GOVERNMENT FUNDING & NEWS

Ottawa invests more than $357 million in Canada’s regional development agencies for defence industrial strategy

The Government of Canada will invest $357.7 million to establish the new Regional Defence Investment Initiative.

Ottawa said this is one of the first steps the government is making to ensure the forthcoming defence industrial strategy will take root and give rise to the kinds of jobs and industries that will protect Canada’s economy, power the Canadian Armed Forces and assert the country’s sovereignty.

These initial investments will drive research and innovation, strengthen domestic supply chains, grow critical resource stockpiles, and improve access to funds for Canadian small and medium-sized defence businesses.

Through existing programs, expertise and on-the-ground presence, the Regional Development Agencies will be supporting the growth of the defence industrial ecosystem and strengthening the relationship between government and industry. The funding includes:

• $94.7 million for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. FedDev Ontario also is allocating an additional $106 million from existing resources to total nearly $200 million in defence support.
• 63.1 million for Pacific Economic Development Canada.
• $48.2 million for Prairies Economic Development Canada.
• $40.5 million for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
• $38.2 million for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

The specific amounts of funding allocated for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions and for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario weren’t specified in the initial announcements.

The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) welcomed the government’s investment, saying: “Targeted regional investments can help strengthen domestic supply chains, accelerate research and innovation, and ensure Canada develops the intellectual property that underpins modern defence capabilities.”

CCI’s national survey mapped Canada’s dual-use innovation capacity and identified more than 400 Canadian-headquartered companies with the technologies and talent to support the federal government’s efforts to meet NATO spending commitments and modernize the Canadian Armed Forces, the CCI said. “Mobilizing these firms is essential to building sovereign capability."

"It is essential, however, that this new funding flows to truly Canadian companies: firms that are headquartered here, retain ownership and control of their IP in Canada, and are investing in the long-term growth of Canada’s economic and national security. Support for foreign branch plants will not build the sovereign capability that our armed forces require,” Daniel Perry, the CCI’s director of federal affairs, said in a statement.

The CCI called on the government to release the Defence Industrial Strategy, “which we hope to see by the end of the year, to provide direction, procurement certainty, and a roadmap for scaling Canadian innovators into defence supply chains." National Defence

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Industry Minister Mélanie Joly announced the Government of Canada’s intent to contract MDA Space to build, test and launch an additional satellite for the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM). In order to accelerate the delivery of this satellite, MDA Space has been awarded $44.7 million to purchase specialized parts. To ensure Canada continues to innovate and remain at the forefront of Synthetic Aperture Radar capabilities, the federal government is also advancing the development of the next-generation satellite system. Building on the legacy of the RCM, three Canadian companies, C-CORE, Kepler and MDA Space, are receiving up to $747,000 each. They will have seven months to deliver concept studies for the new generation of Earth-observation satellites. These contracts are part of the federal government’s $1.012 billion, 15‑year investment in the CSA, announced in October 2023, to support immediate and future satellite Earth observation needs. Canadian Space Agency

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada announced nearly $22 million in federal investments to advance three Inuit-led clean energy initiatives that will harness solar, wind and tidal power while creating jobs across the region. Funding for the Nain Wind Energy Project will support the installation of two wind turbines and battery storage to help reduce Nain’s reliance on costly, polluting diesel fuel for electricity. Once operational, the project is expected to displace more than one million litres of diesel every year – cutting emissions, improving air quality, and delivering more reliable and affordable power for the community. A second project led by the Nunatsiavut Government near Rigolet is receiving funding to continue collecting data to identify locations for a potential tidal energy facility. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

The Government of Canada, the Canadian Hydrogen Association, and the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium announced a combined investment of more than $1.25 million to explore hydrogen fueling options for public transit agencies within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Areas (GTHA). This investment will aid the Canadian Hydrogen Association in developing a comprehensive low-carbon fleet transition plan in the GTHA, including for hydrogen buses. Hydrogen fuel cell buses offer a cleaner fuel option than traditional diesel buses, emitting water and warm air instead of harmful tailpipe emissions. The multi-phase plan will include:

• examining the economic, technological and environmental benefits of adopting low-carbon vehicles, particularly those powered by clean hydrogen while also addressing key considerations and constraints related to implementation.
• leveraging industry experts and transit agencies’ knowledge for strategic planning.
• exploring the feasibility of a hydrogen fueling hub for transit in Ontario.
• gathering real-world data for program and technological improvements. Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada

The Government of Canada has more than 400 systems across 42 departments where it is either exploring or currently using AI in its operations, according to a new public registry. The registry includes searchable categories such as the name of the government department using the system, what each AI system is being used for, and which vendor developed the program. The registry only includes notable AI projects and not uses the government has deemed “low-risk” such as spell-check or virtual assistants. Uses of AI include organizing labels to classify insects found on farms (or on food); scanning a package to detect whether there’s a gun inside the box; and calculating the best way to deliver medical treatment to astronauts in space. The government said the registry was released as an early-stage version with only basic search features, as part of a commitment made under Canada’s federal AI strategy to give a more transparent view of AI activity across the federal service. The registry will be updated and developed to include more detail and features in future iterations based on public feedback next year. BetaKit, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Accessibility Standards Canada announced the publication of the CAN-ASC-6.2 – Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence Systems standard. This equity-based standard is the first National Standard of Canada focused specifically on accessible AI. This new standard is designed to help ensure that AI systems are accessible, inclusive and fair from the start. The new standard aims to protect people from exclusion and ensure AI works for everyone. It can help organizations and developers:

• design AI systems that are accessible to people with disabilities.
• ensure fairness and prevent exclusion.
• establish processes so accessibility and equity remain central throughout the AI lifecycle.
• educate others on creating equitable and inclusive AI.

The standard was developed by an Accessibility Standards Canada technical committee, made up primarily of people with disabilities and members of equity-deserving groups. The standard has been approved by the Standards Council of Canada as a National Standard of Canada. Accessibility Standards Canada

Canada’s water systems “are almost certainly a strategic target” for state-sponsored actors to project power through disruptive or destructive cyber threat activity, according to a report by the Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity (Cyber Centre). However, these actors would likely only disrupt these water systems in times of crisis or conflict between states, the report said. State-sponsored cyber threat actors have targeted water sector organizations and systems globally for both espionage and disruption or destruction, the report noted. The Cyber Centre said it is aware of several instances of non-state actors similarly attempting to disrupt internet-exposed operational technology systems in Canada, including within water systems. Financially motivated cybercriminals are the most likely cyber threat to affect water systems, the Cyber Centre said. Cybercriminals will almost certainly continue to exploit water sector organizations and systems through extortion tied to ransomware (the most significant cyber threat to the reliable supply of water in Canada), exploiting stolen information and business email compromise, the Cyber Centre said. “We assess that the cyber threat to Canada’s critical infrastructure is almost certainly increasing.” Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

The Government of Canada has notified automaker Stellantis NV that its decision to shift production plans from Brampton, Ont. to Illinois is a breach of the taxpayer-funded contract reached in 2022. The federal government paid Stellantis more than $220 million to help upgrade its assembly plants in Ontario before the automaker revealed plans to move some production to the U.S., recent records show. It’s more than double the amount the federal government disclosed when asked in October about its Stellantis spending, after the multinational announced that it will scrap plans to build the Jeep Compass at its Brampton plant and assemble it in Belvidere, Illinois instead. Last month, the federal government released its yearly public accounting documents, showing that it paid FCA Canada – Stellantis’ Canadian arm – nearly $118 million during the 2025 fiscal year, bringing the total to roughly $222 million. The Government of Ontario also pledged to provide up to $513 million, but  Premier Doug Ford said his government has not given Stellantis any funding for the Brampton plant because it  didn’t meet conditions related to job creation and project milestones. However, the company did get $55 million from the Ontario government for its Windsor plant. CBC News

