end of 2021 numbers is, is that we’re certainly positioned for strong recovery. I think the challenge becomes how we shore up that pipeline in innovative ways and how we, in fact, focus on the pathway post-graduation if we’re really serious about trying to innovate and harness that global talent pipeline. There’s some collaboration and innovation that we need to see to actually ensure that there’s stickiness and that there’s connection into our communities to actually convert those students and learners post-graduation into active community members and contributors to the labour market. Speaker 2 [00:06:00] I’d like to go back to the impact of the pandemic that you just briefly mentioned, Larissa. So let’s talk about that contraction a little bit. We know that the number of study visas that were issued dropped 25% in the first six months of 2020. How would you describe the situation now for international students in Canada? Speaker 3 [00:06:18] So the situation was such with borders being closed, with mobility really grinding to a halt, that we had to innovate around how we continue to support the learning of of our international students. We saw tremendous temporary policy flexibilities come from the Canadian government, which were very, very welcome. That helped to position as well. We allowed flexibilities in terms of how time was counted towards the post-graduate work permits, many other innovations. We saw exceptions for international students when mobility became possible to ensure that we continue to be able to shore up that pathway. The CBC administered a survey of over 40,000 international students last November, December. It’s a longitudinal survey we’ve been running since 2012. But the survey results really, really underscored how well Canada, in fact, navigated that pandemic. Students very much gave Canada high marks and high ratings in terms of managing that period. And, you know, putting that pathway into perspective over the medium to long term. And the demand is still strong. Canada’s reputation is very strong based on those surveys results, and it continues to be. And so the question then becomes how do we, in fact, enhance those pathways? Because what’s happening globally has been to Canada’s advantage in in recent years, pre-pandemic, but many are beginning to up their game, whether that be in the U.K., whether that’s what’s happening south of the border, whether that’s what we’re seeing happen in Australia, New Zealand, they’re aggressively reinvigorating their campaigns, clearing pathways to really focus in on harnessing that global talent pipeline. And there’s considerable work for Canada to do to course, correct us, as you’ve pointed out, to ensure that we’re really mobilizing the potential, those students for Canada and for our future prosperity. Speaker 1 [00:08:02] What would be the most significant thing Canada could do in this moment to course correct? Speaker 3 [00:08:06] There’s two or three things I would point to. One at. Very clear that we have a disconnect between labour market forecasting and international student recruitment. And I think as a country, we need to better connect the dots between labour market forecasting and that recruitment and work systematically to remove barriers that stand in the way. I think the other piece is, and we saw this very predominantly coming out of the survey when it comes to post-graduation, it’s not simply about offering our international students a job. International students that are considering staying in Canada are interested in community, and the one area where students are least connected is to the communities. They have strong connections to those on campus. They have strong connections to Canadian students, but when it comes to community, they feel disconnected. And when they’re making decisions in plans post-graduation, we need them, you know, from the very early stages to be connected to community. And that requires the engagement of municipal governments, provincial governments, other stakeholders within those communities to be able to not only provide important supports to connect those students, but I think also there’s considerably more that we can do in the way of policy innovation around connecting students to opportunities both within community and labour market at a much earlier stage in their learning journeys. Speaker 2 [00:09:21] I’m really curious and interested in what you mean by communities because that’s in some respects unique to each individual. How do we scale something like that? Speaker 3 [00:09:31] Well, I think one of the pieces for students at a much earlier stage in in that immigration process, once an individual formally joins a part of the permanent residency pathway, they have access to all kinds of settlement and other support services. International students at this point in time, with one or two notable provincial exceptions, do not have access to those kinds of wraparound supports, initiatives that seek to kind of connect them to the different aspects of community, whether that be, you know, social involvement, whether that be through health and other types of supports, whether that be through volunteer opportunities making and extending those types of support services available to students from our perspective. I think there is a there’s a case to be made in terms of a return on investment, a relatively small investment of resources to begin to help them put roots down into the communities. Because we see when that happens at an early stage and we have seen some piloting of initiatives, you look to Atlantic Canada, for example, the study and state program that’s been around for several years now that has an impact mentorship, for example, where you’re building relationships across sectors to be able to start to forge relationships and to support the successful transition of those students. The earlier we have those interventions and the greater our ability to scale up those interventions right across the country, the greater success we’re going to have in terms of really harnessing this global talent pipeline for Canada. Speaker 1 [00:11:01] When you look around the world and particularly at the countries that would be our biggest competitors like the United States, for that international talent, what do you think Canada needs to be obsessed with most to keep or advance our position. Speaker 3 [00:11:15] Make much more explicit what we have on offer the quality of the education system. You know, our reputation as a safe and stable country, a tolerant country, it will continue to make us a destination of choice. But what distinguishes us and what do we have to offer? And I think it’s very clear, certainly from our international student survey, that students are looking for the whole experience. And for those who have a desire to pursue PR, they’re really looking for a community to embrace them, a place to make plans for their future children, a place where they can see themselves. And so part of the challenge that I think we face is we’re not very good at being explicit about what Canada has to offer. It’s there, but we’re very passive about it. You know, you look at the kind of money that some of our competitor countries pour into branding and making that branding explicit. Now’s the time to to put Canada on the map in a much more explicit way. We have to demonstrate ways in which, you know, we offer something unique. And the fact that we’re seen as inclusive and that we’re seen as moving ahead in a way that is sensitive and focused on sustainable approaches both to the planet and for our people, I think is a unique and defining quality, and we need to find a way to harness that. Speaker 2 [00:12:32] I have a bit more of a directed question related to businesses and the importance of ensuring that we can support employers in being able to find this talent, especially in the face of looming labour shortages. But how can businesses de-risk that move? Many employers, the ones that our team has spoken with, have mentioned that it’s just frankly, a little bit riskier going for an international student than a necessarily domestic student with the proper experience for a particular role. So how would you tackle that challenge? Speaker 3 [00:13:04] Here, I think we need to see more collaboration at the community and, you know, at the provincial kind of. Municipal level. I mean, we know one of the barriers and we see this from the student surveys, as I mentioned early in our conversation, is businesses struggle. There’s a pause, you know, before they take on a student because they have to work through the barrage of additional layers. It’s not just, you know, the employment, kind of the labour standards pieces. It’s all of the immigration overlays that have an impact on their ability to take on international students. And we need to clear that pathway. We have regulated international student advisors ratios whose job it is to advise students and who operate within a professional framework under the new college that was established by RCC to be able to advise students, you know, on not only their study, but their post-graduation plans. We need to find ways to be able to connect businesses to those to those ratios who can, in fact, provide that advice. We have ratios in our education institutions. Many employers that we engage with aren’t even aware that these are resources that are present within their communities. Speaker 1 [00:14:06] I suspect when history looks back at the first couple of decades of the century for Canada, one of the quiet successes will be what we’ve done with international students and our ability to attract over time, millions of international students from every corner of the world. But it’s interesting to hear you speak La Raza and realize that we got here. I’ll quit accidentally, but certainly there was no grand strategy that set us on this path. And maybe we have a moment to say, let’s build out our strategy so that as we attract millions more of the world’s best and brightest to continue to build Canada in the decades ahead, that we’re doing it a little more thoughtfully and strategically for the betterment not only of those students, but for all of Canada. Larissa, thank you for your leadership in getting us on that pathway, but also for being here on disruptors. Speaker 3 [00:14:54] Thanks, John. Thanks, Theresa. Speaker 1 [00:14:58] Coming up after the break, we’ll talk with a former international student who’s blazing a path for those following in her footsteps. So stay right there. Speaker 2 [00:15:09] You are listening to Disruptors and RBC Podcast. I’m Theresa Do. I’d like to let you know about a new with the report from RBC Economics. It’s called Proof Point, and it provides original, timely economic insights from RBC’s economics and thought leadership team. Find out why future supply chain snarls won’t be enough to bring inflation down. Or learn why immigration and shrinking household sizes will help protect against a full blown housing crash. To learn more, visit RBC dot com slash thought leadership. Speaker 1 [00:15:47] Those spots are long. I’m Nathan. Oh, and I was a lawyer, so she handled my application process. I give everything to her, and I bet, as I said, if you get an all English translations, I’ll make the weeks. But the hardest part was waiting because my other friends also came to Canada seven weeks before I applied. So it was just seven weeks of waiting, but for me it was like more than three months without delay and just got an email for biometric with the first confirmation to give you biometrics. And a second they called from the medical, which took a long time because after everything’s going to phone the check for that so that without knowing what’s going to happen next was really hard for me, to be honest, because you never know what is going to be right. Speaker 2 [00:16:28] That was Sanjay Suresh Kumar, an international student from Sri Lanka who is studying at Ontario’s Sheridan College. Today. We’re talking about the promise and perils facing Canada’s international education system and how it can better deliver the workforce Canada will need in the decades to come. Our next guest knows firsthand some of the unique challenges of being an international student. Patches Lang is the founder and CEO of ICE and Power. It’s a Vancouver based job search platform and talent marketplace dedicated to helping international students build meaningful careers in Canada. Pat, welcome to Disruptors. Thank you so much for having me. So I’d love to start with your story, Pat. You moved to B.C. from Thailand in 2013, graduated from Simon Fraser University in 2018, and then launched Ice and Power a couple of years later. Why did you decide on Canada over, say, Australia or New Zealand when you made the decision to study abroad? That’s a common question that everybody asked me, like, why Canada? And my answer is Never been that exciting. I actually have a younger sister who came a year before for high school, and I just try to follow her. I know that Canada is safer than the states and that it is friendlier to immigrants. So that’s kind of the two main reasons that I chose Canada over other countries. Speaker 1 [00:17:48] You did more than just choose Canada for education or for family reasons. You’ve chosen to build a future and build a business. And I wonder if you can explain a bit more to us about ice and power and how your platform works. You build it as Canada’s first talent recruitment platform designed for international students. So matching available jobs with candidates, that’s clearly a need. But how is ice and power making a difference? Speaker 2 [00:18:12] So a bit of my story. I came here pretty young, so actually when I first came here, I didn’t really speak any English. I learned English back in Thailand, but mostly grandmas and reading and writing. But speaking is mostly picking up here. Job searching has been extremely hard. Living in a different country has already been very difficult, though I remember getting rejected from the minimum wage job. I wanted to work at a Thai restaurant and I got rejected because I didn’t know how to sell myself or I didn’t even have a resumé back then. Initially I thought it’s just about, oh, maybe international student just like myself, couldn’t write a good enough resumes and we don’t know how to start out. And that’s actually how I started this company. But now that I’ve been in it for the past couple of years now, I realize that it’s a lot more systemic. First of all, international students, of course, I think we don’t really have the right support system. Only everybody is so different. So if you are students come here for MBA versus if you’re someone who come here for bachelor’s degree like myself. So our needs are very different and the resources that are out there are very cookie cutter is like, hey, this is how you format your resumé, this is how you talk to an employer and this is where you find jobs. But there’s so much more unique stuff that you really had to go over, like the immigration process, the language, the cultural barriers that I mentioned earlier. There’s so many international students choosing Canada because of the friendly, friendlier immigration process. But the system that is in place today is really not scalable enough. I would say so. University rely heavily on international student tuition. Some of them even have, you know, over 90% in the national students. But if you add what type of career support do they have, they would say, well, they have maybe one or two career services professionals supporting thousands of international students, and each one of us needs a very different. What are some of those services that Ice and Power offers? Because you mentioned some of the challenges include the fact that existing solutions are very cookie cutter, whereas the experience of each individual is quite unique. So what is the personalization of each student our job candidate entail? We realize that from the get go. I myself came here as an international student. My finding team members also came here as international students, but very different journey. So we went back and we asked How south? What do we want as an international talent and B, walk it backwards. So one of the things that we offer our students creates an account with us. They will be able to tell us a bit more about who they are. So whether or not you are looking for a full time opportunity, if you have in the national experience what type of opportunities you’re looking for or where you’re located. So we add very detailed information. With that detailed information, we are able to personalize and automate resources that really match their needs and deliver to them when they need it. Because let’s be honest, in the national story, in the first year, all you care about is making new friends and integrate and settling down. If you’re only your fourth year of university, your needs are like, I needed to get a job right now and I need to figure out my work permit right now. And those type of resources are delivered to them right when they need it. And really speaking to them. Speaker 1 [00:21:47] I’m curious what Canadian employers need to learn about international students, but also from international students that may be able to bring a unique experience to the table. Speaker 2 [00:21:56] One of the things that I found surprising over the past couple of years is that a lot of employers still think that in the national stage in require sponsorship. Employers are coming to me and say, hey, I want to hire diverse candidates and I want to support newcomers and I want to hire immigrants. But there are three key areas said. They said to me, these might be a little bit of my hesitation. So first, there’s still language barriers. Second, it’s the work authorization. They don’t really know how long the student class in the country or if they need sponsorship or they can they apply for a job by themselves. And third is soft skills. Those are the three things that employers are saying to me. Now, if you can prove this, this would be a valuable key facts. I can help back up their decision of hiring international students. I think what employers need to know is that international students, they are brave enough to come to a different country and study in their second language, work in their second language. They have in the national experience much often in companies that is very big and very well-known because they need that experience in order to even back up their study application. And they are resilient. They have grit and moving to a different country. It is not easy. Some of them pay tuition by themselves, you know, and I don’t know if you know, but we pay three times the tuition that domestic candidates pay. Most people take a loan to be able to do so. They don’t take it themselves. Their family would. So there’s a lot of pressure on their students and there’s not a lot of support system for them right now. You mentioned that tuition is much higher for international students than it is for domestic students. In addition to them, in many cases, those with a study permit are also limited to the number of hours they can work off campus. And that makes it difficult to get the work experience that Canadian employers are looking for. How can Canada, in your view, make it easier for international students who want to live and work here while they continue their studies? Yeah, that’s a hot topic right now. I honestly think, you know, 20 hours a week is it’s really not enough for students to support themselves. A lot of international students want to build a good career here in Canada. And if they can only work 20 hours a week, a lot of jobs that are available at that stage are usually minimum wage job. So you work at restaurants or retail, those kind of experience, although it could be transferable to corporate jobs, but it’s not a corporate or professional job. Getting a co-op or an internship opportunity was very helpful. But I also could only work 20 hours a week as a full time student, and I was finding a part time job that is professional. So I created my own kind of part time job, did a lot of networking, reaching out to marketing agency. I reach out to companies I was not even hiring at the time, but created the opportunity for myself and that that’s really helped me get the first professional job, which then helped me again land a good solid internship. And then I love for a start to get a good, solid, full time job. Speaker 1 [00:25:19] I’m wondering as we turn to close, if you can share some advice to anyone, especially those listening to us from far flung places today, what they should be thinking about when they think about studying in Canada. Speaker 2 [00:25:31] I think, number one is that as a newcomer or as an international talent or candidate, nothing is going to be easy. You know, you really have to fight unfairly because how can you do it? Things that other people don’t do. A lot of Canadians and local candidates might have a lot more Canadian experience than you. So it’s always going to be competitive. So how can you be creative in the way that you find your own ways and finding your own ways doesn’t come naturally? You have to go out and talk to people. You have to go out and network and ask for help. Speaker 1 [00:26:04] Maybe that’s a great message to wrap up on. Be the disruptor. Thank you so much for being on RBC Disruptors. Speaker 2 [00:26:09] Thank you so much for having me. Speaker 1 [00:26:13] Teresa. It’s really interesting to hear what Pat had to say about being an international student, and it got me thinking about some of my own experience living and working abroad, going back a bit in time, but getting to live and work in different parts of Asia and Africa where there was always interest in Canada. It’s a great destination for people from pretty much every part of the world, but it’s really only in recent years where huge numbers of people have seen Canada as an education destination or just an immigration destination. That’s pretty terrific for us as a country to have that point of entry or gateway, not just for people to come and learn here, but to hopefully to set down roots. And we’re seeing that in big numbers and in all the fields, whether it’s health care or engineering or finance or the sciences, all the fields where we need more people. But as we heard from Larissa as well, the competition is getting greater and greater. And Canada’s got to keep an eye on what other countries are doing, because what we did to get here probably isn’t going to be all that we need to do to move ahead. Speaker 2 [00:27:17] I’m reflecting on the conversation a bit more broadly, and I really appreciated what Larissa said about community. You heard from Pat. The reason why she came to Canada is because her sister was here, right? It’s these informal ties that bind us. It’s these human relationships. We need to think about how we build that. And we sustain these mentorship programs, these communities that are beyond the learning and beyond the working that newcomers seek when they arrive here. And so these are the systems and pathways that we need to build as a country. And if we don’t end up doing that, then we’re just paying lip service to our brand as a multicultural, open, tolerant society. But we have the opportunity we have the opportunity to bring in to retain people with these new skills and different ways of thinking. And that’s buttressed by training in our schools and institutions to help us build the future we need and stay true to the country that we aim to be. That is all for now. Thank you. To our guests, Larisa Bezo and Pat Chaisang. Stay tuned in the weeks ahead. We’re working on a special series about Canada’s agricultural revolution and how technology and some smart thinking could help feed a growing world and do it sustainably. Until then, I’m Theresa Do. Speaker 1 [00:28:34] And I’m John Stackhouse. This is Disruptors, an RBC podcast. Talk to you soon. Speaker 2 [00:28:42] Disruptors, an RBC Podcast is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by JAR Audio. For more disruptors content like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit rbc dot com slash disruptors.

