• What will the business of manufacturing look like in Canada 2020 and what competitive advantages will there be for Canadian manufacturers?
• What are the critical factors required to ensure future competitive success?

Reports from each of these local sessions with manufacturers can be found on CME’s Manufacturing 20/20 website. Locations of these meetings are listed in the Appendix to this report.

The second phase of the initiative involved a series of 36 community roundtables that were convened across Canada from September 2004 to January 2005. Over 2,500 people participated in these meetings, including manufacturers and executives from other local businesses and financial services companies; educators from local secondary schools, colleges, universities, and skills training organizations; representatives from labour groups and local research centres; officials from economic development agencies and other community organizations; and officials from municipal, provincial, and federal governments, including Members of Parliament, Members of Provincial Legislatures, mayors and local councilors.

The roundtables provided an opportunity to report the issues raised by local manufacturers to community leaders. They provided a forum to discuss initiatives that could be undertaken in support of manufacturing in local communities, and were designed to bring the right community leaders to the table not only to coordinate action, but to get things done.

Manufacturing 20/20 also draws upon two other sources of intelligence to identify those factors reshaping the business of manufacturing across Canada:

• Industry associations representing sub-sectors within manufacturing were asked to provide their views about the future of their respective industries in Canada as well as recommendations for change; and,
• CME’s 2004 Management Issues Survey was designed to provide detailed input from a wide range of manufacturers across Canada with respect to the key issues affecting their business. A total of 834 companies participated in the 2004 Survey, making the results statistically accurate within three percentage points 19 times out of 20. A summary of survey results relevant to workforce issues is provided in the tables included at the end of this report.

Many of CME’s members have taken part in the Manufacturing 20/20 initiative. However, participation in the local discussions with manufacturers, as well as in the community roundtables, industry association analysis, and 2004 Management Issues Survey, has not been restricted in any way, and has in fact extended well beyond CME’s membership. The number and the enthusiasm of the manufacturers and stakeholders who have taken an active role in CME’s Manufacturing 20/20 discussions clearly indicate how important manufacturing is to the future well-being of communities across Canada, as well as their common commitment to ensure future economic prosperity.