First Nations chiefs have voted to reject any changes to the current oil tanker ban off the Northern B.C. coast. The resolution was carried unanimously at the Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa. The chiefs also voted in favour of a resolution asking the federal government to withdraw from the memorandum of understanding signed with the Alberta government that could pave the way for a new bitumen pipeline through B.C. “The truth is that Canada can create all the MOUs, project offices, advisory groups they want, but chiefs are united. When it comes to approving large national projects on First Nations lands, there will not be getting around rightsholders,” said Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, AFN national chief. The Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation was named a key partner in Ottawa and Alberta’s MOU last week. During a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, chiefs from Treaties 6, 7 and 8 in Alberta expressed openness to pipeline ownership. CBC News

Two founding members of the federal government’s Net-Zero Advisory Body resigned, saying its work is being ignored by Ottawa as it moves away from previous climate commitments and toward new oil and gas projects. University of British Columbia professor Simon Donner and global climate campaigner Catherine Abreu both resigned from the group, leaving the advisory body with just four remaining members. In a post on his LinkedIn account, Donner said he is grateful for the opportunity to help shape climate policy in Canada. Donner is a prominent climate scientist and was the co-chair of the advisory body. Abreu posted a statement related to her resignation, raising issues with the federal government’s recent deal with Alberta to support a new oil pipeline and Ottawa’s major projects legislation that could fast-track environmental approvals for LNG and other fossil fuel and mining projects. “There is no question the hard-won downward trend in Canadian greenhouse gas emissions will be reversed by the current government's ‘Climate Competitiveness Strategy,’ which suspends, delays and dismantles climate policy with no alternative measures in place,” Abreu wrote. CBC News

Canadian labour productivity – or output per worker – at Canadian businesses increased by 0.9 percent in the third quarter, offsetting a one-percent decline in the second quarter, when the impact of the U.S. tariff shock reverberated across the economy, Statistics Canada reported. This upturn in productivity in the third quarter reflects the sharp recovery in business output, following a quarter of decline, while hours worked declined slightly, StatsCan said. Despite a context of persistent uncertainty related to international trade during the third quarter, real gross domestic product of businesses rebounded, rising 0.9 percent after a 0.8-percent contraction in the second quarter. In the third quarter, productivity rose in both goods-producing businesses and service-producing businesses. Overall, productivity increased in nine of the 16 main industry sectors in the third quarter. StatsCan

Canada’s economy has held up better than expected despite a significant external trade shock from U.S. tariffs, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. The impact has been mitigated by continued exemptions under the Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement and firms’ early adjustments, the IMF said. However, output, employment and investment have still weakened. “Lower commodity prices, softer external demand, slowing immigration and tariff uncertainty have added to the drag, exposing long-standing structural headwinds from weak productivity, slow capital deepening, and lagging innovation,” the IMF said. “Canada’s productivity shortfall is the principal constraint on long-term growth. Weak business dynamism, slow capital deepening and lagging innovation have held back output per hour.” Recent policy actions, including targeted support to affected firms and measures in Budget 2025 to encourage investment, have helped cushion the blow. The priority now is to manage near-term pressures while advancing reforms that strengthen competitiveness, productivity and resilience within a framework that preserves macro-fiscal sustainability, according to the IMF. “The near-term outlook is subdued and uncertainty remains high.” IMF

The Government of Ontario is providing up to $17 million through the Invest Ontario Fund toward California-headquartered Marvell Technology Inc.’s $238-million, five-year expansion. It includes the launch of a new office in Toronto, scaling of Marvell’s semiconductor research and development operations in Ottawa and York Region, and the establishment of a new 8,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art optical lab. Marvell is driving innovation in custom AI silicon and connectivity solutions that enable cloud data centre customers to deploy efficient, higher-performance computing systems to drive the next wave of AI innovation. Govt. of Ontario

The Government of Ontario is providing up to $5 million through the Invest Ontario Fund toward AtomVie Global Radiopharma Inc.’s $138-million expansion of its facility in Hamilton. AtomVie’s expansion will increase production capacity to support both clinical trials and commercial manufacturing of innovative radiopharmaceuticals. These technologies are increasingly important in oncology, enabling targeted therapies that destroy cancer cells more precisely while avoiding healthy cells, leading to fewer side effects than traditional oncology treatments. Founded as a spin-out of McMaster University’s Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization, AtomVie is the only Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization of this scale in Canada specializing in radiopharmaceuticals. Govt. of Ontario

The Government of British Columbia announced as much as 2.5 million for B.C.-based small and medium-sized businesses to:

• demonstrate the performance of their innovations.
• attract early customers.
• move closer to full commercial adoption.

The early-stage demonstration call is delivered by Innovate BC through the Integrated Marketplace platform. Up to 40 percent of eligible project costs, to a maximum of $500,000 per project, will be provided to support pilot-scale demonstrations of made-in-B.C. technologies. Applications for the 2025-2026 intake are open until Dec. 21, 2025. Another call for applications is anticipated to launch in mid-2026. Govt. of B.C.

The BC Securities Commission (BCSC), the province’s securities regulator, alleges that  Burnaby, B.C.-based fintech firm Elixir Technology Inc. and two individuals defrauded more than 100 victims by misrepresenting itself as a profitable firm while fundraising a total of Cdn $14.6 million and US$1 million over a little more than two years. While raising the funds, the company claimed it could pay interest and monthly dividends on most of its securities, despite facing severe financial distress. In the first half of 2020, before it raised the funds, Elixir had catastrophic trading losses and a negative $5.5 million in revenue, the BCSC said. “By failing to disclose its true financial condition to investors, the BCSC alleges that Elixir perpetrated a fraud.” Former B.C. resident William Peter McNarland was Elixir's founding director, and B.C. resident Mang Hei Jaclyn Wu was also a director. The BCSC also alleges that 13 investors who purchased $2.6 million of Elixir's securities between February 2020 and October 2022 did not qualify for any exemption from the requirement for a prospectus – a formal document providing details of an investment. Since Elixir did not file a prospectus, the BCSC alleges that its distribution of securities to these investors was illegal, even if it was not fraudulent. The BCSC requires the respondents or their counsel to appear at its offices on December 16, 2025 if they wish to be heard before a hearing is scheduled. BCSC

A group of Alaska tribal nations has gone to the B.C. Supreme Court to demand a seat at the table in Canadian resource development – including an expansion to the Red Chris mine that is among the nation-building projects Ottawa has selected as pivotal to economic development. The Alaska groups argue that their historical use of what is now northwestern B.C. makes them Aboriginal peoples of Canada under the Constitution Act, saying that status should guarantee them the same rights to consultation as Canadian Indigenous groups. The Alaska legal challenge is part of an escalating effort by U.S. tribal groups to assert rights in Canada in the wake of the 2021 Desautel decision, in which Canada’s Supreme Court found that the Lakes Tribe in eastern Washington state should be considered Aboriginal peoples of Canada, given their historical use of land that is now B.C. In June, the Government of British Columbia declared, in an order-in-council, that Alaska tribal groups cannot be a “participating Indigenous nation” in the review of six mining projects. The petition filed in B.C. seeks to have that order quashed, and asks the court to either find that several Alaskan tribes are participating Indigenous nations in a mining review − or force the province to make such a decision. The Globe and Mail