Speaker 1 [00:00:01] Hey, it’s Theresa. You know, it’s probably fair to say that the past few months have not been kind to Mother Earth. The climate change summit in Glasgow last fall was pivotal. More than 100 countries reaffirmed their commitment to take action on greenhouse gas emissions. But since then, the world has been hit by a series of shocks from the invasion of Russia to soaring inflation. The rising cost of energy has forced many countries to delay or scale back their climate ambitions, and many are looking to Canada and its abundance of energy for desperately needed supply. But we’re steeped in yet another summer of record heat and forest fires. Once again, this proves that the need for meaningful climate action has never been more important. Add to that the very real and complex challenges of balancing energy and climate security that need for balance and to embrace a more holistic approach to energy development is something that Canada’s indigenous leaders have been stressing for decades. In this special best of episode of Disruptors, we revisit three conversations John and I had over the past season with some of Canada’s most thought provoking indigenous leaders. Each plays a pivotal role in Canada’s energy future. After the break, you’ll hear John’s discussions with Mark Podlasly of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition and also with Crystal Smith, chief of the House, the First Nation. Both of them are trying to build strategies and secure buy in for an Indigenous led energy transition. But first, my interview from last fall with JP Gladu. JP is a board member of Suncor Energy, which has committed itself to becoming a net zero emitter by 2050. He’s also a principal at equity consultancy and a former CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. JP Welcome to Disruptors. Speaker 2 [00:01:56] It’s really nice to be here. Thank you. Speaker 1 [00:01:57] From 2012 to late last year, you served as President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, whose mission is to promote, strengthen and enhance a prosperous Indigenous economy. When you look back, how did the canopy address sustainable prosperity during your leadership? Speaker 2 [00:02:17] What I feel most proud about is the growth of its programs and its presence and research. You and I both know if you don’t have great data, it’s hard to change policy. It’s hard to change thinking and to keep as a leader, a world leader in developing research by indigenous people for indigenous people to influence outcomes. I want to talk a little bit, if it’s all right, sir. One of the my roles since then, I’m the chair of the Boreal Leadership Champions, and that is a group of companies and indigenous leaders from oil, gas, mining, forestry, energy. We’re all trying to find a place and we’re developing some thought leadership with all these companies around responsible development, around Indigenous protected conservation, because we need those natural services to be able to live a stronger future, an environment to hand down to our kids. Speaker 1 [00:03:11] Can you describe that connection between indigenous led conservation and economic reconciliation and how that might also apply to energy production? Speaker 2 [00:03:19] For a long time we’ve been shut out of the Canadian economy. We had the fur trade which sustained our communities, and then we were told our communities were told that harvesting furs was not appropriate anymore. So, okay, well, we don’t want to live in poverty. We don’t want government handouts. So what’s next? Well, we’ll look to the mining so that a lot of our communities are in the north. So we’ll look to the extraction sectors to generate revenue, to generate income, to generate an economy. When we talk about economic reconciliation. It means that we’re generating wealth and we’re managing that wealth and we’re empowering our communities. We know that we can actually find a better balance between extraction and indigenous protected conservation areas and sustainable development and more trees. Because our natural service ecosystems provide billions, trillions of dollars that we don’t even think about when it comes to clean air, clean water. You know, think of all the health impacts that occur if you don’t have a clean environment. But we also, as an indigenous community, are having these tough conversations around, well, we’re going to transition, it’s going to take time. So oil and gas is going to be a part of our economy for years to come. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be putting time and effort and resources and research into actually improving that technology. So there’s a balance to be struck, and we’re not going to find that balance without the indigenous voice. We need to be at the table every step of the way from any kind of development to any kind of protected area and developing economies around those protected areas. Speaker 1 [00:04:52] On more practical level. To what extent might there be concern among indigenous communities, especially those who partner with big oil and gas, about developing these resources, which knowing that oil demand will not wane for a while, eventually it will wane to some degree. So knowing that that long term demand will wane along with perhaps the value of these properties, what concerns are there around that? Speaker 2 [00:05:14] Well, I think the biggest concerns are, again, that question of balance, balance of generating economies. So we’re not poor all the time and not government handouts, but also making sure that we’ve got areas that we can rely on for our traditional activities in the clean water and the clean air. I mean, I just had my daughter visiting me for my reserve the last five days of me remote sensing and I’m on a lake. And let me let me paint this picture for you. I live on Lake Michigan. Our whole lake is protected and it’s the biggest lake in Ontario, surrounded by the Ontario borders. Beautiful. I hunt on it. I fish. I caught a beautiful speckled trout, my fly rod. This weekend I release her because she is a female and she was spawning. But, you know, we’re the guardians of the land and put us in that place so that we can continue to protect her. But we also have a lithium mine site, just not because of road access to our reserves. We have two hydro developments that we’re partners and we have a sawmill. We have old railway bed that goes to our community and we have the natural gas line that cuts across our community as well that my grandfather, one of my grandfathers, helped build. We’ve got all the resource activities there and so we’re trying to find that balance to make sure that the land that needs to be protected is protected and that we are the ones that are also becoming the equity partners and the decision makers in the way that resource projects get developed and that we also benefit from it. Speaker 1 [00:06:34] If I can pivot just slightly so I know you wear a lot of hats and among the many hats that. Where you sit in the Suncor board. Suncor is transforming itself into a more sustainable energy producer and is targeting 2050 as the year they become net zero. What do you think about that target and what are the biggest challenges still to overcome on that journey? Speaker 2 [00:06:56] Yeah, it’s a lofty goal. I mean, but the thing is that not only Suncor, we’ve got Imperial Central, Meg Cenovus, 90% of the oilsands producers are all committed to this. So you have more partners committing to technology, more partners committing to reducing GHG is getting better at water use, getting better at Indigenous consultation, engagement and empowerment. Strength in numbers. So I think because of that commitment with all of these companies, it is achievable. Speaker 1 [00:07:30] And there’s still an open question on energy production at its most basic, whether it’s better to find ways to reduce the carbon emissions in traditional extraction or to shift focus to develop more renewable energy sources. And of course, it’s not just an or question. Speaker 2 [00:07:47] It’s and it’s. Speaker 1 [00:07:48] And so what would you say is the best path for the right mix to meet our future energy needs? Speaker 2 [00:07:53] I think you said it’s the mix. I don’t know if anybody has a crystal ball on this because there’s so much uncertainty. We’re investing in hydrogen, we’re investing in carbon capture. We’re we have to spend more time investing in our natural capital of trees. I think it’s one of the best carbon eating machines that I know as a forester. So, so you know, companies like Suncor are investing the time and resources in those types of technologies, but we cannot rely just on one. It’s like a balanced portfolio. When I look at my RRSP or my investment accounts, I’m distributed across, I’ve got some risky investments and some of these investments that we’re exploring the technology, there’s risk, but the payoff could be amazing. Speaker 1 [00:08:36] You often talk about a just transition. Can you elaborate more on what you mean by that? Speaker 2 [00:08:42] Absolutely. I want to fill up this morning. You know, I live in the north. I’m a hunter and I’m 2 hours from Thunder Bay, so I have a truck. And it’s always interesting when we think about environmentalism, it’s always easier to be an environmentalist. When you ask everybody else to do the hard work, it really is. It’s it’s baffling sometimes. DiCaprio comes up to the oil sands and chastises the oil sands for for oil and gas development. When he flies around the world, is that a billion whatever boats and helicopters and they come on like, let’s be real here. But so we’re just trying so I’ll get off my soapbox. But the just transition is. Yes, yes. I mean, I sit on an oil and gas company. I also chair the boiler of champions around conservation. I took my daughter hunting and a clean environment. We need both. And the just transition is the fact that we’ve got two sides here and we’re trying to build a bridge and to meet that bridge to make sure that we can travel in a clean environment and a sustainable economy. The renewables, the batteries, the infrastructure for it, for battery cars, the wind, the solar. We just don’t have the capacity to meet world demand for energy. So oil and gas is going to be here for quite a while yet. And we’ve got to make sure that we hold corporations accountable to their targets. We need to make sure that we have a little bit more balance in the way that we develop our resource sector. It’s not perfect. It’s getting better. We see the goalposts and we’re trying to navigate between those posts and we’ve got Indigenous inclusion, that is, it’s got to get better, but it’s definitely 100% better than it was even ten years ago. But that transition is going to take time. Speaker 1 [00:10:32] Coming up after the break, we’ll revisit a conversation John had with two B.C. indigenous leaders who are reshaping the way we approach energy development in Canada. So stay right there. You’re listening to Disruptors and RBC podcast. I’m Theresa Doerr. I would like you to know about a new weekly report from RBC Economics. It’s called Proof Point, and it provides original, timely economic insights from RBC Economics and Thought Leadership Team. Find out why businesses will continue to be challenged by labor shortages even after the economy’s next recession. Or learn how this country could help feed the world amid the food crisis and what it means for our carbon emissions targets. To explore more, visit our BBC.com thought leadership. Welcome back. On today’s episode where resurfacing some of the most insightful conversations we’ve had here on disruptors with indigenous leaders on the question of Canada’s energy transition. Earlier this spring, John spoke with two B.C. leaders with a keen sense of how to build a more inclusive and sustainable energy partnership. First up, here’s John in conversation with Mark. But lastly. Speaker 3 [00:11:48] Mark put lastly is Director of Economic Policy and initiatives at the First Nations Major Projects Coalition, which is a national collective of more than 65 Indigenous nations seeking ownership of major projects such as pipelines and electric infrastructure. He’s also director of governance at the First Nations Financial Management Board, which is leading the development of an indigenous response to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Mark, welcome to Disruptors. Speaker 2 [00:12:17] Well, thank you. I’m very pleased to be here, John. Speaker 3 [00:12:19] I wonder, Mark, if we can start with some reflections on the impact of climate change, because you’re part of a nation and a community in South Central B.C. that has not only been devastated by climate change, but also captured the world’s attention. Maybe you can share a bit of what you’ve you’ve learned from that experience. Speaker 2 [00:12:41] Well, we are from the carbon, which is in central interior, British Columbia, South Central B.C. and we had both of the big climate events of British Columbia hit us within six months. The first was the fire at Lytton. Lytton as one of our communities in our nation where the temperature went to almost 50 degrees Celsius, hottest temperature in Canadian history, and then the place burned to the ground the next day. And then last winter, we had the atmospheric river come through and it hit Merritt, which is also one of our nations communities. And the rivers just washed everything out. There were 38 washouts in both directions up to my community, washed away the reserve where my mother was born. It’s gone completely. And Highway eight still isn’t rebuilt. So it’s it’s been a horrific year climate wise for us. Speaker 3 [00:13:23] And people around the world watched in horror and some said this is why we need to get off fossil fuels immediately or as quickly as possible. And yet many of the communities that were devastated by this are also investing in projects that will continue to ensure that oil and gas get to people in Canada and around the world. How do you balance what some see as a contradiction and others just see as a as a challenge between those two points of view? Speaker 2 [00:13:53] I think what’s important to remember is that this is an energy transition. There is a point where we are going to have to stop using a lot of these fossil fuels, but in order for us to do that instantly is going to cause enormous pain. We just don’t have the renewables and in the amount we need to do an instant switch. So I think right now it’s a question of smart decisions about which petroleum based assets we will develop and use. The references you’ve made to a lot of First Nations, particularly in B.C., around LNG, LNG as a cleaner fuel than oil. And that is where a lot of first nations are putting their effort right now. So it’s a transition. It’s not going to be instant. Speaker 3 [00:14:31] What Indigenous perspectives do we need to be more mindful of in terms of finding this balance? Speaker 2 [00:14:37] I think to look at this is that indigenous people right now are very invested. Some indigenous people are very invested in the petroleum and the energy sector and there’s a lot of interest right now in developing sources of energy that are cleaner. And I think that’s where indigenous people, at least from the Coalition, are willing and happy to proceed. The question we have is we don’t want to be caught off guard in the development of new energy systems like we were in the past, where they are coming from our lands and our resources and we are not benefiting from that. So there’s a lot of hard questions to be asked about what’s our energy mix going to be. And then for Canadian society about what’s the role of indigenous people on whom our lands are are basically tied to these energy, either in clean energy and hydroelectricity or solar or wind or in petroleum and natural gas. There’s some tough questions that have to be worked out. Speaker 3 [00:15:27] Tell us a bit about the the Major Projects Coalition, how it came about and what it’s trying to achieve. Speaker 2 [00:15:32] The major projects coalitions started about six or seven years ago when 16/1 nations in northern British Columbia had an opportunity to acquire equity in a pipeline project. They then went out to try and source that equity and found that it was too expensive. The cost of capital because First Nations, the way we organized under the Indian Act, we don’t own our land, we don’t own our assets. They’re held in trust by the government. And trying to actually raise money on assets that you don’t own is a fruitless exercise. There’s just banks wouldn’t do it. So if we could get capital, it would be at the cost of credit card type rates. And it’s just just not economic. So the 16/1 nations said, you know what, this is could happen to us again, so we’re going to be ready the next time. So they formed the coalition as a service organization, 2/1 nations, to improve their technical ability to access capital and technical skills and finding people who could assist them prepare for the next deals that would come around. And it’s happened. You’re starting to see it now from those 16 we have grown to 85. The coalition does not market itself. It is all by word of mouth. And these are first nations who are being approached by proponents of major projects looking for commercial partners. And we provide this service to those communities to ask the right questions about going into those projects. Speaker 3 [00:16:48] What sort of projects are you looking at or communities looking at? Speaker 2 [00:16:52] There are energy projects, a lot of clean energy projects now, either in hydroelectricity or partial ownership of transmission lines. And those include the gambit of geothermal. Hydrogen is now coming up as more and more communities are being approached. Transmission lines, pipelines have come up in discussion. There’s railway discussions now about everything from via rail project in Ontario and Quebec to other projects here in British Columbia and sometimes mining companies as well. Mining companies looking to access critical minerals for net zero batteries and car manufacturers. Those are all coming up. Speaker 3 [00:17:25] The climate transition is going to take a lot of capital. Our research at RBC estimates Canadians will need to invest or mobilize $2 trillion over the next 25 to 30 years. That’s roughly $80 billion a year or about four times what we’re investing in transition activities right now. How can we see more indigenous capital mobilize Mark and perhaps do so more quickly? Speaker 2 [00:17:51] Well, I’m glad you noted that there is indigenous capital in this country. My community has a revenue sharing deal with a mining company in our territory and when we started to set that up, we did some research to find out how much indigenous capital is there in Canada and we found just the back of the envelope calculations at that time, about $8 billion of assets under management by Indigenous people. And it’s not in one spot. It’s it’s different settlements from either land treaties from from negotiations with mining companies or energy companies. We figure now that somewhere between 13 and 18 billion my nation has a fund right now of about 50 million. And we have the ability and the fund to make direct placements into investments that that will grow that fund. Most of these nations do. So the capital is there. The question, though, is that how how can indigenous people directly invest in these projects? I think for a lot of the financial sector, they don’t see us as Indigenous investors. The idea of being an indigenous investor seems to be an oxymoron to some of these companies who come into territories and don’t think of Indigenous people in that sense. That has to change. Speaker 3 [00:18:54] Mark we’ve been exploring through this podcast series the incredible challenges that Canada is facing in terms of finding a balance between energy security, ensuring that we have affordable, accessible energy, and that we’re able to support other countries, especially our allies, with that while facing extraordinarily inflationary pressures and balance out with climate security and the race. And it really is a race to net zero. How do you think