In 2021, 164 businesses participated in a range of business programs including Seeding Our Food Future, R-Purpose, R-Purpose MICRO and COIL aimed at supporting innovation and resilience.  This considerable increase from 2020 is the result of many of the programs initiated in 2020, coming to completion in 2021.  It demonstrates the broad reach that business supports, challenges and funding had in our region.

The survey was conducted in partnership with the Guelph Chamber of Commerce and yielded a sample size of n=438. The responses reflect broad industry sector representation and business sizes. Although approximately 75 per cent of Guelph companies agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “Guelph is a good place to do business”, it is worthy to note that only ~7 per cent of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed. The remaining ~19 per cent of the respondents were either neutral (~16 percent) or did not respond to the question (~3 per cent). A contributing factor to a neutral rating may be attributed to adverse effects of COVID-19 closures throughout 2020 and 2021.

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