The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) bent to pressure from the Government of Alberta and oil companies to eliminate a limit on natural gas flaring as Canadian oil production increased, according to documents seen by Reuters. Flaring is the practice of burning off excess natural gas associated with oil production. The documents, obtained through access to information laws, show the AER sent letters to 20 companies in the spring of 2024 threatening to enforce flaring limits –which could have resulted in curtailed oil production – if the operators did not prepare and implement plans for lowering their flaring volumes. But the plans that operators, including U.S.-based Murphy Oil and Canada's Tamarack Valley Energy, submitted were unenforced. By June 2025, as first reported by Reuters, the AER quietly did away with flaring limits in response to directives from Alberta government officials. In the lead-up to that decision, the government urged the regulator to take a "softer" tone in its communication with offending companies, including taking a "humble and collaborative" approach, previously unreported email records show. Regulatory data shows oil and gas producers in the province flared approximately 912.7 million cubic metres of natural gas in 2024, exceeding the annual provincial limit by 36 percent. Canada is a signatory to a World Bank initiative that commits countries to ending routine flaring by 2030. Along with 10 other countries, Canada endorsed a statement at the recent COP30 summit recognizing the importance of ending routine venting and flaring by 2030. Reuters

RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

 The University of Toronto (U of T) has established the Hinton Chair in Artificial Intelligence with $10 million in funding from Google. This new chair will honour the legacy of University Professor Emeritus and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton at U of T and Google by enabling the university to recruit and retain another brilliant, internationally recognized AI expert to make profound contributions to the field, U of T said. The university is matching Google’s support with an additional $10 million in funding. This historic $20-million investment makes the Hinton Chair in Artificial Intelligence one of U of T’s most prestigious and generously supported advanced research roles, with substantial endowed support for a leading-edge AI researcher and additional funds to drive fundamental discoveries and insights – creating the intellectual underpinnings necessary to take AI to the next level. Together with John J. Hopfield, Hinton won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2024 for his foundational work in enabling deep learning and propelling the field to its current peak. U of T

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Axelys, Quebec’s public research innovation and technology transfer organization, signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at accelerating the transformation of public research into concrete innovations that benefit Canadian society. This agreement establishes a new and unprecedented collaboration framework between the two organizations. It is grounded in a shared vision: strengthening the link between public research and its potential application (innovation) by removing gaps and barriers along the valorization continuum, from early-stage research funding to technology maturation and transfer to market. The approach is fully aligned with the mission and priorities of the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ), which supports research and scientific excellence across the province. This collaboration builds on the strengths of the Quebec model, where the FRQ supports upstream research while Axelys works downstream to accelerate maturation, valorization and the transfer of innovations emerging from public institutions. The goal of the new agreement is straightforward: ensure that discoveries emerging from laboratories translate more rapidly into sustainable economic, social and environmental benefits. Axelys

The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation will establish the Peter Gilgan Centre for Early Cancer Detection Research – the world’s largest program for detecting and intercepting the recurrence of cancer in patients. Gilgan, a Canadian philanthropist and business leader, donated $50 million to the initiative, the largest single gift to support early cancer detection in Noth America. The new centre won’t involve new infrastructure, but instead focus on advancing early cancer detection research – including better identifying early markers of cancer and utilizing state-of-the-art diagnostic tools – in labs at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. More than 50 percent of cancers are currently diagnosed at an advanced stage. Many patients with late-stage disease face significant physical, emotional, social and caregiver challenges, and their outcomes are poorer. This world-leading early detection program will revolutionize cancer care by identifying the disease when treatment is most likely to succeed, ultimately allowing more patients to be cured, the Foundation said. The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation

CIFAR launched its first two AI security solutions networks funded by the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Security Institute research program, which will support teams working to develop new tools to make AI safer and more inclusive. Among the newly funded solution networks is the Safeguarding Courts from Synthetic AI Content network, led by a team including Karen Eltis, a researcher at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society and a full professor of law in the Civil Law Section of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa, and Jacquelyn Burkell, a research associate at the Centre and an associate professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Sciences at Western University. This initiative aims to combat the increasing use of AI-generated synthetic evidence in legal proceedings, including doctored images and videos, as well as court documents written using large language models that may contain hallucinations. The team's objective is to develop a free and open-access system to help courts identify potentially problematic content – a crucial step in adapting the justice system to rapidly evolving technologies. These solutions networks are part of a broader Canadian government investment in AI security, launched in November 2024 to address evolving AI-related risks. University of Ottawa

The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF) will invest up to $2.75 million over five years to support and establish AgSphere, a hub designed to advance agrifood innovation across Canada by serving as a central ecosystem merging agriculture, technology and food. With global demand for food and fuel intensifying, AgSphere aims to increase innovation, technology adoption, attract investment and address a workforce shortage in the agriculture industry. The hub will link Western Canada's agricultural expertise with Calgary's strengths in technology, energy and access to capital and talent. The new hub will connect producers, startups investors and partners, including founding partners AdFarm, the Calgary Stampede, Olds College and OCIF. Temporarily housed at Stampede Park, the initiative will include an innovation and education centre, event space, Canada-wide producer network and career platform. OCIF's investment in AgSphere will look to support 75 companies and train 450 individuals over five years, including students and the reskilling of professionals. OCIF

The Government of Ontario has introduced draft legislation that aims to restrict invasive medical research on dogs and cats. It is the first proposed law of its kind in Canada, triggered by an Investigative Journalism Bureau investigation in August that detailed cardiac research on dogs inside St. Joseph’s Hospital in London. The research involved inducing hours-long heart attacks in puppies. Bill 75 includes provisions that would amend the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act. If passed, the proposed legislation would restrict the practice of invasive experimentation on dogs and cats, except for specified purposes such as veterinary research. The bill also prohibits breeding cats or dogs in Ontario for research purposes. The proposed legislation defines invasive medical research as that which alters an animal’s “physical integrity,” causes “significant impact” to the animal’s physiological systems or results in moderate to severe pain, “extreme distress or death.” Udo Schüklenk, a professor of philosophy at Queen’s University and the Ontario Research Chair in Bioethics, believes the legislation would have damaging impacts on research in Ontario. “Valuable clinical research that could lead to medical breakthroughs benefiting generations of people will be undertaken elsewhere,” he said. University of Toronto – Investigative Journalism Bureau

 MaRS Discovery District and Kitchener-Waterloo-based Definity Financial Corporation announced the launch of the Adaptech Accelerator, a comprehensive initiative in Canada dedicated to scaling climate adaptation and resilience ventures. The Adaptech Accelerator draws on MaRS’ history of supporting more than 1,200 ventures on their commercialization journey as well as Definity’s continued leadership in climate risk and community resilience. Ana Gonzalez Guerrero, MaRS’ senior manager of climate and cities, is overseeing the Adaptech Accelerator. To gain key insights on this emerging market, MaRS is conducting comprehensive research on Canada’s adaptation and resilience innovation ecosystem. The accelerator will provide up to 10 Canadian startups with tailored programming, market research, network building, connections to world-class labs, raising capital, advice and connections to investors, industry partners and governments seeking to adopt resilience solutions. Applications for the two-year Definity-backed program are set to open in January. MaRS Discovery District

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Canada’s Ocean Supercluster invests in three new ocean innovation projects valued at $22.1 million

The federally funded Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) announced three new ocean innovation projects valued at $22.1 million, including the $15.5-million Enabling Scalable Seaweed Restoration & Cultivation Project.