about these these challenges and many more from an indigenous perspective, which often suggests more time is needed if we’re to make the right decisions and we need to think generally. Rationally and not be in such a rush. How do you balance that need to really get things done in a hurry and not be wasteful in the process? Speaker 2 [00:19:40] I bring us back to the discussion of the atmospheric rivers and the fires and Lytton that happened last summer. You’re right, we have limited time now to save the climate and that affects all of us. It’s not just indigenous people versus the rest of the country or the federal government. By 2030, we’re supposed to have shifted most of our vehicle sales 50% anyway in this country over to electric vehicles. It takes more than eight years to build a mine. Never mind power stations. We as indigenous people are in this with everybody else. So there have to be, as you said, smart decisions made. And the only way smart decisions are going to be made is that there’s a wholesome, fully engaged discussion from the beginning about what we’re going to do. Speaker 1 [00:20:22] One woman with her finger on the pulse of her community’s needs is Crystal Smith, chief of the House The First Nation. Here’s part of John’s chat with Chief Smith. Speaker 3 [00:20:35] Crystal Smith is the elected chief of the Hyslop people, centered on Kitimat village along BC’s northern coast. In November 2019, she was named chair of the First Nations LNG Alliance, a group committed to encouraging First Nations development of what was then a nascent liquid natural gas industry and providing employment and other sustainable benefits for BC’s Indigenous people. She Smith, welcome to Disruptors. Speaker 4 [00:21:00] Thank you for having me. Speaker 3 [00:21:01] I wondering if you can share a bit of the Hyslop story because it’s not a well understood story, unfortunately, across Canada. Tell us a bit about what what the community has built over the last decade. Speaker 4 [00:21:13] One thing that I definitely think that is important for people to understand is that while we’re being a part of a new industry, that our nation isn’t new to industrial development. Overall, we’ve witnessed methanol plant, aluminum smelter, a pulp and paper mill be developed and built and operated in our territory for 20 to 50 years. And essentially we’ve sat on that on the sidelines, witnessed the destruction of our territory, our environment and our cultural resources to being active partners within a process where we had a seat at the table with LNG, Canada and Coastal Gaslink talking about what was important ties like what it means to be Heizer. Having our seat at the table gave us a huge responsibility in terms of being landlords of all of our resources and giving advice to developers and builders as to how to safely do it with minimal impacts to our environment. One of our elected leaders, Seeber Maitland, he was a chief councilor in the eighties, I believe termed the saying that we just wanted a share and a say. We wanted a share of the the wealth that was being generated. We wanted a share of the employment opportunities that were available. And we wanted to see as to how they were being built, how it was being developed. And today, I can proudly say that we’re we’re there as a part of LNG Canada, coastal gaslink and more so now as owners 51% owners of Cedar LNG with our partners. Speaker 3 [00:22:47] Pembina And in terms of development, what has been done differently because of that share and say. Speaker 4 [00:22:54] For an example one of our very important cultural resources to to our nation is that will again. And so the spawning time or the the time that they would come into the rivers is in between February and March. And there’s not too many other levels of government or any other entities that put a value on the ULA camp. But but it’s a huge staple of our HYSLOP identity. So in terms of the, say, LNG, Canada was doing some dredging and within that process of doing the the permit application, we worked out the issues prior to that permit being applied for so that as opposed to the permit going into the regulators and then coming back to us for four questions, it actually went along with our support when being filed and that involved no dredging during February and March when the other can could possibly arrive. Speaker 3 [00:23:55] One of the big ideas we’re trying to explore is this challenge that Canada now faces of needing to produce more resources both for Canadians and for the world, and do that more sustainably. We have very ambitious climate targets, among other environmental goals. And at the same time, to pursue reconciliation in more and more meaningful ways. How do we do that, especially in the short timeframe that many people believe we have to reach goals like net zero? Speaker 4 [00:24:25] Well, for one, for the Cedar LNG. Even before ESG became a thing, our team actually sat in a room in Vancouver for, I want to say, a week to go over proposals for a partner. How much money the nation would make wasn’t a huge priority. The priority was what kind of technology will you use and will you use air cooled or water cooled? We stuck to what we wanted for our environment, and we chose a partner that aligned their visions and their desires with the nation. And actually, I remember throughout that process there was one RFP that came in and that the executives would not leave the topic. And they were very adamant that the project needed to make money. If the project didn’t make as much money as they envisioned, the nation wouldn’t make as much money as we desired. And I had looked at our team and I said, I don’t think this conversation needs to go any further. And and the room kind of looked at me stunned. Our team looked stunned. And I said, there’s no compromise. And what we’re saying is that we want minimal impacts. I’m not willing to stand up in front of our community and say we chose money over our environment. And so I looked at the rest of the elected leaders and said, are you willing to do that? And the answer was no when the conversation ended. Speaker 3 [00:25:47] You’ve said that the Coastal Gaslink project, which will transport natural gas from northeastern B.C. to Kitimat, promises. I think you use the word transformational benefits for the Haisla Nation. Can you explain what you mean by transformational? Speaker 4 [00:26:01] You know, we think about what we’ve been able to do and being a part of a process where, you know, coastal Gaslink and LNG Canada took the time to understand and get to know who we are and why certain circumstances remain the same. And it was because of our past history with the industrial development and having proponents come in and, and learn who you are and what you want to accomplish and align themselves of of saying this is where we can help with that vision. Here is where we can help with that goal and being partners within that process and providing resources that necessarily weren’t provided before. We have the lowest unemployment rate right now. If you want to work, you can work. There’s nobody that that doesn’t have an opportunity. So that’s on one level where I’m saying it’s it’s transformational. And with its own source revenue, are funds being generated by impact benefit agreements? We now have the ability to work on behalf of our people. Our chiefs and council and our staff have that ability to create programs that actually deliver what is required and what is needed. And we’re able to prioritize what is important. Our culture and language is is a huge example. I had a meeting last night at dinner meeting and I’ve got a twin identical twin sister and I was sharing how my day started yesterday. It’s my first day back after two weeks off of work, and she shared an audio recording of her speaking her language. I’m sorry. Speaker 3 [00:27:39] No. Take your time. Speaker 4 [00:27:41] We grew up with our grandparents, and when they didn’t want us to know what they were talking about, they would speak our language. And hearing her speak, it gives me hope that my grandchildren will be able to speak our language and will know exactly what it means to be high. So they will learn their culture, they will learn how to harvest food, they will learn their language. And that is so important. Speaker 3 [00:28:12] Thank you for sharing that. It’s inspiring, it’s beautiful. And also, I imagine quite challenging for as it is for any community with strong traditions around the world to preserve culture and tradition. I wonder if I can wrap up with one last question about economic reconciliation and what you think the rest of Canada needs to come to grips with. For communities like yours and leaders like you to navigate this journey. Speaker 4 [00:28:42] It’s a process that but we have to be a part of and that it’s putting a lot of responsibility and expectations on on proponents and other levels of government. But this process internally has been long, difficult. Huge learning curves. And in terms of what we’ve been a part of. So essentially give some time because it’s not an overnight process. An entity has its shareholders and its board of directors, our shareholders, our 1900 members, and that’s just specifically Haisla. And that’s who essentially gives us our mandate of a yes or a no. And again, not all of us are the same. Some of us will be a little bit quicker and have had a lot of practice in that process. But give time, get to know the community, get to know what their goals and what their visions are. Speaker 1 [00:29:32] This has been a special best of episode of Disruptors. Thanks again to our guests, Christopher Smith, Mark Pitt, lastly and JP Gladu. We hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. And a little note for our listeners. Disruptors will be taking a summer hiatus for the next few weeks. We look forward to having you join us again in the fall. Until then, I’m Theresa Do and this is Disruptors, an RBC podcast. Speaker 4 [00:29:59] Disruptors, an RBC Podcast is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by JAR Audio. For more disruptors content like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit our rbc.com slash disruptors.

Speaker 1 [00:00:02] Hey, it’s Theresa. All of us contribute to the global climate crisis. Everything from the planes, trains and automobiles we travel on, the food we eat and the buildings where we work and live all produce greenhouse gas emissions. And I know you’ve heard a lot about how important it is to reduce GHG emitting activities and to change our lifestyles. But it can be hard, really hard, sometimes even really expensive. And there are just some activities perhaps based on where you live or your personal needs that can’t be realistically cut out of your life. But there is a way to help counterbalance some of our emissions and climate damage. Enter carbon offsets, make a purchase online, also draw emissions for that particular purchase, book a flight and offset the carbon generated from your seat and travel length on that flight. The list goes on. But are these voluntary offsets a viable solution or just greenwashing? This is disruptors, the ten minute take where we dove into the latest innovation, tech and economic buzz. This week’s take is on carbon offsets. What are they? How do they work and how do we know if they’re actually effective? To offer some insights, we’re joined by Suha Jethalal, the CEO of Bullfrog Power, a Canadian green energy retailer that offers electricity from renewable energy sources. And full disclosure, RBC is a Bullfrog Power customer. Suha, welcome to the 10 minute take. Speaker 2 [00:01:28] Thank you so much, Theresa. Speaker 1 [00:01:29] So according to your website last year, your customers have offset more than 67,000 tonnes of carbon. And this basically means that they participate in activities that generated 67,000 tonnes of carbon emissions and then paid for reducing that same amount elsewhere. And I personally paid for carbon offsets on my flights to through less taxes. So can you tell our audience how that works and what types of carbon emitting activities can be offset today? Speaker 2 [00:01:57] So carbon offsets allow individuals and organizations to mitigate the emissions from one activity like necessary air travel that you mentioned with another activity elsewhere that avoids the reduces the same amount of emissions from being released into the atmosphere. So essentially the money goes to paying for a reduction in greenhouse gases that has already occurred through another project potentially globally. You know, say you’re flying from Toronto to Vancouver, you’re emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by taking that flight. And you may address your emissions by purchasing carbon offsets from, let’s say, a project in Uganda that circulates water filters to avoid the burning of wood to boil water for safer drinking. And there are many other projects you could choose to reduce the impact of that flight. Speaker 1 [00:02:51] Can you share more about some of these projects and which ones Bullfrog Power tends to invest in? Like, how do you decide which ones to look at? Speaker 2 [00:03:00] So Bullfrog Power offers green energy solutions. So green electricity, green natural gas, green fuel. RBC has been a leader in this space, a customer of ours for many years, and one of our goal for our companies is less emissions that offers these carbon offsets. Now Last is ranked as the highest quality offset provider by the David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute. Our offsets are transparent. They’re verified by a third party and certified. They’re truly additional and making a difference in the environment. They’re permanent and they’re recent. In addition, they’re serialized and tracked on internationally recognized registries, so they’re completely transparent. The types of projects that we focus on are all meeting the highest standard of certification. So Gold Standard, or they’re A-plus CSA certified projects that we know are meeting the Kyoto protocols, clean development mechanism criteria for quantification, and they are meeting the highest criteria determined by the U.N. Now it’s really important to choose high quality offsets because, you know, there is some murkiness in the offset markets where you may not necessarily know if it’s truly permanent and truly adding value. There needs to be more standardization in the offset market. So you know that the measurement of the impact of that offset is truly in addition to what would have happened without it, that there wasn’t funding already in place to make that project happen, that it’s truly incremental. Speaker 1 [00:04:41] Yes, I was I was just going to ask you about how we as consumers verify which projects are high quality and that we can trust to, you know, invest in. How would you advise people looking to offset their emissions and doing their due diligence for these sorts of projects? Speaker 2 [00:05:00] I think it would be really important to see that they meet the U.N. CDM protocol and that they are gold standard certified or meeting other similar high standard certifications. You can also trust less emissions offset projects because they’re all serialized and tracked on registry. So you know that there’s not going to be any double counting of these things, right? They’re all globally tracked. In addition, it would be important to think about the types of projects you look at. So, for example, forestry, reforestation is essential and critical and an important activity. But let’s say you choose a project that in two years is destroyed by forest fires. Or let’s say you choose to invest in a project where it’s protecting a part of a forest, and that’s actually leading to deforestation. In another part of the forest. So there is leakage. You need to investigate the types of projects you’re looking at and make sure that they’re going to be permanent. They’re going to be lasting. They’re going to be additional and truly adding value. And I think going to a provider that you can trust verifies all of that for you is a start. So we, for example, have a voluntary independent audit that we conduct with an international accounting firm to ensure that all of our projects are, in fact, certified to the highest standards and meet all the criteria that we lay out. So, Suha, what’s the Speaker 1 [00:06:37] Demand been for offsets? How has uptake changed over the last few years? Speaker 2 [00:06:43] So I think the demand has risen because people have become so aware of the climate impacts, because they truly do want to make a difference. And there are some areas where there really isn’t a greener or more viable solution. So air travel is one of those areas. If you look at air travel, gas, of course, we wish there was, you know, aviation, biofuel available or commercial electric flights available that we could take. But since those options aren’t viable, offsets are a good solution in the interim until those are available to us. And so we have seen with increased awareness of the climate problem, we’ve seen an uptick in the demand for offsets. And I use the example of air travel, but that was obviously impacted by COVID. But whenever anyone was taking necessary flights, I think, you know, many people were turning to offsets to reduce their emissions. And we’re seeing travel come back into play now. And our demand has been going up in the offset space. And actually many projections are showing that carbon offset demand will increase tenfold in the next decade. Speaker 1 [00:07:58] And out of curiosity, do you have any numbers on the proportion of air travelers who are starting to purchase more carbon offsets? Speaker 2 [00:08:06] It’s still less than 1%. Speaker 1 [00:08:08] Yeah, that’s wild. Speaker 2 [00:08:09] Yeah, we need to do better. And I think, you know, yes, it’s grown, but it’s going to need to grow exponentially at some point. Speaker 1 [00:08:16] I assume that the world will no longer have the capacity to offset more emissions, and instead we have to strictly focus on reducing carbon emissions. So how do you see something like carbon offsets evolving? And as we increasingly move towards a net zero world, what role will they play, if anything? Not just for corporations but perhaps for individuals? Speaker 2 [00:08:37] So I think offsets are a good interim solution where greener solutions and technologies don’t exist. I think the best thing we can do is change our behaviors and offsetting offers us this solution now. And we don’t always have the greenest technologies available, but it is not. Our path out of this climate crisis or our path out of the climate crisis is truly evolving our behaviors and our products so that they are green offsets. You know, there’s a lot of criticism around them just delaying the problem at hand. They’re offering a solution for polluters to keep polluting. But I still think offsets are a good choice in doing something over nothing. But we need to act fast in developing the greener technologies and solutions that will get us out of this climate crisis. Speaker 1 [00:09:31] That’s a really powerful note to end on her. Thank you so much for the nuance and for this conversation. Speaker 2 [00:09:36] Thank you so much, Teresa. Speaker 1 [00:09:39] As we heard, carbon offsets, carbon credits, they are an option of last resort after we’ve made every possible attempt to reduce our emissions by changing our behavior or switching to green powered alternatives, we’re not going to offset our way out of climate change. But it is a useful interim solution, as you said, and a way for consumers to be more mindful of our carbon footprint and for those GHG emitting moments and activities that are just not feasible to cut out of our lives yet. That’s it for this week’s ten minute take. Join us again next week for a special best of episode on Indigenous leadership in the clean energy transition. Until then, I’m Theresa Doe. Talk to you soon. Speaker 3 [00:10:21] Disruptors, the ten minute take is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by JAR Audio. For more disruptors content, like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit rbc dot com, slash disruptors.

