Newfoundland and Labrador: New Directions

This summer marked the 500th anniversary and a province-wide celebration of John Cabot's discovery of what now is Newfoundland and Labrador. But rich, new mineral finds and new high-tech economic directions now under way in Canada's easternmost province are attracting wider attention.

Major oil, gas and mineral finds are competing with the latest high technology developments as new magnets to outside investment. "These are exciting times in the development of the Newfoundland and Labrador economy," said Charles Furey, the province's minister of industry, trade and technology. "Newfoundland and Labrador has all the components necessary to compete and win in the international arena."

The new interest in this province with two names spans from the growing information technology base on the island of Newfoundland in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to expanding industrial parks in Labrador hugging Canada's northeastern mainland.

The fiords at Gros Morne National Park off the west coast of Newfoundland and Labrador are among the national treasures in a province that's also become a "Center of Excellence" in cold ocean technology and marine sciences.

The much-heralded Hibernia oil development project, with its estimated 615 million barrels of recoverable oil, is expected to begin production some 200 miles (320 km.) off Newfoundland's coast before the end of 1997, with development of other large oil finds to follow in coming years.

This once-remote region of North America is now attracting sophisticated call centers from around the world. NewTel Communications, which already has high fiber-optic technology penetration throughout the province, now is investing millions of dollars more over the next decade in a broadband network capable of supporting multimedia applications. The province boasts the highest per capita Internet usage by students in Canada, with all Newfoundland schools already linked to the Internet.

"When you talk about the call center business, geography is not an issue as long as your technology is first-class," said Glen Seymour, director of Network Newfoundland and Labrador. The network is a partnership between the provincial government and NewTel subsidiary NewTel Enterprises Ltd., serving as a one-stop shopping center for call center operations looking for dual-language labor, government financing and incentives, technology, design and site assistance.

The province is already home to 20 call centers, and eager to attract more. "The labor force is here and untapped," Seymour said. "We've been up and running for a little more than two years now. The first year, we were trying to create some awareness of the province. Last year, we were more proactive, and now we're finding a lot more unsolicited inquiries."

NewTel is made up of five companies, including NewTel Information Solutions, the largest software development company in Eastern Canada. Information technology companies calling the province home include Seaborne Information Technologies Ltd. Sigma Engineering, Nautical Data International, Northern Radar Systems Ltd., Maple Computers, AbbaCom Logic Corp., IDON East Corp., IES Health Technologies Inc. ZEDD Technologies Inc. and Softwaves Educational Software Inc.

The province's capital city of St. John's will be the site next year of SOFTWORLD '98, an Information Technology Assn. of Canada-sponsored meeting with growing international attendance. The province also is home to the Institute for Marine Dynamics, the Center for Cold Ocean Resources and Canadian Center for Marine Communications. Memorial University of Newfoundland is the largest Canadian university east of Montreal.

While much of Canada and the energy-hungry Eastern Seaboard of the United States is eagerly awaiting production of the province's new offshore oil finds, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Brian Tobin also told the Annual Conference for New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers in June that a long-planned hydroelectric project is now seeking public and private partners for anticipated development. On sparsely populated Labrador, the province is celebrating its largest nickel, copper and cobalt find in recent years at Voisey's Bay.

Newfoundland and Labrador is home to 24 industrial parks, ranging from six parks in St. John's to mainland Labrador's busy Wabush Industrial Park between Labrador City and Wabush and Northside Industrial Park in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Hi-Point Industries Ltd. of Bishop's Falls, which recently signed a contract with Uruguay, now is considering expanding into Mexico and other parts of the Americas with its trademarked Oclansorb, a product used for cleaning up oil spills. Marystown Shipyard on the Burin Peninsula this year won a contract with HAM Marine Inc. of Pascagoula, Miss., for the fabrication of components to be used for a drilling rig operating in the Gulf of Mexico.

Whales are a common sight, boosting the province's thriving tourism industry.

Newfoundland and Labrador's recently enacted investment incentive program called EDGE, for Economic Diversification and Growth Enterprises, has granted 10-year tax holidays, grants and other incentives to 44 EDGE-qualifying companies in the past two years. The government also will lease unserviced government land to an eligible EDGE corporation for as little as $1, as well as assign facilitators to help EDGE companies obtain permits and licenses.

The province is capitalizing on its easy access to European markets with Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) already producing new alliances and joint ventures across the Atlantic. An MOU was signed this spring by representatives of the province and the South Coast region of England.

-- Renée Haines is a free-lance writer based in San Antonio.

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