OSC is investing $5.8 million in this project, with the balance of funding coming from project partners.

This project aims to revolutionize seaweed seeding technology through the development and commercialization of KelpSpat™. This breakthrough adhesive and automation system improves kelp seed survival rates by up to 400 percent, enabling large-scale sustainable cultivation and seaforestation.

The project is led by Richmond, BC-based Canadian Pacifico Seaweeds, with 13 partners and collaborators across aquaculture, Indigenous communities, non-profits, and academia.

The project includes trials at Indigenous-stewarded farms and explores commercialization pathways for food-grade seaweed, functional foods, performance ingredients, bioplastics feedstock, and regenerative ocean conservation.

Another project is the $3.6 million Marsupial Flying Robots Project. OSC is investing $1.4 million, with the balance of funding coming from project partners. 

This project is advancing robotics innovation through the development of Marsupial Flying Robots – an integrated system designed for complex inspection and maintenance tasks, such as those involving rope access, scaffolding and diver-based inspections in offshore and marine environments.

The project enhances safety, reduces downtime, and lowers costs by minimizing human exposure to hazardous conditions.

The project is led by Burnaby, B.C.-based Avestec, in partnership with Nanaimo, .BC.-based Reach Systems Inc, and Coquitlam, B.C.-based Anarampower Ltd.

Avestec’s Marsupial Flying Robot Project will deliver a dual-robot system functioning as a collaborative robotic mechanism to conduct complex inspections in offshore and challenging environments.

The third project is the $3- million Lilypad: Electric Charge Barge Project. OSC is investing $1.2 million, with the balance of funding coming from project partners. 

This project introduces Lilypad, a mobile floating charging station designed to accelerate maritime electrification.

This innovative solution provides a flexible, cost-effective charging infrastructure for electric vessels, reducing reliance on permanent installations, and supporting clean marine transportation. The mobile solution operates like a floating gas station for electric boats in coastal waters.

The project is led by Victoria, B.C.-based Mostar Labs, in partnership with St. John’s, N.L.-based Engage Creative Technologies. Canada’s Ocean Supercluster

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Canada’s research and innovation ecosystem is like a “high-performance engine installed in a vehicle with a faulty transmission”

Iain Stewart, independent board director and former president of the National Research Council of Canada, had an intriguing post on LinkedIn.

Stewart said he wanted to try out Gemini Pro, and so fed it a bunch of documents, including the Council of Canadian Academies’ series of assessments on the state of science and technology in Canada, federal Budget 2025, and various papers.

He asked Gemini Pro to write a short summary paper on Canadian research and innovation.

It concluded: "The Canadian research ecosystem resembles a high-performance engine installed in a vehicle with a faulty transmission. The engine (the university sector) creates immense power and potential, but the transmission (the translation and commercialization pathways) is unable to transfer that power to the wheels (the economy and society). The vehicle is moving, but sluggishly, and is being overtaken by competitors.

Federal Budget 2025 makes significant strides in upgrading the chassis (infrastructure) and fueling the tank (investment incentives), Gemini Pro said. However, the "transmission" – the messy, risky, human-centric process of moving ideas to market – remains a critical point of failure."

Among the comments Stewart’s post received was one from Frédéric Bouchard, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science and professor at the Université de Montréal, who chaired the federal seven-member Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System and its report.

“The fragmentation of the system is real and is detrimental both to research AND innovation. What we recommended in our report was seen as a first necessary step, but much deeper and broader change is needed,” Bouchard said in his comment.

“Risk aversion and inertia are genuine forces, but given our current diplomatic and economic predicament, the calculus should change. The risk of NOT doing anything is much greater than changing our current approach however uncertain or imperfect the new approach would be. Time to roll up our sleeves . . ..” Iain Stewart LinkedIn post

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Fastcase, a subsidiary of Burnaby, B.C.-based legaltech company Clio, is suing Toronto-based Alexi for unfair competition, breach of contract, trademark infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets, alleging Alexi misused Fastcase’s data to build a competing product. The feud centres on Alexi’s generative AI products, which use Fastcase’s extensive legal library and database to answer queries posed by lawyers. In a legal complaint filed in Washington, D.C., Fastcase argued that Alexi is effectively publishing Fastcase data directly to Alexi users. Mark Doble, Alexi’s CEO, denied those allegations and said Alexi’s generative AI is a distinct product. The case was filed less than three weeks after Clio paid US$1 billion to buy Fastcase’s parent company, vLex, and access to its proprietary research database. Startup Ecosystem Canada

Quebec Superior Court Judge Lukasz Granosik approved an $11-million settlement of a class action lawsuit against Montreal-based payments company Lightspeed. The lawsuit, filed in October 2021 by New York City-based short seller Spruce Point, alleged that Lightspeed overstated its customer accounts, transaction volume and potential market size in public filings and statements. As part of the settlement, Lightspeed admits no liability and it denies any and all claims of wrongdoing. Concilia Services Inc.

Saskatoon-based MAX Power Mining Corp. announced it completed Canada’s first-ever well specifically targeting “natural hydrogen,” reaching a total depth of 2,278 meters at the Lawson target on the Genesis Trend near Central Butte, Sask., with natural hydrogen present in multiple horizons from the shallow Cretaceous strata into the basement complex. This successful “test of concept” has triggered extensive data analysis to confirm concentrations of natural hydrogen and helium gases, to be followed by additional testing at Lawson to determine potential flow and volume. MAX Power also announced backing from mining investor Eric Sprott and an unnamed Vietnam-based conglomerate to develop the natural hydrogen deposit. MAX Power

Nemaska Lithium – half of which is owned by the Quebec government – is putting its Whabouchi mine project in Quebec on hold as co-owner Rio Tinto weighs whether to shift its focus to another location closer to James Bay in the province. At the Whabouchi complex, employees and subcontractors have already been ordered to demobilize the site and pack up. Nemaska ​​Lithium plans to transport lithium extracted from Quebec’s subsoil to its plant under construction in Bécancour, where commissioning is planned for the end of 2026 – a timeline reiterated by the company. The Quebec government has invested more than $965 million in the venture since 2018. For the Quebec ecosystem, this is another setback in a year marked by the collapse of battery recycling specialist Lithion Technologies, the abandonment of a major project by Brazilian giant Vale, and the suspension of an expansion in Bécancour by Ultium Cam, a joint venture formed by General Motors and Posco. La Presse

Montreal-based direct air capture (DAC) startup Deep Sky announced a strategic partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), one of Japan's leading financial institutions. Deep Sky and SMBC will collaborate to build a robust DAC and high-integrity carbon dioxide removal market in Japan by jointly developing commercial pathways, financing structures and policy frameworks that will enable rapid scale. The collaboration will concentrate on three priority areas:

1. Creating pathways for DAC carbon credit offtakes in Japan.
2. Business collaboration locally and with Japanese companies globally.
3. Advancing Japan's DAC ecosystem and enabling policy. Deep Sky