Speaker 1 [00:00:03] Hey, it’s Theresa. Have you tried to purchase the new or used to be a vehicle lately? I can’t say I have, but my dad just bought a used car and it apparently was not an easy or inexpensive process. The used car market in Canada has been booming since the onset of COVID-19. Prices have gone up. Supply chain issues dampened new vehicle availability. Add to that a shortage of parts and chips around the globe, and you’re looking at a rough ride. If you’re planning to buy a car in the next little while. This is disruptors, The ten minute take where we dive into the latest innovation, tech and economic buzz. This week’s take is on the automotive market in Canada. What does the landscape look like amid these global challenges, and how are tech platforms helping consumers with the buying and selling process? To offer his insights. We’re joined by Cody Green, founder and CEO of Canada Drives dot ca, the country’s largest 100% online car shopping and to your door delivery platform. Cody, welcome to the ten minute take. Speaker 2 [00:01:06] Thanks for having me. Speaker 1 [00:01:07] So we’ve been seeing supply chain woes and chip shortages affect the vehicle market for a while now. But what are the biggest issues that Canadians who are looking to buy or sell? What are they grappling with these days? Speaker 2 [00:01:19] The biggest issue is we’re still just not making as many new vehicles as Canadians want. So recent numbers. May 2022, we had 140,000 new vehicles sold, which sounds like a lot, except when you compare it to 200,000 that we had in 2019. So roughly 70% of the output that we used to have. New vehicle prices are going up. So there’s a few things at play here. There’s a definite rise at the cost of the inputs. Those manufacturing bottlenecks that you referenced and really just this supply and demand imbalance. And when manufacturers have the limited capacity, they’re going to be focusing on those more expensive models, those more expensive trims. So you see that on that new car side. If you’ve walked into a dealership hoping to leave with a new car, you may find that you’re waiting three months, six months or longer. They might just say, you know what? I don’t even know if I’ll be able to get you this model. Good luck next year. And that and that really just sort of flows over to the used vehicles because used vehicles are really a reflection of new vehicle pricing. And so what we saw last year as those new vehicle prices went up, the used vehicle prices sort of rose along with them. At this point, it’s relatively stable. We’re not seeing big swings either way, but there’s just less vehicles out there and so makes it a bit more challenging for shopping. Speaker 1 [00:02:45] Are you seeing any particular types or makes or models of vehicles that are most affected or is it kind of uniform across the board? Speaker 2 [00:02:51] It’s really across the board. I think recently and this has been exasperated by our fuel prices shooting up and staying up. Getting your hands on a new EV or a hybrid vehicle. That’s definitely challenging. And Tesla is a good example. Like those ones, you take a long time, you put in your deposit and then you just sit and wait and hope. Speaker 1 [00:03:13] Let’s actually let’s stay on EVs for a second there, on our show we’re very interested in the transition to a net zero economy, and EVs are a huge part of that. But as you said, you know, prices are going up, wait times are super high. But I read that you mentioned in another interview that monthly searches for EVs on Canada drives have doubled between January and June. Are those searches translating into sales? Speaker 2 [00:03:36] They definitely are. We have to have the vehicle for someone in order to actually purchase it from us. So a big focus for our team is making sure that we’re sourcing quality used vehicles that Canadians wants. And Canadians definitely want electric vehicles right now. And what we’re really seeing is there is this tight correlation on our platform for those searches of electric vehicles. Along with those fuel prices. We see this overall demand just is growing. But when fuel jumps by 30% in a month, we see it almost 1 to 1 with the searches on our platform. Speaker 1 [00:04:13] That’s wild. My partner and I, we got an electric vehicle fall of 2020. So we feel very lucky that we got in just before all this craziness. But let’s talk about your platform for a moment and generally how you think about the customer experience of buying or selling a vehicle. How does Canada drive enable car buyers and sellers in this particular environment, especially in contrast to the dealership model? Speaker 2 [00:04:38] One of the challenges that people have right now is actually understanding what vehicles are available. So that’s one of the things that we kind of answer for customers right off the top. You go on our platform, you can see this vehicle is here today, you can buy it. This vehicle’s coming soon or there’s potentially a sale pending on it so you can get notified of. Someone changes their mind, but you actually have a good understanding. If I want a car, I can buy this car. The experience for the customer. We really try to take the best parts of buying a car and put them online and then take away all the things that people don’t love about shopping for a car. So some of those things are time and convenience. So going into a dealership, spending multiple hours and this is an hour’s really discovering if it’s the right car, it’s a lot of time just waiting, whether it’s waiting to do the test drive, waiting to figure out the price, waiting to figure out the financing. You’re getting a 50 minute test drive. That’s where the actual discovery of the product is on our platform. Everything’s available for you. So no haggle pricing. If you need financing, we’re going to facilitate that. It’s going to be all there. It’s going to be transparent. This is the rate. This is the payment. The control is all the way back to the consumer. So if you don’t like the offer we have for the financing, you don’t like the price of the vehicle, you close your browser, you’re not captive to the shopping experience. The other big part of it, too, is people have gotten used to buying everything online and really vehicles were sort of that next step. Tesla pioneered it with that direct to consumer for the new vehicles. They had to have the single pricing, no negotiation dropped off at your door. People loved it. They didn’t miss that part of the shopping experience. Same thing with Canada drives. When you say, yes, I want to purchase, it’s going to be dropped off at your door. And the biggest thing that people said like, well, if I’m buying a car online, what if I don’t like it because it’s a big purchase and totally empathize people with that? We have a seven day leave it to return it guarantee, drive it for seven days, take it to work, drop your kids off at school. If there’s anything you don’t like about her, maybe it’s just the color you like. I want a different blue. We’re going to come pick that vehicle up. And so we really say that this is superior to the standard 15 minute test drive, and that’s been the sentiment we’ve been hearing from customers to that. Speaker 1 [00:07:00] So while that goes against all of the orthodox of, oh, you know, the moment you buy a car and drive it off the lot, it loses 30% of its value. And here you are like, actually, I can return it after seven days. So that’s a crazy look. Mind shift to. Speaker 2 [00:07:13] Me. Yeah, it’s something people really love and they’re like, Really? They’ll do that. Yeah. Speaker 1 [00:07:17] Yeah. So it’s a great time to sell your vehicle if you’re looking to sell it. Actually, if we want to sell our car today, we could sell it for more than we bought it. And that’s the thing, the same from a lot of folks. But what advice would you have for people who are looking to buy right now and feeling, you know, overwhelmed and frustrated with the high costs and low inventory? Speaker 2 [00:07:35] I don’t think and myself as a driver of cars as well as the seller of cars, I can’t really say there’s a crystal ball like prices aren’t going to fall off. I don’t think that’s what anybody’s saying. So if you need a vehicle, you need to buy a vehicle. If you’re trading in a vehicle, as you said, you’re going to get top dollar for that trade in vehicle as well. And so it’s really about doing your research and making sure that you’re getting a vehicle that fits for your lifestyle. Because the only way that it doesn’t really work out is if you’re having to switch cars every couple months and sort of that friction there, but buy one of the vehicles, see if it works for your life. If it does, awesome, if not, return it. And it’s probably worth touching on too, because on our platform you don’t need to be a buyer of a vehicle to sell us a vehicle. So something that’s been really popular is you can go and can drive, so you can input the information of your current vehicle, the kilometers, the condition you’re going to get an instant online quote. You can say, yeah, I want to accept this and we’re going to come pick up your vehicle and transfer money to your account. And this is awesome, especially for families that said, hey, we needed three cars. Now two’s fine. Or maybe we’re at two, we need one. So it’s just a really good opportunity to have that information. Even if you’re choosing to buy a vehicle from somebody else, you know, hey, can you drives will pay me this for the car. Speaker 1 [00:08:55] Cody As we wrap up, looking at all the flux in the market and projected shortages going into next year, possibly the year after, how do you see business models for car purchasing sales changing for the future? And what’s the role of technology as we move forward. Speaker 2 [00:09:11] The next decade and even the next year or two? I think it’s going to be really exciting for car shoppers. Platforms like ours really force everyone to take notice. If people want to transact this way, well, everyone’s got to say, okay, well, am I going to lose out on those customers? Are we going to make some adjustments? What we really see is technology taking a lot of the friction out of there, bringing transparency, allowing people to trade in their cars more easily, not spend that time. And I think it’s going to be a win for all consumers. Speaker 1 [00:09:40] That’s a really good note to end on. Thanks so much for being on the 10 minute take, Cody. Speaker 2 [00:09:43] Hey, thanks for having me. Theresa. Speaker 1 [00:09:46] So, as we heard from Cody, the vehicle market is going through a transformational phase right now fueled by high demand, high gas prices, and Canadians desire for cleaner transportation and with global shortages, not really showing any signs. Signs of lessening. Canadians can probably expect to wait a little while longer for that new car smell. That’s it for this week’s ten minute take. Join us again next week for another ten minute take on carbon offsets. What are they and what should Canadians know before purchasing them? Until then, I’m Teresa Do. Talk to you soon. Speaker 3 [00:10:20] Disruptors, The ten minute take is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by Jar Audio. For more disruptors content, like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit our RBC dot com, slash disruptors.