Kitchener, Ont.-headquartered Canadian Solar Inc., a major battery and solar panel manufacturer, announced a strategic initiative, CS PowerTech, to resume direct oversight of its U.S. operations and continue reshoring manufacturing to North America. Canadian Solar will form new joint ventures with American shareholders and its majority-owned Chinese subsidiary CSI Solar. Canadian Solar will hold a 75.1-percent controlling stake in CS PowerTech, which will operate U.S.-based manufacturing and sales of solar modules, solar cells and advanced energy storage systems. Additionally, Canadian Solar will acquire from CSI Solar 75.1-percent ownership of certain overseas factories that support U.S. operations for US$50 million. The new joint venture will allow Canadian Solar to avoid U.S. tariffs. Canadian Solar

B.C.-founded and now California-based D-Wave Quantum Inc. announced it formed a new business unit dedicated to driving the adoption of its quantum computing products and services with the U.S. government. Led by seasoned government and public sector business executive Jack Sears Jr., the new unit will support D-Wave’s enterprise-wide U.S. government-related initiatives. Calls for quantum applications have come from several members of the U.S. Department of War’s leadership, including Emil Michael, Undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering. In addition, Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, and the Acting Chief Technology officer of the Navy, Justin Fanelli, have each spoken about the need to develop quantum applications to address the logistics and transportation needs of U.S. service branches. To address this growing market opportunity, Sears will join D-Wave’s executive team and serve as the business unit’s vice president of U.S. government solutions. D-Wave

Markham, Ont.-based NordSpace Corp. announced the official establishment of its new Space Systems Lab (SSL), marking the company’s expansion from launch vehicles and spaceport infrastructure into the development of complete spacecraft and on-orbit sensing capabilities. As SSL’s inaugural program, NordSpace will launch Terra Nova, a self-funded, Canadian-built dual-use defence and commercial demonstration satellite that has been under development for the last year. It is scheduled for launch with SpaceX’s Transporter-17 mission in 2026. Terra Nova is the first commercial satellite designed, engineered, integrated, tested and fully financed by NordSpace at its facilities in Markham. The satellite is designed to collect and analyze data in orbit, with the help of AI models powered by an Nvidia processor. According to NordSpace, the AI models will facilitate the detection of non-emitting objects in space (objects that don’t produce their own light or electromagnetic radiation), illicit ships and aircraft over Canada’s Arctic, and early signs of wildfires. SSL consists of in-house test facilities such as a thermal vacuum chamber, vibration table, ISO5 clean room and more, and is led by several engineers with previous experiences building space systems at MDA Space, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Space Flight Laboratory. NordSpace Corp.

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Nearly nine in 10 Canadian teens say they were sexually victimized online

Nearly nine in 10 (86%) Canadian teens were sexually victimized online, such as in private messaging, video calls or private groups, according to a report by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P).

Two in five (39 percent ) of teens in a nationally representative survey of 1,279 Canadian teens aged 13 to 17 were sexually victimized on Snapchat®, significantly more than on any other platform, the report said.

Over half (52 percent) of teen victims had been sent an unwanted nude or sexual image, and one in six (17 percent ) teen victims had someone make a fake nude or sexual image of them.

Over nine in 10 (93 percent) teen victims think Canada should legally force apps and platforms to prevent harm online. Most also thought safety measures would help.

Despite the severity of these harms, only one in five (20 percent) teens reported their victimization directly to an app or platform. Of the teens who did not report to an online service, the most cited reason was a belief that the app or platform would not help (43 percent).

When reports were made about nude or sexual images of them to the online service where they were being distributed, two in three (67 percent) teens waited more than a day for platforms to remove the images – delays that increase chances of further distribution and victimization. “These findings add to the long list of evidence that children in Canada are being preyed upon online and I hope these critically important insights, based on the lived experiences of children in our country, can help contribute to shaping future online safety laws in Canada,” Lianna McDonald, executive director of C3P, said in a statement.

“The results also highlighted some key gaps in the previously proposed [federal] Online Harms Bill, notably that it would have failed to subject the most common digital environments where kids are harmed, such as private messaging services, to any duty of care toward children,” she said.

C3P’s report includes a number of recommendations for the development of a made-in-Canada online safety framework, similar to what exists currently in several other countries such as the U.K., the European Union and Australia. The recommendations include:

• Imposing duties of care and responsibilities onto private messaging services and a broad range of other online services based on risk.
• Requiring online services rapidly detect and remove sexual images of children.
• Preventing unsafe or inappropriate adult-child interactions in digital spaces.
• Considering Criminal Code amendments to address emerging threats like AI-generated deepfake nudes.
• Requiring online services adopt safety-by-design codes that prioritize child protection and their best interests. C3P

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Australia's internet regulator said a teen social media ban would be the first domino to fall in a global push to rein in Big Tech, as Meta's Instagram, Facebook and Threads began locking out hundreds of thousands of accounts ahead of a deadline next week. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she had initially expressed concern about the "blunt-force" approach of blocking under-16-year-olds from social media, but she had come to embrace it after incremental regulatory changes were not effective enough. Governments around the world were watching as the Australian law takes effect on December 10, and "I've always referred to this as the first domino, which is why they pushed back,” Imman Grant said, referring to the platforms. After more than a year campaigning against the ban, which carries a fine of up to A$49.5 million (US$33 million), platforms owned by Meta, TikTok, Snap's Snapchat and Alphabet's YouTube have said they will comply. About 96 percent of Australian teenagers under 16 – more than one million of the country's 27 million population – have social media accounts, according to eSafety. Reuters

After more than a decade of aggressively regulating Big Tech, the European Union is having second thoughts. In a significant shift, policymakers in Brussels are moving to scale back and simplify landmark rules for artificial intelligence and data privacy. Driven by growing concern that overregulation is stifling economic growth, officials and business leaders across the 27-nation bloc are questioning whether Europe’s digital rulebook has gone too far and left companies lagging the United States and China. The Trump administration has also criticized Europe’s regulations. The rethinking is set to be laid out in a “digital package of simplification” that the European Commission, which manages much of the bloc’s day-to-day work. According to drafts circulated in recent weeks, which were reviewed by The New York Times, key aspects of the General Data Protection Regulation, a data privacy law, would be rewritten. Parts of a law restricting certain uses of A.I. would also be delayed. Europe has long been seen as Big Tech’s most formidable global watchdog. Authorities in Brussels have levied billions of dollars in fines and forced business changes at Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta for antitrust breaches, data abuses and the unchecked spread of illicit content. Any retreat by Europe could ease pressure on the largest tech companies and signal the start of a more restrained era of oversight for the digital economy. The New York Times

VC, PRIVATE INVESTMENT & ACQUISITIONS

 San Francisco-based legal AI assistant startup Harvey, which opened a Toronto office this summer, raised US$160 million in new funds at a US$8 billion valuation – more than double what it was in February. Alongside the new funding round, Harvey plans to allow some employees to sell their shares in the company, letting them cash in on its growth. Harvey was founded by Winston Weinberg, a former junior litigator at the law firm O’Melveny & Myers, and his onetime roommate Gabe Pereyra, a researcher who worked at the A.I. lab Google DeepMind and at Meta. The New York Times

Montreal-based Morphocell Technologies Inc., a biotech company working to create next-generation tissue therapeutics for organ replacement, raised US$50 million in a Series A funding round, following a new US$10 million extension led by Investissement Québec and CDP Venture Capital. The add-on builds on a US$40 million round completed in early 2024 and gives the company more than three years of operational runway. Morphocell’s core platform uses induced pluripotent stem cells to generate engineered tissues that replace failing organs. Its lead program, ReLiver, aims to function as a biological substitute for the liver, a lifeline for patients waiting on organ transplantation or living with chronic liver disease. Morphocell now operates with 44 employees across Montreal, Cambridge in Boston and Toronto, running fully integrated operations from cell discovery to manufacturing. Longevity.Technology

Montreal-based Xposure Music, an indie music catalogue buyer, raised US$42.5 million in debt and equity to scout more Canadian and global independent talent using data analytics and artificial intelligence. The raise comes from a combination of debt from Andalusian Credit Partners and equity from family offices and individual investors, including Canadian investor and Seattle Kraken minority owner Mitch Garber. The company plans to use the funding to buy more catalogues from artists that its proprietary analytics platform shows are headed for long-term streaming success. BetaKit

Vancouver-based startup pH7 Technologies Inc., which specializes in critical metal extraction technology, raised US$225.6 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures and joined by BHP Ventures, Energy & Environment Investment (EEI), Siteground, Gaingels Fund and Calm Venture. pH7 Technologies said the funding will help advance the scaling and commercialization of its extraction technology, starting with copper, as global demand for critical minerals continues to grow. pH7 Technologies has developed a solvent-based process – called solvometallurgy – as an alternative to smelting as a way of extracting platinum-group metals from industrial and automotive waste. The solvometallurgy process uses organic and inorganic chemicals and an electrochemical method to extract valuable metals from waste without generating emissions or wastewater, according to the company. Business in Vancouver

Regina-based early-stage venture capital firm Conexus Venture Capital’s (CVC) Fund #2, which backs Saskatchewan’s top high-growth tech companies, reached its $30-million investment goal. CVC Fund #2 has already been active in supporting Saskatchewan tech founders by investing in three startups: Saskatoon-based home care tech startup Alto, Regina-based parking management software startup Offstreet, and Calgary- and Saskatoon-based soil remediation platform LiORA. Conexus Credit Union and Conexus Venture Capital announced the launch of CVC Fund #2 in May 2024, with Conexus investing the initial $15 million. Conexus Venture Capital

Toronto-based Micruity, a retirement income solutions platform, raised US$20 million in a Series A funding round. Rebalance Capital and Nationwide Ventures co-led the round, with participation from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, among others. Micruity helps clients manage their 401(k) savings by converting balances into predictable retirement income and supporting retirement funds that provide guaranteed income streams. The company said it will use the funds to scale its retirement paycheque system and make it work more smoothly with recordkeepers. Micruity

 Saint John, N.B.-based startup Versos AI raised $1.85 million in a seed funding round to advance its Video Training Data Marketplace. This platform allows customers to buy and sell rights-cleared video footage for AI model training, addressing the industry-wide challenge of copyright compliance. The funding round was led by Innovobot Resonance Ventures and included participation from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, Island Capital Partners, RiSC Capital, and the University of Waterloo’s Velocity Fund. Versos was founded in 2022 by Chris Keevill and Cezar Grzelak, focusing on the need for legally compliant video data in AI. The company aims to accelerate development and expand its studio onboarding process with the new funding. Startup Ecosystem Canada

The First Nations Finance Authority (FNFA) has surpassed $4 billion in financing since it issued its first loan in 2012. This has contributed to the creation of an estimated 39,000 jobs and $8.5 billion to Canada's economy, said Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. The federal government has proposed changes to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act (2005) to allow “Special Purpose Vehicles” to borrow money through the FNFA, helping boost its participation in economic and resource development projects and supporting long-term economic growth, prosperity and self-determination. Loans provided through FNFA support essential community infrastructure, housing, economic development and local priorities identified by First Nations. Since 2012, FNFA has supported 193 First Nations as borrowing members and worked closely with the Government of Canada to co-develop changes to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act (2005). Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Toronto-based Element Fleet Management Corp. announced an agreement to buy Car IQ, a San Francisco-based technology company and pioneer in connected vehicle payments. Element manages fleets of vehicles and has operations across North America, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. Car IQ helps companies replace fleet cards with technology embedded in vehicles that can make payments at gas stations and toll roads. Car IQ will operate as a subsidiary of Element Mobility. Element Fleet Management Corp.

Montreal-based AtkinsRéalis Group, an engineering services and nuclear company, announced that it acquired ADG Capital Pty Ltd., an Australian engineering consultancy specializing in structural and civil engineering, construction services and digital advisory. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. This acquisition is a step towards AtkinsRéalis’ ambition to build a larger scale presence in the Australian market. AtkinsRéalis is a key alliance partner in Ontario’s Darlington New Nuclear Project, which is building North America's first grid-scale small modular reactor. AtkinsRéalis

U.S. health and wellness platform Hims & Hers Health Inc. has expanded into Canada by acquiring Montreal-based Livewell, a Canadian digital health platform offering access to a variety of treatments, with a focus on weight loss. Terms of the all-cash deal weren’t disclosed. Canadian business leader Austin Kouri will take the helm in-market as the general manager of Canada, working closely with Hims & Hers’ advisor and new chief medical officer in Canada, Dr. Sandy Van, a leading obesity physician. This strategic move is expected to help accelerate the launch of Hims & Hers’ comprehensive weight loss program in Canada next year, timed to align with the first anticipated availability of generic semaglutide anywhere in the world. Almost two-thirds of adults in Canada are overweight or living with obesity, yet access to effective, proven treatments remains limited due to high costs and barriers to care. Livewell's strong local presence and Hims & Hers' innovative platform will help make personalized, high-quality care more accessible to a broader Canadian audience, the company said. Hims & Hers

Toronto-headquartered EQB Inc. and Loblaw Companies Limited announced an agreement for EQB to acquire President’s Choice Bank (PC Bank), PC^® Financial Insurance Agency Inc., PC^® Financial Insurance Brokers Inc. and certain other affiliated entities of PC Bank. EQB, the parent company of digital bank EQ Bank, will finance the $800-million deal by issuing shares to Loblaw, giving the grocer a 16-percent stake in the company. The acquisition will increase EQB’s total assets by 11 percent to $59 billion, quadruple its customer base to nearly 3.5 million and nearly double its revenue. The deal will create one of Canada's largest loyalty-linked banking ecosystems and one of Canada's largest digital banks by customers. EQB Inc.

Toronto-based Propel Holdings Inc., a fintech facilitating access to credit for underserved consumers, announced it has received regulatory approval from the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCFI) of Puerto Rico to establish Propel International Bank, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Propel. Propel Bank is licensed as an International Financial Entity (IFE) overseen by the OCFI. Established under the U.S. banking framework, many IFEs today provide a range of banking and financial services to clients in the U.S. and globally. The Puerto Rico licence will let Propel operate in all 50 U.S. states and opens the door to further global expansion. Propel Bank will be headquartered in Puerto Rico with its own management team. Propel Holdings will not become a bank holding company. Propel Holdings Inc.

REPORTS & POLICIES

Invest small amounts of capital “in almost everything” to commercialize research effectively: Kyle Briggs

Investors in Canada need to reframe how they evaluate and manage risk, understand that most investments will fail, and invest relatively small amounts of capital “in almost everything” to commercialize research effectively, according to Kyle Briggs.

Public sector investors especially need to understand that most investments will fail and that this is acceptable as long as the combined return over time is positive, he said in testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research.

The Committee is looking into ways to better commercialize innovation emerging from publicly funded research at Canadian universities.