Speaker 1 [00:00:01] Hey, it’s Theresa. It’s now the first full week of July, which, for many families across Canada, means time to hit the roads or jump on a plane. In this special encore episode of Disruptors, we revisit a conversation John and I had with Hussain Faisal, CEO of SnapCommerce, just before the March break about his flagship travel e-commerce product, SnapTravel, as well as some of the challenges facing an industry that’s struggling to keep up with exploding demand. Have a listen. Speaker 2 [00:00:35] Hi. It’s John here. And. Speaker 1 [00:00:36] Hello, it’s Theresa. Speaker 2 [00:00:38] Theresa, you know, we’ve had a lot of false starts through this pandemic, but as we tiptoe into the spring of 2022, it really does feel like things are taking off. Just look at airports over the recent March break, people in big crowds heading off to all sorts of destinations. And I’m really intrigued by the rise of it’s almost reverse flight shaming. All my friends who are flying off to destinations far off are kind of mocking people who are stuck back at home. It wasn’t so long ago when they were being shamed for getting onto an airplane. Speaker 1 [00:01:12] I actually love flying. I love getting to the airport early, sitting in the lounge with a glass of wine and a nice book or a magazine and me to start a vacation. But my partner and I, we went to the Caribbean a few months ago, and the requirements just getting into the country were extremely stringent. Multiple documents, validation portals and vendors that you got to go through. It’s stressful, but hopefully opening up soon and starting to fuel up normal again. Speaker 2 [00:01:37] One of the false starts I mentioned last fall, I did get into the air again. I went to London, England to run in a half marathon. Speaker 1 [00:01:45] Awesome. Speaker 2 [00:01:45] And it was the first flight I had been on in ages and found it really unnerving. And of course, it was chaos at the airport to get onto the plane. All sorts of procedures that people were just not ready for. So maybe we’ll all just adjust back to to flying and traveling as quickly as we’ve adjusted to other things. Speaker 1 [00:02:04] Like let’s just setters and we’re not alone either. New data from RBC Economics just released mid-March confirms that travel spending has finally touched pre-COVID levels. In Canada, though, domestic tourism still outpaces international travel, of course, and the changes to Canada’s entry requirements meant an immediate bump in Canadians booking these long delayed trips abroad. And it’s also spurred international travelers to consider Canada once again. But, John, rising prices and geopolitical uncertainty definitely puts some of that momentum at risk. Speaker 2 [00:02:34] Well, I saw right, Theresa? I mean, we are seeing anything but normal in the new normal. We’re seeing inflation that very few predicted. Maybe it will ease through the year, but there’s no indication that it’s going to drop precipitously. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has rattled global markets and disrupted air travel as well in a significant part of the world. The next few months are not only going to be curious to watch, but they’re going to be a real test for the travel industry. There’s no doubt a lot of turbulence ahead and with a lot of innovation. And we’ve got a great conversation coming up about how those tensions may get resolved. This is Disruptors, an RBC podcast. I’m John Stackhouse. Speaker 1 [00:03:25] And I’m tryin to raise the dough. In this episode of Disruptors, we’re looking at the return of Travel post-COVID and exploring how everything from technology to global politics will affect how we travel this year and beyond. To help us on this journey, we’re speaking with somebody with his finger on the pulse of Canadian wanderlust. Hussein Faisal is the CEO of Toronto based SNAP Commerce, its flagship product. Snap Travel is an AI powered half bot half human service that helps customers book hotel rooms, flights and car rentals through their website, as well as through SMS, Messenger and WhatsApp. Husain and his business partner and Rishi have raised more than $100 million over the past five years, including a 2018 investment from basketball superstar Steph Curry. Hussain, welcome to Disruptors. Speaker 3 [00:04:18] Thank you for having me. Speaker 1 [00:04:20] So last year was a good year for snap travel, over $1,000,000,000 in sales, but it’s been too long years of little to no travel for most Canadians coming out of the pandemic. What’s been your biggest learning about how travel is restarting and changing? Has anything surprised you? Speaker 3 [00:04:36] Yeah, so actually a lot of time to have this conversation. The first thing I tell people actually catches them quite a bit by surprise, and it’s that COVID had almost two years ago. There was obviously a huge drop in travel and everyone kind of froze. But just a few months after that, we saw that U.S. domestic travel picked up. So obviously, the international travel has completely changed with all the restrictions. And I’m on being nervous. Even people within the U.S. might say, you know, flying across the country, that was an issue, but people stayed locally and they were traveling. So in Canada, we’re a bit more conservative and we didn’t travel as much. But in the US, domestic travel picks up after just two or three months. That completely surprised me. I mean, we actually saw us getting up to almost pre-pandemic levels just a few months into the pandemic, which is a little bit crazy. Speaker 2 [00:05:24] Saying do you think that’s a fundamental difference with Canadians or are we just kind of a beat or two behind where Americans were and maybe are? Speaker 3 [00:05:32] Well, there’s a couple of things going on. So first of all, I think it’s just Canadians being more conservative than Americans. That’s just the way it works. I think there’s more people in the U.S. who just didn’t believe in the virus, didn’t care about the virus, then let’s stop them. And then secondly, I think just the geography of the U.S. and just a lot of places where Americans can go. So and there’s a lot of cities where you can go to nearby beach towns and nearby vacation spots. And there’s just more of that geography and more of that of that. Hey, I can drive under 100 miles and I can go somewhere and get away. Whereas, you know, we’re a little bit more spread out and maybe don’t have so many destinations to be able to do that. Speaker 1 [00:06:10] Did you notice an impact when the Federal Government announced that there were relaxing COVID testing requirements? Speaker 3 [00:06:17] Yeah. So that was almost instant. So we looked specifically at Canada and you look at international travel. That’s where as soon as those types of announcements come in, you see the changes almost immediately. So you see search volume go up, you see international travel go up versus domestic as a ratio. And then the other thing you also see is how far in advance people are booking. So people used to be pretty nervous and they would say, hey, I’m just going to wait and then maybe book a day before or two days before. But as things start to open up more and more now, people are starting to plan further in advance and they’re saying, I’m going to go plan for the next holiday and the next holiday and start booking way in advance. Speaker 2 [00:06:57] So who’s saying there’s so much we want to talk to you about, but I wonder if we can get a sense of snap travel story. Give us give us a sense of the business model and where you’re going to take it as consumers get back on the road and in the air. Speaker 3 [00:07:10] So the business started about five or six years ago, and when we started the company, we just started to snap travel as we’re talking about today, which is really about helping customers save money on hotels and giving them that great service. Right? So our customer will come in, they’ll have a conversation with us, similar to if you were talking to a travel agent, you can get some great deals. Then we make sure we use messaging to maintain that relationship with the customer, offer them a great service, be there for support and just build that relationship over time. What we have actually been working on and what we’ve expanded into in the past couple of years and as we talk to our customers is they’ve been looking not just to save money on travel, but looking to save money, needing to save money in other areas as well. So we’ve actually sort of expanded into what we call snap commerce now a sort of a parent company. And we’re on the verge of releasing some pretty exciting stuff around shopping and around fintech and helping our customers save money across everything they buy. But the core travel business is one that continues to do well and continues to grow. So you referenced sort of a billion in sales that sort of, you know, cumulative over time. We’ve sort of got to that point with almost half of it just coming last year. And that business continues to grow. And now with the easing of restrictions and with people being with COVID, sort of hopefully the last time, now, you know, going away, we’re seeing that demand pick up. I was kind of looking at that same survey stats earlier. And, you know, 67% of people plan to take a trip in the next four months. So, I mean, there’s three of us here and I’m planning to take a trip for the next four months. And I guess one of you, hopefully one of you are as well to prove the stats that I have. And one in five will plan to take two or more trips in the next four months. So really is an exciting time seeing travel open back up. Speaker 1 [00:08:52] Staying on your platform for a second, I’m really curious why you chose to go down the road of a relationship based travel approach, because it seems to me that we went from a period where we relied on travel agents to help us get these deals booked, but then we shifted to a largely DIY looking at the aggregators like Expedia and building our own itineraries. So why did you choose to go back to that travel agent approach? Speaker 3 [00:09:16] Yeah, so I would I would think of it more as a hybrid, right? So I would say the major misconception that people have when they think about travel over messaging is that we are this like ultimate travel bot that has great natural language processing technology and can read your mind and you can say, Hey, I want to stay at a nice four star boutique hotel in New York and we know exactly what we want and give you a great recommendation. That’s just not how it works, because I don’t know, you do research and when you’re searching for New York, I don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. And even if I knew what you were looking for and I gave you a recommendation, you probably still want to see all the options, right? So I want to see let me see, because I don’t know the tradeoff between price, location and quality. So we use messaging as sort of an entry point. And if you’ve used the service, what you’ll see is very quickly we take you to UI where you can use filters and you can see a map and you can see a list and you can sort of pick the hotel that works for you where messaging is helpful because it allows us to do some very interesting things, right? So after you’ve run your search in New York, we can continue to track deals for you. So if we find something that pops up and we know you’re interested in it, we can send you a message and say, Hey, Teresa, we know you were looking at this hotel. You know, the prices dropped 20 bucks. Go take a look at it. Right. Do you have a specific question? You can just pick up your phone and say, hey, I have a question. You know, during COVID, this is actually a huge benefit for us because there are a lot of people who wanted to travel, but they were nervous and they wanted to know what’s the COVID protocol, what’s the even or even or refund policy is right there. Hey, what’s the refund policy? What happens if I get COVID right? So messaging is great for retargeting. It’s great for continuing the conversation. It’s a great for support, but it’s not necessarily better for the initial search. And in browsing like a user interface is the best way to search and browse and we continue to do that. So messaging is sort of that hybrid approach that we use. Speaker 2 [00:11:00] If you give away the secret in your secret sauce of saying what? What is it? Speaker 3 [00:11:06] I mean, we’re super data driven company. I would say everything we do is around looking at data to help us optimize everything and we then using that approach and just continuously optimizing. So that means optimizing supply. You know, what are people searching for? Let’s go and get the best supply of their optimizing demand. What the best demand channel can we match that optimizing product where people are dropping off in the funnel? All right. And maybe if I sort of go back to that messaging approach that we talked about earlier, that’s an example. Right. So initially it was all messaging. So you can then say, hey, I need a hotel in New York. And then we would say, okay, well, you know what kind of hotel you’re looking for? Do you prefer boutique hotels or chain hotels? But like, okay, what’s your price range? We would ask all these questions to try and give you the perfect recommendation. But when you look at the data, every additional question you ask just results in more drop off. Just show me. Show me why you don’t like don’t keep asking me questions. So so you know, we said okay. Well, why don’t we you know, if someone says, hey, I want a hotel. Only now is really your city and your dates and like, you got to cure all your options. Go take a look. And we’re glad to use messaging to answer any questions or to be able to target or have a conversation or do things like that. But the data driven approach tells us to stay focused on getting the customer a great deal and getting them that deal as fast as possible. Speaker 1 [00:12:16] So something that is really cool with the app is there’s an option to layer in food and nightlife and other different aspects of cities. And the way that it manifests on the platform is through a heat map, which I thought was really interesting. So if I’m looking for a hotel in Chelsea, New York, I want to know, okay, is this hotel going to be close to where I can get all the great foods that I want to eat while I’m in New York? And as you were putting together the platform and as you’re continuing to evolve the how are you taking into account changing consumer preferences for travel? Speaker 3 [00:12:48] Yeah, I mean, that’s a good question. And maybe that goes back to what I said about being data driven. So we’re always, always, always talking to our customers, even when we do have any idea. So like, let’s say the heat map, right? So you would think that the heat map are a great feature and the reality is that it is, but we don’t take anything for granted. So if we want to put on a heat map, we’ll go and AB test mosaic and let’s have the traffic bill, the heat map, half the traffic will run without the heat map. And then we’ll sort of see what happens. We’ll see the conversion rates. Our friends will see their facilities, their friends. We’ll see the repeat rate there for us to be customers come back again. We like the experience. So it’s talking to customers, keeping an eye out for what sort of product innovations out there, but ultimately being data driven and seeing what sticks and what doesn’t. Speaker 2 [00:13:30] Suzanne, tell us a bit about how you see the travel industry model and where you want to position yourself. Something I found always fascinating about travel is in some ways it’s a fixed pie. There’s a certain number of people and only so much we can travel. And therefore, over the decades we see vertical integration or attempts at diversification. Are you looking at vertical integration, looking for different kinds of opportunities in travel, or do you see it’s now travel’s future maybe outside of travel? Speaker 3 [00:14:01] Yeah, I mean, we’re looking outside of travel and not for any other reason. And that’s really what our customers are asking the sport right to our customer just saying, hey, you just got me a great deal in a hotel. But what I could really use is to save money on X and save money on Y, right? And that’s sort of where we’re leaning towards. And moving to other verticals, specifically on your comment about the travel industry and sort of it being a fixed pie, I think that some of that’s sort of true but also changing and that we have customers now, or at least the new generation who are wanting to spend more money on experiences than spending money on things. You’re seeing almost like a shift in percentage of disposable income that gets spent on travel and experiences, which is different with previous generations. It’s like, okay, I’m going to have this much money to spend on trips, are going to go on one trip a year or whatever it is. And now the new generation saying, you know, I’m not going to own a house, I’m not going to own a car, am going to, you know, take the disposable income I have and spend it on trips and experiences. So that’s happening. And then secondly, I think that people are even doing more local trips and I think COVID actually accelerated that. Right. So before when you would say, hey, I’m only going to go to one or two trips a year because you typically be thinking about getting on a plane and going somewhere. And now with COVID, there was this period of time where people were okay traveling, but they didn’t want to get on a plane, so they would start to take more and more local trips. So you started to see this change was like, Hey, I can go on one or two local trips here and I don’t want to international trips here. So we are starting to feel like it is expanding. Speaker 2 [00:15:32] Coming up after the break, more of our conversation with Hussein Feisal. So stay right here. Speaker 1 [00:15:38] Please take your seats. What you’re listening to, Disruptors and RBC Podcast. I’m Theresa Doyle, RBC Economics and Thought Leadership recently published a report called Equal Measures Advancing Canada’s Working Women in a Post-Pandemic Economy. And it will look at the importance of boosting women’s pay and participation in the labor force and tackle some of the possible solutions. Among them establish greater parity between maternity and paternity leave, and reduce the financial burden of taking parental leave. Create more opportunities for upskilling and pathways for women into senior roles, and recruit more women into the skilled trades. To learn more, check out the link in the show notes of this episode and visit RBC Dotcom Thought Leadership and be sure to follow disruptors wherever you get your podcasts. Turn off all electronic devices. Speaker 2 [00:16:31] Welcome back. We’re talking with Hussain Faisal about the return of travel coming out of the pandemic, as well as some of the storm clouds on the horizon that could disrupt the recovery. We can’t talk about travel without recognizing what’s going on in the world and specifically the war in Ukraine and what that is doing, not just to that country and the region, but the disruptions it’s causing globally. Flights are being rerouted. That’s probably the least inconvenience out of this, certainly from a Ukrainian perspective. But oil prices way up. How do you think that’s going to impact travel? Speaker 3 [00:17:07] It’s obviously super sad and super unfortunate to see that happen. I mean, when this started, we actually blocked any hotel bookings in Russia. We blocked anyone from making bookings in the currency. It’s just extremely sad to see that type of unprovoked aggression in our hearts out to the to the people in Ukraine. And again, we’re seeing some increase in gas prices. We’re seeing some changes to inflation. But I think, again, all that stuff normalize over a longer period of time. So I’m not I’m not too concerned about the long term ramifications of that right now for us, or at least the way I think about personally is just obviously, no one wants this war to continue. And we’re sort of our hearts are with the people of Ukraine. And that that’s the most important thing. Speaker 1 [00:17:48] As we are coming out of the pandemic. Very high inflation and high costs or something. This tension between the fact that it is frankly getting much more expensive to travel and yet we all still want to do it because of the pent up demand of the last couple of years. So from your perspective, how sensitive are Canadian travelers to price increases and who is actually doing the traveling this year and next? Like who can afford to? Speaker 3 [00:18:11] Yeah, it’s you know, first of all, I would say it’s not just Canadians. I would say everyone is price sensitive. It has been some very difficult times for people in COVID. And there’s definitely a large segment of the demographics that have had a difficult time during COVID. And now saving money is even more important. And then and then the opposite of that sort of what you mentioned is that we see prices starting to go up because there’s all this pent up demand and people have been waiting. So. So I would say there’s definitely a demographic that has been saving money as that pent up demand and is ready to go. And then, unfortunately, there’s another part of the demographic that is now in some ways somewhat priced out. I mean, I expect we’re going to see things normalize. And I think that over the next 6 to 12 months, we’re probably going to see a lot of people traveling like way more than usual to make up for them. For the past two years. I mean, one of the one of the most interesting stats I have for you is that typically on any given night, about 30 to 40% of hotel rooms across the US go empty. So that means there is excess capacity and obviously it depends where you’re going. There’s some boutique hotels, a fancy Boujee beach that are going to be sold out every single night for an entire year. But if you’re going to Vegas, where there’s tons and tons of hotel rooms or you’re just a lot of places across the States and even across Canada where there’s just a lot of supply, you’re going to have empty hotel rooms. So there are rooms available and eventually the market’s been to normalize. These hotels are going to look to maximize their revenue to fill up those beds. The biggest tip, I would say, in terms of booking is just kind of really being aware of the booking windows and knowing how far in advance to book. So often you’ll get the best deals when you’re booking 2 to 3 weeks in advance when you wait to last minute, could have a chance. But there’s also a risk there that, you know, you end up with hotels that sell out or end up filling up. And when you book too far in advance, you’re probably not leaving yourself the opportunity for a hotel to say, Hey, it looks like we may not be at capacity. I think we’re going to we’re going to do a price drop over here. Right. So. So ideally, you can you can sort of book 2 to 3 weeks in advance of your booking well in advance. You’re doing that with a good refund ability policy. So if you see a price drop, you can go and say, I’m going to catch my booking and rebook. Speaker 2 [00:20:21] Hussain You mentioned Canadians desire to travel internationally. And of course a lot of people, not just Americans, but Europeans and Asians, are going to be traveling again. How do we get them and how do tour operators and hospitality operators get them coming to Canada and spending more time and money in Canada as the world opens up? Speaker 3 [00:20:39] I think that in general, as a country, we probably need to do more. One of the things that I was really excited about, and this is about four or five years ago, MGM was going to come here and they were going to come to Toronto and they were going to build out a complex. They were going to build out a casino. They were going to build a theme park. They were going to build sort of a water park. They were going to build, you know, a mall meeting rooms. They were going to build a train from the airport straight to the MGM property. That’s the type of stuff where you can say, Hey, now. Now there’s a whole other reason to come to Toronto and make this destination. Unfortunately, in order for MGM to do that, they wanted to obviously have a casino in place. And that’s something that the city ended up rejecting, which is very disappointing because, I mean, I understand some of the problems that come with having a casino. And I think there probably would have been some ways to mitigate those problems. But net net, you talk about a major company like that. Again and putting in a major infrastructure project that makes Toronto more of a destination so that at a country level or even a city level, we need to start thinking about doing things like that and building more of this infrastructure. Speaker 1 [00:21:56] One of the great gifts that the pandemic gave us gift circuses, has been just the ability to connect with people across vast distances through a screen. To what extent do you think business travel will come back, and how do you see airlines, airports, hotels changing their business model now where they previously relied on that lucrative business traveler? Speaker 3 [00:22:19] Yeah. So this is this is an interesting question that we talked about. So I can tell you internally how we think about it. So we are now approaching 200 employees. We are about to 60, 70% here in Canada, but 30, 30, 40% in the U.S. and globally. These are just executives who used to travel quite a bit. I used to travel almost once a month to New York, to San Francisco. And obviously in the pandemic, it was almost two years of almost no business travel. I just recently I made a couple of trip to New York and San Francisco. What it feels like is that some business travel’s going to pick up. There’s still no replacement sometimes for having dinner with someone or meeting in person, but I just don’t think that’s going to be at the same scale as before. So I expect that a lot of staff and a lot of meetings can just happen online, but that’s like deep relationship building of those strategic partnerships. That’s the type of stuff that I think is going to happen in person. Speaker 2 [00:23:14] Hussein As we move towards close, I wonder if you could share some parting thoughts on how we as travelers may be changing? Something that fascinates me about travel is that it brings humans together. And we probably all long to be on those crowded streets in Manhattan or even those awkward moments of being squeezed between people getting to their seats on an airline or trying to find a spot on a crowded beach or a seat at a crowded cafe. And yet, after two years of pandemic, all that kind of seems weird now. Is that going to be the normal again any time soon, or are we, as a traveling species, going to be a little different coming out of this? Speaker 3 [00:23:55] I think that’s I think it’s a little back to normal. Some some lifestyle changes have happened. Like there’s been people who move from downtown to the suburbs and people who are, you know, have more space and maybe are working from home cause they’re just not going out as much. But I think the next time you’re going to get into a crowded coffee shop or a crowded beach, you’re not going to think twice about it. Speaker 2 [00:24:12] So if I hear you correctly, what you’re saying is I’m going to have to stand elbow to elbow with people again to appreciate a painting at the at the moment. Speaker 3 [00:24:19] I think so. Speaker 2 [00:24:20] I think all of I’ll look forward to that moment. Hussein, thanks so much for being on RBC Disruptors. Speaker 3 [00:24:26] No problem. Thank you for having me. Speaker 1 [00:24:29] John. That conversation has me itching to plan my next trip, maybe even with an AI powered chat bot. I really love the optimism that Hussein had about where travel is going and the opportunities we might have to travel. Given the changing nature of work, that extra flexibility means that you might be able to do two weeks in a far off city as long as you can check into your computer every day and get your deliverables done. And at the same time you’re in a new place. You can close your laptop and then go out and explore a new city and eat great food. I always comes back to food for me. That’s what I’m really, really jazzed about. How about you? Speaker 2 [00:25:07] Yeah, it makes me want to get on a plane probably 2 to 3 weeks from now. But I also realized how technology really is changing travel. Not in the ways that maybe some of the extreme thinkers thought that we’d all sit in our basement with our VR goggles on and go places without having to leave home. But it’s technology that is optimizing the ability to travel for all of us. It’s not only making it more affordable and accessible, but as Hussein was saying, we’re getting better and better deals. Maybe not as good as we’d like all the time, but with technology getting better, the opportunity to travel will improve with it. Speaker 1 [00:25:48] This has been a special encore episode of Disruptors. We hope you’ve enjoyed it. Next week, join us for the latest tech and innovation buzz with our ten minute tech series. Until then, I’m Theresa Do and this is Disruptors, an RBC podcast. Talk to you soon. Disruptors, an RBC podcast is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by JAR Audio. For more disruptors content, like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit RBC.com slash disruptors.

Speaker 1 [00:00:01] Hey, it’s Theresa. You know, one of the major challenges we have in this country is figuring out ways to unlock our full economic potential, while at the same time ensuring that this prosperity is sustainable. Last fall, RBC released a report called The $2 Trillion Transition. It talked about the generational challenge of climate change and how Canada will need to bring together financial firepower, smart infrastructure, and a whole lot of innovation and ingenuity to power the green transition. But to find those new paths to net zero emissions, we need a new map for economic development and how these big investments are made. An indigenous capital is key to getting us there. That’s the focus of a new report just released by RBC Economics and Thought Leadership. It’s called 92 to 0 How Economic Reconciliation Can Power Canada’s Climate Goals. Financing and access to financing has been a huge stumbling block for many indigenous peoples wanting to develop within their territories. We’re going to talk a lot about that with our guests today. But the concept of indigenous capital is about much more than money. It’s about a holistic approach to development and looking at the full wealth of resources that should be involved natural capital, land, water, air as critical, of course, as the development of more green infrastructure depends on consent before accessing indigenous territories. So too is incorporating indigenous values and traditional knowledge in the green transition, and that’s called intellectual or also cultural capital. But none of this is possible without people. Human capital will be the foundational piece, as we need to empower the next generation of indigenous leaders and entrepreneurs to fuel the screen transition. Indigenous youth are the fastest growing youth cohort in this country, and business ownership is increasing at nine times the rate of non-Indigenous ownership. We have a real opportunity to build up Indigenous skills that will be required for major projects. Indigenous communities must have a say and a share in development. Only by truly embracing their leadership and wisdom do we have a fighting chance to find that path to net zero. This is Disruptors and RBC podcast. I’m Trinh Theresa Do. In this episode of Disruptors, we’re looking at the vital role indigenous communities can play in our net zero transition and to help us build a new model for development. After the break, we’ll meet an indigenous leader who is balancing economic prosperity and environmental stewardship. In doing so, she’s creating opportunities not just for her people, but for indigenous communities across Canada. But first, we’re going to dove into the challenges facing indigenous communities that want to control their own economic destiny and do so in a way that encourages sustainable prosperity for all Canadians. The need for a new approach is obvious, and that’s what motivated a group of 25 indigenous organizations to develop its National Indigenous Economic Strategy for Canada, which was released in June. We talked with one of the Indigenous leaders who helped draft the strategy. Speaker 2 [00:03:27] I’m with Bobby Leach and I am the general manager of the Agritech Business Development Corporation, as well as the Chair of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board. One of the things that our National Board worked on was the first ever OECD report on Indigenous economic development. They did the global report and three country reports. One country was Canada. And so in the Canada Country Report, it was released in January 2020. That report recommended that Canada needs a national indigenous economic strategy. We’ve gone through exercises in the past where the governments put together a national indigenous economic strategy. And after many rounds of meetings with our people and practitioners, get a strategy that did not reflect anything that we said. So we said, this time we’re going to hold the pan in developing this strategy, because even to this day, people ask, what is it that you want anyway? What do you what do you want to accomplish? So we decided to put together this road map. And what’s needed to actually achieve economic reconciliation in this country. We felt that it was really important that we develop that we hold a plan that is structured around four strategic pillars of people, lands, infrastructure and finance. So these are the critical areas that involve the collaboration of more than 25 national indigenous organizations for the first time working together on one initiative like this. By developing this strategy, we’re showing other indigenous peoples around the world that they should also take hold of the narrative. They should be the ones coming up with the solutions that will best address their needs. That you can’t have external governments doing this for you. When indigenous people are engaged, the whole country benefits. We know it’s been proven time and again that when indigenous communities prosper, so do the regions around them. Speaker 1 [00:05:30] This new indigenous economic strategy could boost Canada’s economy by $30 billion. It could also reduce poverty among indigenous meeting and Inuit communities, creating more than 100,000 jobs that can generate $7 billion in employment income. And these are important recommendations focused on harnessing the skills of indigenous peoples and tapping into their environmental stewardship. The need for a new approach looking at economic and financial strategies through an indigenous lens is also what motivated that new RBC Economics and thought leadership report we mentioned off the top. And to chat a bit about it, I’d like to welcome my colleague Cynthia Leech, who’s the report’s lead author. Cynthia is an assistant chief economist here at RBC and helps shape the narratives and a research agenda around our team’s economic and policy analyzes. She consulted with indigenous leaders and organizations across the country over the past several months to glean their insights and perspectives. Speaker 2 [00:06:26] For the report. Speaker 1 [00:06:27] Cynthia, welcome to Disruptors. Speaker 2 [00:06:28] Thanks for having me, Theresa. Speaker 1 [00:06:30] Let’s start with a simple question or a seemingly simple question. Why did we create this report now? Why is this focus on capital and a new way of looking at capital so important? Speaker 2 [00:06:42] Well, we’re all talking about what’s needed for the net zero transition. And a lot of those conversations has focused on the money or the $2 trillion in investment Canada needs between now and 2050 for net zero. But that’s really only a narrow slice of what’s needed. We’re also going to need to build a lot of infrastructure so access to natural capital and we’ll need a whole lot of innovation. So access to intellectual and human capital. And when you think about it in that more complete sense, it’s clear that indigenous peoples in Canada are key sources of that capital and so will be essential to shaping our collective journey to net zero. Speaker 1 [00:07:21] I’ve been slowly reading a book reading Sweetgrass over the last several months, and the author, Robin Wall Kimmerer, describes the act of braiding as showing loving care to Mother Earth, as well as kindness and reciprocity between the people doing the breeding. And this is a concept that you include in the report. Can you share why you decided to include it and why breeding is important? When we talk about indigenous capital. Speaker 2 [00:07:45] Absolutely. I’ve come to I’ve come to learn that for indigenous peoples, breeding is a sacred act. It’s bringing together disparate things that together are a lot stronger. And it to me was an incredible metaphor for what we discovered on indigenous capital that to achieve net zero, we need to bring together these strands of indigenous capital and non-Indigenous capital for the transition. So natural capital, financial capital, intellectual capital and human capital. And the way we do that, the way we bind it together is through true and deep partnerships. And that means recognition of Indigenous rights, perspectives, decision making. Speaker 1 [00:08:22] I think that is such a beautiful visual and really accessible. Too far to, as you said, underline the importance of the partnerships among us and a natural capital. As you mentioned, it’s all about land, water, the air that runs through indigenous territories. And getting access to those natural resources will be critical as we make the net zero transition, especially in building out renewable energy infrastructure. But these sorts of developments are complex and not without controversy. So how do we navigate the thorny questions surrounding development on indigenous lands and ensure a meaningful engagement and informed consent? Speaker 2 [00:08:59] Well, first of all, let’s just recognize the way in which our clean energy development will overlap with indigenous rights and territories. We did some analysis and found that at least 56% of the $60 billion in new critical mineral advanced projects would involve indigenous lands. And when we looked at the solar and wind resources needed for Canada’s renewables build out, about 35% of the top solar sites are near Indigenous lands and 44% of the better wind sites. And these are bottom estimates that there’s going to be a lot of other indigenous rights implicated in Canada’s infrastructure development, and so engaging with Indigenous communities is absolutely needed. The challenge has been that over the last couple decades or more, as there’s been increasing legal recognition of indigenous rights and the need to consult Indigenous peoples, that consultation and engagement hasn’t been done in a meaningful enough way. Too often, project proponents and others have essentially sought kind of check box agreement on already planned projects that didn’t integrate indigenous perspectives and priorities from an earlier stage. And that’s absolutely going to have to change. For one, the legal framework is strengthening, and there’s the implementation coming of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and other factors that are moving us closer to meeting Indigenous consent. The challenge is consent to the legal concept and we need a practical definition of what that means. In Canada, we know it’s more so a process of meaningful engagement, of incorporating indigenous perspectives and priorities and decision making of Indigenous rights holders. We know it involves early engagement and meaningful incorporation of Indigenous perspectives and decisions of Indigenous rights holders. But we’re still defining what true partnership looks like. Speaker 1 [00:11:01] And a big part of that, too, is access to financing. And of all the types of capital that. Speaker 2 [00:11:06] You. Speaker 1 [00:11:06] Explore in the piece, that has to probably be one of the toughest nuts to crack. So how do we need to think differently about that and project partnerships with indigenous communities? Speaker 2 [00:11:17] So one thing that’s happening in terms of rewriting what partnership and co-development looks like is increasingly indigenous communities are looking for equity ownership and project development, and this is for Indigenous communities who are looking for durable benefits and wealth building opportunities that can outlive the lifespan of the project. And it’s also in the interest, often a project sponsors because it represents a true engagement and partnership reflective of the value that indigenous peoples bring to the table and ultimately de-risk the projects by these communities participation through equity ownership. These structures are becoming increasingly common. What’s been challenging, though, is there’s an equity financing gap for some communities where equity needs to be contributed and communities without resources that they can leverage to get private financing. There’s an equity financing gap and possibility that they missed out on equity ownership. And of course, this relates to long standing challenges for First Nations and other indigenous communities to obtain private financing. Given the challenges under the Indian Act and other vagaries of indigenous rights that have prevented indigenous communities and individuals from accessing capital. And so it’s a challenge that needs to be addressed as we move forward with productive partnership and infrastructure development. Speaker 1 [00:12:42] Those are excellent insights. Cynthia, thank you so much for your time and thanks for joining Disruptors. Coming up after the break, we’ll talk to an indigenous leader who is working to build a new model for major project development in Canada. So stay right there. What you’re listening to Disruptors and RBC Podcast. I’m Theresa Dome. I want to let you know about a new weekly report from RBC Economics. It’s called Proof Point, and it provides original, timely economic insights from RBC Economics and Thought Leadership Team. Find out why demand for cash is at its highest level in 60 years, despite a broad shift. E-commerce. Or learn why Atlantic Canada has become a magnet for new residents. To explore more, visit RBC AECOM Thought Leadership. Welcome back. On today’s show, we’re exploring all the forms of indigenous capital we’ll need to bring sustainable prosperity to Canada. But to fully leverage that capital will also need to challenge some ingrained attitudes about Indigenous communities. As Mark Putt, lastly, director of economic policy at the First Nations Major Project Coalition told us in a recent episode of Disruptors. Speaker 2 [00:14:00] We are from the capital, which is in Central Interior, British Columbia, South Central B.C.. My community has a revenue sharing deal with a mining company in our territory. And when we started to set that up, we did some research to find out how much indigenous capital is there in Canada. And we found just back of the envelope calculations at that time, about $8 billion of assets under management by Indigenous people. And it’s not in one spot. It’s different settlements from either land treaties from negotiations with mining companies or energy companies. We figure now that somewhere between 13 and 18 billion my nation has a fund right now of about 50 million. And we have the ability and the fund to make direct placements into investments that that will grow that fund. Most of these nations do. So the capital is there. The question, though, is that how can indigenous people directly invest in these projects? I think for a lot of the financial sector, they don’t see us as Indigenous investors. The idea of being an indigenous investor seems to be an oxymoron to some of these companies who come into territories and don’t think of Indigenous people in that sense. That has to change. Speaker 1 [00:15:11] Our next guest is intimately familiar with the obstacles faced by Indigenous communities seeking a meaningful stake in Canada’s economic prosperity. Chief Charlene Vale has been an elected councilor of the 811 member Fort Nelson First Nation since 2009, governing a territory in north eastern B.C., roughly the size of Switzerland. She started her career at West Coast Energy, a subsidiary of Enbridge, and brings her unique perspective on how the natural resources sector can work collaboratively with indigenous groups to her role as Chair of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition. Chief Gayle, welcome to Disruptors. Speaker 3 [00:15:48] Hi. It’s a real pleasure to be here on your podcast. Thanks for having me today. Speaker 1 [00:15:52] Thank you. Off the top of the