Briggs is a physicist and entrepreneur in residence in the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa. He’s the author of the CanInnovate blog on innovation policy.

Briggs said he was not the only voice in the room calling for risk-tolerant capital to be deployed, including a pressing need for:

• funding specific to early-stage startups commercializing research.
• funding for intellectual property creation, protection, retention and strategy.
• IP-based valuation tools and IP-backed lending mechanisms.
• moving away from input metrics like research spending as indicators of impact and toward actually measuring the resulting outputs.

Briggs said the value of research follows a power law distribution: a small minority of new technologies eventually create most of the economic value. But it is impossible to reliably predict which ones will succeed or be valuable when the research is transferred to the private sector.

This means it is more important to make sure that Canada doesn’t miss the valuable minority than it is to make sure that every attempt is successful, he said.

“It follows that the most effective strategy for commercializing research successfully is to invest relatively small amounts of capital early in almost everything. Mostly, Canada does not do this.”

Attempts to commercialize research have failure rates above 90 percent, but the successes create more than enough value to offset the cost of the failures, Briggs argued.

Countries that “invest well” have three things in common, he noted, namely that the public sector:

1. funds innovative startups before they have revenues.
2. usually favours new startups over existing companies as vehicles of innovation.
3. is willing to let previously funded projects fail when necessary.

This approach to funding serves to de-risk innovative companies to the point where they can attract private sector investment, and ensures that valuable technologies do not slip through the cracks, Briggs said.

Ironically, systemic risk intolerance in the Canadian public sector mostly prevents it from funding pre-revenue companies in this way, and Canadian VCs cannot address the gap because of the long timelines involved, he said.

While it may be true to say that our public sector has become too risk averse, Briggs maintained that “investing in almost everything” “is in fact less risky (or at least more likely to produce a positive outcome).”

Another element common to effective commercialization elsewhere is harmonized innovation policy, Briggs noted.

The United States has the Bayh-Dole Act, for example, that guides how universities transfer technologies to the private sector. “In Canada, we lack even an attempt at national coordination,” he said.

Independent Nova Scotia Senator Colin Deacon’s office recently found 134 different innovation funding programs at the federal level alone, and the Tri-Council agencies provide no top-down guidance on how universities should manage research IP. As a result, every research institution has a different IP policy, licensing negotiations with most research institutions are slow, no two licences are alike, and there is no standard for data collection on licensing or outcomes, Briggs said.

To address these challenges, Briggs and colleagues developed SAIL, a licence framework designed to support harmonized and streamlined Canadian tech transfer from research institutions to startups.

After consulting with a national community of innovation stakeholders, he and his colleagues designed SAIL based on six axioms of tech transfer specific to Canada’s unique challenges.

SAIL asks universities to play the role of “first investor” in research commercialization and rewards them with a pre-defined amount of convertible debt in exchange. The framework can be easily amended (with legal advice) to support a variety of startups more efficiently and effectively than building a new licence from scratch every time, Briggs said.

He and his colleagues are also working to adapt a risk-tolerant funding mechanism, the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, which has been highly successful in the U.K., where it created an estimated $7 of economic value for every $1 of input.

This model uses venture philanthropy delivered through a public-private partnership, combining public funds with private donations and university contributions to create a charitable investment fund that reinvests all returns to ensure that it is self-sustaining. Briggs and his colleagues propose the model be implemented at the national level.

Variations on this model have been implemented at a handful of Canadian research institutions, most notably the UCeed fund, owned by the University of Calgary and administered by Innovate Calgary, a wholly owned subsidiary of the university.

Policies to promote and grow private sector investment in research can only be effective if we increase the pool of investable, innovative companies, Briggs said. “To do that, we must first build a better bridge from lab to market.” He recommended that Canada:

1. embrace strategic risk-taking: deploy public funding toward pre-revenue startups commercializing Canadian research by trialing venture philanthropy delivered as a public-private partnership with a national scope.
2. nationally harmonize a Canada-first approach to management of the IP arising from publicly funded research. CanInnovate

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British Columbia’s policies aren’t aligned with its ambition to lead in the global knowledge economy

British Columbia should be a global leader in sovereign digital infrastructure, but the province’s policies aren’t aligned with its intention to lead in the knowledge economy, according to a commentary from the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI).

Innovators trying to build Canadian-owned digital infrastructure in B.C. are often stuck in limbo – delayed by administrative bottlenecks, permitting uncertainty and a lack of prioritization, said Kiersten Enemark, CCI’s director of B.C. affairs.

Alberta, meanwhile, is aggressively courting data-centre investment with new tax tools and fast-tracking approvals, she said. “B.C. risks signalling to innovators that they should build the future somewhere else.”

B.C. has clean power, a northern climate ideal for cooling compute, world-class researchers, strong fibre networks and a thriving innovation economy, she said.

One the one hand, B.C. has prioritized new technologies and improving digital services, and has committed to lead in quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

Yet the B.C. government has not designated Canadian data centres as provincially significant projects worthy of being fast-tracked, and B.C. also is seeking to limit energy resources, Enemark said.

Today, much of Canada’s private-sector data sits on cloud systems owned and operated by foreign multinationals. Even when the servers sit in Canada, the control – and the legal jurisdiction – sits outside Canada’s borders.

“In a world of rising geopolitical tension and cyber risk, that is not simply an economic concern. It is a sovereignty risk,” Enemark said.

In a world where intelligence is a production input, data, compute and machine knowledge are the new “means of production,” she noted. “If we don’t own and operate them, we don’t control our future. Period.”

B.C. has a choice to make, she said: Do we become tenants in the digital economy, or do we build and own the infrastructure that will define our future?

The provincial government deserves credit for recognizing the need to accelerate infrastructure delivery through Bill 15 – 2025 Infrastructure Projects Act, Enemark said.

But if the goal is to build a resilient and future-ready economy, the definition of “provincially significant infrastructure” must reflect the world we now live in by including “sovereign digital infrastructure,” she said.

The construction of sovereign digital infrastructure – Canadian-owned data centres, trusted cloud, telecommunication networks and advanced compute – must be eligible for fast-track designation under Bill 15, Enemark said. “This single change would send a powerful signal: B.C. intends not only to use AI, but to build and own the platforms that power it.”

If B.C. is serious about leading in AI, BC Hydro must be directed to prioritize Canadian-owned digital infrastructure projects that support the province’s innovation economy, she argued.

At the same time, Bill 31 – 2025 Energy Statues Amendment Act, should be amended so domestic data-centre projects are not constrained by restrictions on electrical access, Enemark said. “We should not be blocking future tax-base assets while other provinces are rolling out the welcome mat.”

Budget 2025 included funds to scale home-grown AI solutions and strengthen Canada’s global leadership in trusted, sovereign AI. This is an opportunity for the provincial government to capture federal spending dollars to invest in B.C. digital infrastructure, she said.

For public infrastructure projects, B.C. must treat procurement as a strategic lever – not an afterthought, Enemark said.

When government buys Canadian technology, it doesn’t just solve a public sector problem; it helps build exportable IP, create skilled jobs, and strengthen domestic supply chains, she said.

Enemark pointed to the City of Vancouver awarding a contract to local firm Industrio AI, for an AI-powered solution to verify compliance with concrete standards for embodied carbon, as “exactly the kind of smart procurement that strengthens B.C. firms rather than subsidizing foreign scale.”

B.C. innovators already are exporting cutting-edge technology globally – like Burnaby-based Novarc, whose AI-powered welding systems are used on critical infrastructure projects around the world. “Yet these innovations remain under-used in B.C.’s own public builds,” she said.