segment, we heard a clip from Mark Hurd. Lastly, a colleague of yours at the First Nations Major Projects Coalition. So, Chief Gayle, the question I have for you is twofold. Do you agree with Mark’s assessment that the industry struggles to see indigenous groups as, quote, investors? And if so, what needs to be done to change those attitudes? Speaker 3 [00:16:12] So in my eyes, there’s still an outdated view on some industry players that view indigenous groups more like a call center on projects, and that we’re still a risk to be mitigated with cash buyouts and other tactics. Sometimes when I look at this, I call it the feeds and blankets approach, and I think there’s a number of people in corporate Canada that are waking up to what I’ve known all along, that indigenous partnerships definitely adds value. Partnering with us increases the long term profitability of a project. It also raises ESG ratings and de-risk investment from unresolved indigenous interests. Another thing that I’ve also noticed is that media has also drawn attention to indigenous conflict on major projects rather than focusing on some of the success stories. Majority of the time. So I know that there are a few media types that are trying to change that. And we’re aware that due to the lack of interaction between the financial sector and indigenous groups on an investment screen basis that media reports are often relied upon and influence the decision making that happens in Canada. I believe that that’s a problem and the First Nation Major Projects Coalition is really trying to solve that. At a recent conference in April, I know that there was a number of industry types that were blown away by how we want to do business by our membership and how our members were more commercially focused. And so we want to get that message out there that our members are interested in partnering on smart development, one that respects their interests and their community interests. And we understand that partnership is also a two way street. I believe the First Asia major project has an important role to play in in hosting this dialog. And I know the more we’re able to do deals that have true indigenous partnership, the more we’re going to change minds from outdated ways of thinking about Indigenous groups as financial partners. Speaker 1[00:18:07] Getting to true partnership also means breaking down some of the systemic barriers to that partnership. And you’ve said in the past about development that, quote, if the bottleneck is access to capital, that the solution is to change the financing system in Canada. Could you share more about what do you mean by that and what exactly do we need to change in our financing system to ensure true partnership? Speaker 3 [00:18:29] Well, there’s currently two things that the Coalition is working on and we’re trying to improve access to competitive capital for Indigenous investment in major projects. And we’re also trying to improve the business readiness to our Member First Nations to take part in opportunities within their territory on improving access to competitive capital. This isn’t just a government problem. It’s a problem that has been borne by all of us. The indigenous communities, the private sector and government all have a role to play for government. I really see this as an opportunity for the federal government to follow the lead of some of the provinces like Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan who have established government backed financing support such as the National Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program. Many of our communities don’t have the level of risk capital it takes to get capital markets to provide interest rates at equity style loans. That makes sense. In one case, we experience the internal rate of return of the project was going to be 9% and the cheapest loan we could source was between 12 and 15%. So it just didn’t make sense. And so this caused our members to leave an opportunity at the table that would have provided revenue streams to invest in their in their nations. They could have built homes, they could have paved roads, provide more programs and services that the federal funding that we do receive doesn’t meet the needs of our nations. While we are asking the government to consider loan guarantees, direct financing, support and increase investment in our ability to make informed decision. There’s also a role for the private sector. Indigenous communities offer solid partnership with the private sector. Or I’m doing it in my own community and I see how successful it is just sitting down, having a conversation with my business partner and then bringing the information to the community. I’m learning a lot in my role as chief for my community and chair of the first Asian major projects. And we need to know what to do to start structuring these deals with the private sector and to address this. The coalition created a capital markets 1 to 1 series for our members, and this series is to inform our own lived experiences, negotiating deals as well as providing professional advice. So when we talk about building our own readiness for business and capacity to take on deals at the community level, this is an example of that. Speaker 1[00:20:53] Mm hmm. Yeah, it sounds like it requires a multi-sector approach. I’d like to take the conversation home a little bit and talk about your community. The Fort Nelson First Nation sits in the heart of BC’s oil and gas country. And you’ve talked in the past about how the fracking controversy in the early 2000 was in part what motivated you to get involved in leadership in 2009 and to try to seek a new partnership model with industry and government? Can you talk a little bit about that history in Fort Nelson? Speaker 3 [00:21:21] So I actually started out myself in the oil and gas sector after I graduated high school and I worked at the Fort Nelson gas plant for about 20 years. Oil and gas in our community has, you know, seen many successes in terms of the value of procurement contracts and royalties and open source revenue and equity positions that, you know, we want to make come alive with the new developments that are happening for clean energy projects. We know that this relationship hasn’t always been perfect and the resource boom that happened in 2013, 2014, at least in the state territory, created a lot of land use changes and it impacted on our rights and our way of life. Yes, it brought some jobs and money, but it also brought a lot of racism and division in the communities in the north and it really tax. Starliner members were seeing the vast changes in a short period of time and they were bringing those concerns to our council and to our lands office. And oil and gas also contributed to the industrial activities that harmed our lands and water, and we refer to it as cumulative impacts. And while I believe no one sector was responsible in isolation for all of this, the extensive industrial development that the province of BC approved from oil and gas, forestry, mining, agriculture and other activities altogether over several decades. It has breached treaty and we’ve seen those impacts on the land. It also harmed our ability to exercise our Aboriginal treaty rights and this was confirmed in the High Court case, which some of you may know better as a Blueberry River case. And this has been documented and the judge said we had been ignored. And with this, we’re here as a nation focused on solutions, on a better way forward, as first nations were also diversifying into clean energy development and new energy sources beyond the traditional oil and gas sector. For an example, you know, with Fort Nelson First Nation being the three biggest gas players with the Horn River, the Iliad and the Cordova. It turns out that what makes good gas plays is also really promising for geothermal. And so our community is extremely proud of the two de coeur geothermal project that my nation, the Fort Nelson First Nation, is 100% owner of. And this will be the first fully indigenous owned geothermal project in Canada. We’re looking at it being about a $91 million project with seven megawatts of electricity generation that will provide energy to equivalent of 14,000 homes. And if you come to Fort Nelson, you know, we don’t have 14,000 homes. So there’s a real potential to not only provide power to the city, to the industrial site, the LNG sites, Alberta into the future. And the project is only five kilometers from our reserve. And it’s phenomenal to think that we repurposed an old gas well to supply clean, renewable baseload energy to the B.C. grid. So this is a path forward for oil and gas workers like me to lead the transition and not be left behind if it. I don’t think that we should be scared to get involved in renewable projects. Speaker 1 [00:24:40] I’d like to dig into the geothermal development for just a second. Are there any specific lessons and insights that you’ve learned so far through that process that you can share with other communities? Speaker 3 [00:24:51] So I think it’s really important that people do realize that there’s an energy transition happening. And other than governments and municipalities, indigenous nations are leading this transition. We have a lot of renewable projects, whether that’s solar, geothermal, mining, biomass, you name it. It’s happening in our communities and we’re getting involved more and more. So that makes me really proud. I also think it’s really important that these projects, they don’t happen overnight. I mean, we started this process with the geothermal project back in 2007 and I just the concept talking about it and then the world started changing and we started talking about net zero by 2050. And there was more opportunities coming from, you know, federal and provincial governments in regards to grants where communities could apply for. And that’s what really made this project become a reality, is we received a $40 million grant from the federal government and we were able to start the planning and looking at is this project feasible and really working with our community to identify solutions when we meet challenges. And [00:26:04[15.4s] that we know there is a better path for first nations and Canadians to work together towards these projects. Speaker 1 [00:26:28] Now, there’s a lot of exciting momentum, as you’ve described. And what a possibility for the future. Hoping to ask you a personal question, if you don’t mind, Chief Gayle, what and what inspires you each day as a leader and in your role as does chief? Speaker 3 [00:26:42] So what inspires me is my people and their hope and their vision. And it’s just amazing to see how much we’ve grown over the decades with good leadership and strong vision. Our people are really resilient. You know, I’ve seen them overcome many challenges and anything that we do as a people. Speaker 2 [00:27:04] We. Speaker 3 [00:27:05] Look forward to making decisions for seven generations. We don’t just think of the now, and that’s kind of why I like this geothermal project is for the fact that the Clarke Lake provided for our nation over seven decades and we had a railway going through and all this activity that was happening so fast back in the day. And our people stood up and said, No, not without us. And if they didn’t stand up and say, not without us, we wouldn’t be where we are today with the investments that we have to look after our people. So I’m very proud of that. Speaker 1 [00:27:43] Chief Gayle, you mentioned earlier that there are a lot of lessons that you have that you can share not only with other communities in Canada, but also around the world. And I wanted to dove into that a little bit more. In April, the First Nations Major Projects Coalition, along with your American counterparts, the First Peoples Worldwide, hosted a conference in Vancouver. The focus was on indigenous leadership and opportunities in the net zero transition, with over a thousand delegates in attendance. So what does Canada have to teach the world in finding collaborative approaches to a net zero transition? And perhaps what can we learn from others? Speaker 3 [00:28:18] Well, I think collaboration with indigenous nations across North America and globally is important moving forward towards a net zero future. I envision Indigenous communities working together across the globe to lead this race to net zero. I mentioned earlier we can deploy our knowledge. We have a diversity of values, perspectives to develop real solutions that benefit our communities. Also because we’re not going anywhere. People might pick up theirfamilies and pack up their homes for job opportunities. But our people are going to be living here for thousands of years. And that’s why it’s important. We’re still a part of these projects and we have opportunities living in our territories. So the work of the First Nation Major Projects Coalition is always creating dialog on net zero on indigenous groups in the U.S., in Canada, New Zealand and other places. Some of the challenges that other indigenous communities have in different countries is the same. So I think through these partnerships were able to bring in a number of U.S. tribes, each with tremendous resilience and stories of success, of developing new clean projects and other net zero projects for their communities. And in April, we also hosted the Mallory from New Zealand, who also came to my community because they have 30 years plus experience in geothermal. Are there lessons and their wisdoms and their experiences with my people? All of the people and members of the coalition and it’s clean energy projects like that, like the geothermal that we’re finding ways to meaningfully include indigenous values and investment standards. What an incredible story. And it just gave my people so much hope that we can do this. The Mallory have been doing this for 30 years, sharing best practices of Indigenous leadership and net zero projects across North America or New Zealand or globally. It can help inspire change. Speaker 1 [00:30:08] That’s an incredibly uplifting and hopeful note. And UN chief David, thank you so much for your time and for joining disruptors today. Speaker 3 [00:30:14] Well, thank you for having me. Greatly appreciated. Speaker 1 [00:30:17] Well, there’s so much to think about there. I’m struck by a number of things from my conversation with Chief Gale. Firstly, that capital is not a monolithic thing. It’s not all about dollars and cents. And yes, I know it might be a little bit funny coming from an RBC podcast. But capital requires understanding where we come from and the unique perspectives of our ancestors, or in the case of indigenous people and communities their elders. Indigenous partnership is not a checkmark. It’s not something that is slapped on in the middle or at the end of a project and requires proactive engagement at the start. To be able to tap into millennia of traditional knowledge and ways of living. And we all benefit when this is the case. As Dawn Madahbee Leach said, when indigenous communities prosper, so do the regions around them. Well, that is all for now. Thanks to our guests, Cynthia Leach and Chief Sharlene Gale, as well as Mark Podlasly next week, join us for the latest tech and Innovation Buzz with our ten minute tech series. Until then, I’m Theresa Do and this is Disruptors, an RBC podcast. Talk to you soon. Speaker 2 [00:31:32] Disruptors, an RBC Podcast is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by JAR Audio. For more disruptors content like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit rbc dot com, slash disruptors.

Speaker 1 [00:00:02] Hi. It’s John here. Speaker 2 [00:00:04] And it’s Theresa. Speaker 1 [00:00:05] Hey, Theresa. I don’t think I can remember a year like this for agriculture. I mean, we all know as food consumers what’s happening with prices out there, but pity the farmer because they also have to deal with sky high fertilizer prices and energy prices and weather conditions that have been just crazy this year in different parts of the country. Speaker 2 [00:00:27] You’re so right, John. Agricultural necessities like diesel, fertilizer, potash, herbicides are up 170%, nearly triple from a year ago. The latest provincial outlook from RBC Economics reported that the impact of droughts on crop production was so severe that Saskatchewan actually saw a decline in real GDP last year. Speaker 1 [00:00:47] The outlook, believe it or not, is luckily a much more positive, strong global demand and prices for commodities are significantly boosting our agriculture prospects. And if the weather cooperates, very provinces stand to report significant production, and technology can make it even better this year and in the decades to come. Speaker 2 [00:01:11] This is disruptors, the ten minute take, where we dive into the latest innovation, tech and economic buzz. This week’s take is on how all of these challenges are affecting the 2022 growing season in Canada and what solutions are available to support Canadian farmers. How can agriculture technology or AGTECH help increase yields? Speaker 1 [00:01:31] To offer some insights, we’re joined by Wade Barnes, founder and former CEO of Farmers Edge, a Manitoba-based Agtech company and a farmer himself. Farmers Edge develops data driven technologies that help farmers run efficient operations while producing more food. Wade, welcome to the ten minute take. Speaker 3 [00:01:49] Hey, I’m happy to be here. Thanks for having me. Speaker 1 [00:01:51] It’s great to have you on the pod, Wade. And I want to start off with what’s happening in the ag sector. You’re a farmer, so you know this firsthand. But as we enter peak planting and growing season, we’re seeing Alberta experiencing drought like conditions, and Saskatchewan has the opposite, with heavy rain delaying planting season by a couple of weeks. I think that’s happened on your family farm as well. What are you seeing this year across the industry that’s most concerning to you? Speaker 3 [00:02:15] Well, to your point, it’s really a mixed bag. There’s certain areas of western Canada that continues to be in a drought situation. And I think you’re getting to a very critical stage. Without some moisture, you’re going to see some farms get really affected around their yields. And then you’ve got these issues, you know, in eastern Saskatchewan, in Manitoba, where we’ve just had so much snow that turn into so much rain, that turn into really cold conditions. And there’s been, you know, really late planting and more rain on the way. And there’s going to be fields that don’t get planted this year. Speaker 2 [00:02:46] And so with all of these mixed conditions and the fact that farmers are facing super high input costs that we mentioned on the other side of the coin are also seeing very high prices for commodities, wheat up 67%, canola, corn. How is the math, the economics working out for farmers bottom lines? Speaker 3 [00:03:03] Well, look, I mean, I’m a farmer and the math still works out pretty well. You know, when you think about even with the cost of fertilizer up, the commodity prices are so strong. Now, that’s really dependent on are you going to get a good crop? And I think that the environment around agriculture, you know, there’s an ability for farmers to be super profitable, but the risk has never been higher. And so when you think about it with a grower as suddenly now your commodity prices are, you know, can almost $23 a bushel. Typically, we count on $10 a bushel. And with these really high fertilizer prices, if I get a decent crop, I’m going to do really well. But the risk now that if I don’t, that’s scary. And I think that farmers need tools to help manage their risk more so now than ever. Speaker 1 [00:03:47] And a lot of this way comes back to the human component of farming. But in a technology driven era and a data driven era, we’ve done a lot of work on this out of our Farmer 4.0 Report a few years ago, and so much has changed since then. Curious how technology is accelerating in the sector given all these constraints, including labor, which everyone’s up against, but farmers particularly are having trouble getting people on the land. Where does technology come into play here? Speaker 3 [00:04:19] Well, I think now you’re going to see farmers start to think about the adoption of technology more than they ever have. And I’ll just give you an example. You know, in these wet areas of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, last fall, we were facing a drought dry as we’ve seen in years and years. And so when you think about farmers and risk management, they have to make a huge decision how much fertilizer am I going to put on? What crops am I going to grow? And with these really huge increase in fertilizer costs, suddenly now technologies like sensors gives farmers a bit of an insight of what their potential yields are going to be. And as more moisture comes in, then suddenly they can get more confidence about how much fertilizer they should put on or what type of crops they should grow. And, you know, and I think back to it, not that long ago, we really didn’t think about managing soil moisture the way we do. We didn’t think about managing our nitrogen. And then you think about how that’s connected to sustainability and what’s happening in the carbon space. I mean, farmers are going to need these ag technology tools to help them make these decisions because gut instinct just doesn’t cut it. And it certainly doesn’t cut it right now with record high fertilizer prices. And the other side that you didn’t touch on is that as the commodity prices go up, you know what farmers do? They want to rent more land and it’s driving the cost of land up as well. And so, again, it’s another huge risk driver. So there’s never been a bigger opportunity to do well farming, but there’s never been a scarier time for a grower to deal with all the risks that he’s dealing with. Super stressful. Speaker 2 [00:05:43] So as you chat with your peers, what’s the advice that you’re giving them? What are some of the immediate, tangible things they can do now to help them out in their operations? Speaker 3 [00:05:51] Well, one thing, you know, when you talk about fertilizer placement and applying fertilizer, generally when commodity prices go up, farmers just put more on. But now with the fertilizer prices so high, you have to be really focused about where you’re spending your inputs. And I kind of consider a field, kind of like a hockey team on a hockey team, not everybody gets paid the same. I’m about, you know, in in areas of a field is very similar where there’s good producing areas and weaker producing areas. And I think the farmers now have to be really focused on utilizing technology to get the most efficiency out of their fertilizer or out of all their crop inputs. And look, with all the things that are coming, there’s lots of rumblings about mandated reductions coming. And so these things that farmers need to do isn’t just going to be focused on how to protect their bottom line. They may have to implement technology just to continue farming. That’s the way they are. So there’s lots of interesting challenges coming. Speaker 1 [00:06:47] You’d think that farmers have enough to cope with between the weather and events like an invasion of Ukraine well out of their control. But that changed the economics suddenly in a matter of weeks. Layered on top of that, you mentioned the word mandate. There’s growing pressure on the agriculture sector to do more to reduce emissions, carbon, methane, nitrous oxide, and not clear how that’s going to be done in a fairly short period of time. Wait, I was in southern Alberta recently with farmers both on the livestock and the on the growing side. And the amount of pressure on them, as you were saying, is extraordinary. And yet there are technologies emerging. I mean, there’s so much going on in Agtech right now that there’s an opportunity for farmers to transform themselves. How do they do that in this kind of environment when they’re coping with a weather crisis, a geopolitical crisis that affects their livelihoods, and then the climate crisis that they’re increasingly expected to and perhaps required to do more to help solve. Speaker 3 [00:07:48] Look, I have been in this business now for well over 20 years, and I’ve worked in many different markets the US, Brazil, Eastern Europe, Australia. And the one thing that I do know is that the Western Canadian farmers are super resilient. And to be honest with you, when times get really tough, that’s when the Western Canadian farmer looks for ways to make money differently, to be more efficient. And so I think that even though it’s super tough and super stressful, this is where they’re going to turn to be innovative and they’re going to look for tools to make their lives easier. Now, on the technology side, we have to keep up our end of the bargain from a technology company because we’re we need to put tools out there that the pharmacy benefit from it and they can utilize that. So I think you’re going to see farmers look to adopt technology needs to make sure we’re putting the right products in front of the farmer so they have got something to use. Speaker 1 [00:08:40] That’s a great point for us to wrap up on, Wade. I mean, it’s extraordinary at this point in time that farmers do have the prices now too. If they get it right, invest in these technologies and maybe some incentives because of the high prices of inputs like fertilizer to do things differently and invest in those technologies, they can reduce their inputs and costs. But boy, it’s a risky time, fascinating for so many to watch, but also fraught for many of those on on the front lines who we rely on to get food to our table. Wade, thanks for being on the ten minute takeaway. Speaker 3 [00:09:13] I appreciate it. It was awesome. Speaker 2 [00:09:16] That was a sobering discussion, John. As we saw with last summer’s droughts, weather challenges are only going to become greater as climate change accelerates. But, you know, as Wade pointed out, farmers are resilient, they’re innovative. Even so, we will need all the solutions available, all hands on deck or maybe all holes in the ground to stave off potential future food shortages. Speaker 1 [00:09:38] And what’s encouraging truth is so much of the technology that is emerging in the farm and ag sector is coming from Canadian centers, Calgary or Winnipeg or elsewhere. So this is this is an area where Canada really can lead the world. Speaker 2 [00:09:53] That’s it for this week’s ten minute take. Join us again next week for a look into indigenous capital in this country and the various elements needed to achieve economic reconciliation. Until then, I’m Theresa Do. Speaker 1 [00:10:04] And I’m John Stackhouse. Talk to you soon. Speaker 4 [00:10:09] Disruptors, The Ten Minute Take is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by JAR audio. For more disruptors content like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit RBC dot com slash disruptors.

Speaker 1 [00:00:02] Hi. It’s John here. Speaker 2 [00:00:03] And it’s Theresa. Speaker 1 [00:00:05] Hey, Theresa. I’m sure you’ve heard all about the delays and issues at Canada’s major airports lately. I flew west this week and the security lines were crazy. Speaker 2 [00:00:14] Yeah, I have been hearing that from all over the place. Last weekend, Amsterdam’s largest airport asked airlines to cancel flights or divert them to other airports because of staff shortages. Passengers, and I’m sure you’ve experienced this to have to queue for hours. It’s being felt all around the globe as more Canadians are traveling for leisure again, they’re facing challenges between COVID screenings and labor shortages. And questions are being raised about whether airlines, airports and the broader travel industry will be able to keep up. Speaker 1 [00:00:44] Yeah, I mean, let’s admit it. These are largely privileged problems, but they’re causing serious disruptions in the economy. We know travel’s back. We’re all eager to get out and enjoy summer. I flew to Vancouver, then to Calgary and back to Toronto in the last week. Really impressed with the way that staff were keeping up with large crowds and a pretty high variability of crowds. But it’s going to be a real bumpy summer if we don’t iron a few things out. The biggest concern for Canada’s travel industry may very well be supply. A historic labor crunch has left the sector short of 177,000 workers. Speaker 2 [00:01:22] A lot of turbulence, you might say. Speaker 1 [00:01:25] This is disruptors. The ten minute take where we dove into the latest innovation, tech and economic buzz. Speaker 2 [00:01:31] This week’s take is on the travel industry’s post-crisis boost. Can the industry keep up with all of this demand? Speaker 1 [00:01:38] Today, we’re joined by Claire Phan, economist at RBC, who just wrote a fascinating proof point piece called Canadians Are Scratching the Travel Rich Again. But can the industry meet demand? Clare. Welcome to the ten minute take. Speaker 3 [00:01:53] Thanks, John. Speaker 1 [00:01:54] Love your report and wonder if we can start with a bit more insight into Canadians travel spending. We know it’s already well above pre-pandemic levels. What more are you seeing? Speaker 3 [00:02:03] So like you said, obviously demand for travel has been incredibly strong. Funding will travel. Spending typically predates actual travel activities because many of us tend to pay for those trips ahead. So. But just by where things are going, where those spendings are going, we can sort of expect a really robust path for recovery, for travel activities later this summer into next year. Speaker 2 [00:02:25] I’m really surprised by those findings. The robust travel ahead, considering that inflation is at an all time high and cost of living has gone up tremendously. What does the data show in terms of who in Canada can actually spend on travel? Speaker 3 [00:02:38] Well, to your point, inflation has definitely been surging and it was due to, you know, extremely elevated demand for goods at the moment, because a lot of these services, including travel, largely just simply wasn’t available for purchases for many of us. But now, you know, with a lot of these activities resuming back to normal, we’re seeing more price increases in airfares. It’s getting more expensive to dine out and to, you know, spend a night at a hotel. These things are all going to be more expensive. So the implications for travel demand were as to what we’re expecting in the near term. We do expect some level of resilience for travel demand, and that’s because Canadian households overall have accumulated a huge stock of savings over the course of the pandemic, and that amounts to roughly $300 billion. And to put that amount into perspective, that’s basically worth more than three times the tourism spending in 2019. So it’s a huge amount of money. And that, combined with just the pent up desire to really go somewhere, is why we’re expecting, you know, at least in the near term, a lot of Canadian households will probably be spending through higher inflation and rising costs. Speaker 1 [00:03:48] Claire I’m sure a lot of people hearing this understand the challenges, but also see this in pretty much every sector, the great resignation is leaving no sector untouched. How is the travel and tourism industry different than other sectors in terms of how labor shortages are impacting? Speaker 3 [00:04:06] So the broader labor shortage issue really is underpinned by aging demographics, and that’s been a challenge that faced by the Canadian economy and many other economies like for many, many years, and that’s largely been expected. What’s different for travel related industry, and that includes accommodation and food services, travel or accommodation that includes, you know, air transport. It’s like many of these jobs are client facing are high contact. And over the past few years, these were particularly the jobs that faced the most turbulence in terms of rising instability and uncertainties as to where their careers could be going. So a lot of workers within these industries actually have switched careers over to other sectors, and it’s going to be really hard to convince them to come back. Speaker 2 [00:04:50] If I just think about my own travel browsing experience in the last a while and seeing lots of deals on flights and hotels as these industries are trying to recover from losses experienced during the pandemic. And yet, as you’ve just mentioned, as we keep hearing these labor shortages, these cost pressures and all this consumer demand driving up prices. So if you scan across the travel tourism industries, can you tell us specifically which parts or subsegments are getting hit hardest in terms of costs and therefore prices? Speaker 3 [00:05:19] Well, from a consumer’s standpoint, as we all know, car rental prices have been going way up year over year. Just in April, the sort of inflation for car rental was around 20%. And that’s eroding a lot of purchasing and spending power on travel just because with more budgets being allocated to renting a car, you might have left to find out other travel related expenses and sort. So but from a business standpoint, inflation has been widespread across all industries, but more particularly these days for food and energy related items. So that from an industry perspective, means things are getting harder for restaurants and for airlines as well, just because of rising food and energy prices, which accounted for half of inflation actually in April. Speaker 1 [00:06:03] Claire, I wonder if you can cast your eyes a few months or several months down the road. Certainly a lot of talk of recession or slowdown or soft landing out there. And I’m curious how that plays out for the sector, because normally travel is something we all tend to fall back on when times are tight. It’s typically a part of what people see as disposable income. Or discretionary spending. And yet having been locked up for a couple of years, probably most people don’t see it as discretionary. They see it as essential. I got to get out of here and enjoy summer and maybe fall while I can. So with these sometimes contradictory forces of play that probably muck with traditional economic models, I’m wondering how you’re thinking about the travel industry going through summer and into fall and which corners may bounce back more than others and which ones may be slower to recover? Speaker 3 [00:06:58] That’s a loaded question right there. How we’re framing it essentially right now is just given where we are in the economic cycle, which is the peak of the peak. So things are heating up. We’re short of labor. Inflation is rising, and that’s particularly true for the goods sector. And that’s why central banks are acting really, really fast. Right now, Bank of Canada just hike interest rate by another 50 basis point. And the whole purpose of that is to tame consumer demand in order to tame inflation. And what does that mean for the travel sector? Well, demand for travel has just been coming back. So we’re not we have not been seeing the same level of inflation for travel services when we’re comparing to goods inflation. So I really like your point about, you know, how many, many households these days probably see travel to some extent with their savings as a discretionary item. And just anecdotally speaking, a lot of my coworkers, including I’m sure you guys as well, and my friends are all like, it’s all it’s on everyone’s agenda, going somewhere near or far this summer. So at least in the near term, again, going back to the point, just like really strong level of pent up demand, a lot of savings, all of those are expected to support activities. But our further in the longer run, there is the question of whether rising inflation and rising interest rates. With that comes rising debt payment activity, whether that’s servicing costs, rising debt servicing costs. And those are all expected to start to hit lower income households first and work their way through higher income households and less in demand in the longer run. So that’s our take on the whole recession earthquake, which I’m sure will not play out as the way we sort of expected. But then as of currently what we’re seeing right now in terms of weaker spots in the travel. So, you know, activities in North America and Europe are quite strong by parts of Asia, including China, are still seeing some like more stringent quarantine and testing requirements. And China pre-pandemic being the largest source of international departure that’s slowing sort of recovery over there is going to drag on global travel recovery into next year as well. And on top of that, this is related to travel, which anecdotally has been coming back more. But overall to leisure travel is still relatively weaker and we could reasonably expect it takes longer for that to come back as well. Speaker 1 [00:09:25] It’s a fascinating story of economic disruption and one that we’re all playing a role in in different, different ways. Claire, thanks for being on the ten minute take. Speaker 3 [00:09:33] It’s such a huge pleasure. Thank you, guys. Speaker 2 [00:09:37] So, John, I have some travel planned for later the summer. And this conversation with Claire is making me think that I’ll have to cut back on every other spending category to be able to afford it. And I mean, it’s wild to me that demand for travel is as high as it is, given everything that’s going on, interest rates and fuel prices and all of the things that we don’t want to hear anymore. Although that makes me think that it makes sense if people want to escape for a little while to just get away from these maddening conditions in our day to day lives. Speaker 1 [00:10:05] Yeah, one assumes this is temporary, but temporary is a kind of an expandable word. This could go on for many, many months, even as the economy slows down, just because there is that pent up demand we want to get out and what better time to travel than summer? So it’s in general a good problem to have, although in specific cases, especially for the operators, a big challenge. Speaker 2 [00:10:28] Well, that is it for this week’s ten minute take. Join us again next week for another episode. Until then, I’m Teresa Do. Speaker 1 [00:10:35] And I’m John Stackhouse. Talk to you soon. Speaker 4 [00:10:42] Disruptors, The ten minute take is created by the RBC Thought Leadership Group and does not constitute a recommendation for any organization, product or service. It’s produced and recorded by Jar Audio. For more disruptors, content like or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit rbc dot com, slash disruptors.