Accelerating infrastructure projects is also a lever to accelerate innovation. Every new infrastructure project – whether housing, transit, or energy – is also a chance to scale domestic technology by including homegrown innovations in the supply chain, she said. “We should treat it that way.”

The next century will belong to jurisdictions that build sovereign digital capacity – the ones that own the economic engines of intelligence, not just extract the commodities that feed them, Enemark said.

B.C. has the talent, the power, the climate and the ambition, she said. “What we need now is the resolve to treat data, compute, and cloud with the same seriousness we treat mining, pipelines and ports.”

“Sovereignty is not a slogan. It is a build-or-be-built-for choice,” Enemark said. “And now is the moment to choose.” CCI

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Competition Bureau’s investigation of Amazon’s Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy rests on shaky ground: commentary

The Canadian Competition Bureau’s investigation into Amazon’s online Canadian marketplace is one of the first major tests of Parliament’s 2023 reforms to the Competition Act that made it easier for the Bureau to intervene with companies suspected of engaging in anticompetitive conduct.

The Competition Bureau said in July it obtained a court order to advance its investigation into Amazon’s conduct on its online Canadian marketplace, Amazon.ca, to determine if the company is engaging in conduct that may be an “abuse of dominance” under the Competition Act.

The Bureau is investigating specifically the Amazon Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy, which sellers must agree to as a condition of selling on Amazon.ca.

The Bureau is seeking to determine whether the purpose or effect of this policy is to:

• allow Amazon to charge higher fees to sellers than it otherwise would, and whether this in turn causes sellers to charge higher retail prices to customers.
• prevent the entry or expansion of existing or potential rivals by preventing sellers from offering lower prices elsewhere than they do on Amazon.
• lessen price competition among online marketplaces or retail channels.

However, the Bureau’s case likely faces a basic analytical problem, and showing that Amazon’s policy has raised prices or block rivals across the board “will be a high bar to clear,” according to a commentary by Lawrence Zhang, head of policy at the Ottawa-based Centre for Canadian Innovation and Competitiveness in Ottawa. The centre is affiliated with the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) based in Washington, D.C.

“The Amazon case will test how Canada’s new competition law handles big digital platforms. The Bureau should only challenge Amazon’s price-parity rule if it has genuinely harmed Canadian consumers by raising prices or eliminating choice,” he says.

Amazon’s practices may upset some sellers, but they keep prices consistent and low for consumers, Zhang argues. Focusing only on sellers risks missing how competition actually works on platforms like Amazon, where lower prices and more buyers on one side attract more sellers on the other, he says.

“What’s at stake isn’t Amazon’s size but whether the pricing rules raise prices for Canadians. The short answer is: They don’t,” Zhang says.

The Competition Bureau is investigating whether Amazon’s Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy, which (among other things) can restrict placement for third-party sellers who list products on Amazon.ca at higher prices than on other Canadian sites, and in turn, allegedly allows Amazon to restrict rival marketplaces, raise seller fees, and weaken price competition across online retail. The inquiry closely parallels the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s ongoing antitrust case, which alleges that Amazon maintained monopoly power through “anti-discounting” rules similar to Amazon Canada’s pricing policy.

The ITIF has questioned that theory, noting it rests on uncertain economic assumptions and thin evidence of consumer harm, Zhang notes.

While the claims are similar, Canada’s new competition rules give the Competition Bureau greater flexibility to act against conduct that it believes has “adverse effects on competition,” even when intent or consumer harm is difficult to prove, he said.

The 2023 reforms allow the Competition Tribunal to issue orders where a dominant firm’s conduct shows either anticompetitive intent or effect, rather than requiring both. The reforms replace the older “substantial lessening of competition” effects test with the broader “adverse effect” standard, enabling earlier intervention without necessarily needing concrete evidence of consumer harm.

By contrast, under the U.S. Sherman Act, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission must show both monopoly power (a higher standard than “dominance”) and consumer harm, typically through higher prices, reduced output or lower quality, Zhang points out.

“The evidentiary bar for proving illegality is therefore far higher than under Canada’s new framework,” he says.

“If Canada can move forward on evidence that falls significantly short of what the U.S. Federal Trade Commission must prove, this case could set an early benchmark for how aggressively the [Competition] Bureau uses its expanded mandate in digital markets,” Zhang says.

Some observers worry this shift could tilt Canada’s enforcement approach closer to Europe’s, where competition law often focuses on protecting competitors rather than directly improving consumer outcomes, he adds.

But even under the new lower threshold, the Competition Bureau’s case likely faces a basic analytical problem, Zhang contends.

It defines the market narrowly as the “supply of online marketplace services” to third-party sellers, treating Amazon as an infrastructure provider rather than a two-sided platform connecting sellers and consumers.

That framing isolates one side of the market while ignoring the network effects that make platforms competitive in the first place, Zhang says.

The marketplace’s value to sellers depends on how many consumers shop there, and its value to consumers depends on how many sellers offer low prices.

“Any assessment of dominance or harm should consider both sides together, not just one side in isolation. If the Bureau does the latter, it risks missing the very feedback loop that makes platforms work for consumers and sellers alike.”

Even if one just focuses on the supply side, the Competition Bureau is missing the competitive dynamics that actually discipline Amazon’s behaviour, Zhang says.

Sellers have multiple alternatives, like independent Shopify stores, specialized platforms like Newegg or SSENSE, rival marketplaces like eBay, Temu, and Well.ca, or brick-and-mortar retailers with online operations such as Walmart and Canadian Tire.

Indeed, consumers continue to value in-person shopping: 61 percent of Canadians still make most purchases in physical stores, showing that online marketplaces are only one part of a broader retail ecosystem, Zhang points out.

The second issue is conduct. The Bureau is asking whether Amazon’s rule – which places limits on sellers who charge higher prices on Amazon than elsewhere – is anti-competitive. “That is a hard case to make,” Zhang contends.

Price-parity rules can, in theory, blunt discounting or slow new entrants, which could reflect coordinated pricing or exclusion, “neither of which is likely to be proven here.”

Specifically, the inquiry treats Amazon’s Fair Pricing Policy as a platform-wide issue rather than a market-specific one, he says.

Yet Amazon sells millions of items across nearly every retail category. “Demonstrating that its policy has raised prices or blocked rivals across the board will be a high bar to clear. Without clear evidence of consumer harm, the case risks becoming less about conduct and more about scale,” Zhang says.

In practice, Amazon’s policy also has pro-competitive benefits. Rather than harm competition, the Fair Pricing Policy reflects standard retail practice that even predates e-commerce, he says.

Retailers regularly require suppliers not to undercut them in other channels. The purpose is straightforward: Protect the retailer’s reputation for price competitiveness and predictability. Moreover, it is difficult to see how a policy designed to prevent mark-ups could leave Canadians paying more, he notes. Amazon’s policy keeps prices lower, not higher, on its platform. “Interpreting that as price inflation risks punishing a policy that delivers exactly what competition is supposed to achieve – lower prices for consumers,” he says.

A rule that prevents overpricing may frustrate rivals, but that frustration is not the same as harm to competition, Zhang says. “In fact, lower prices attract more consumers, which in turn attract more sellers: a feedback loop that reflects competition on the merits.”

Concludes Zhang: The outcome of the Competition Bureau’s investigation will say less about Amazon than about whether Canada intends to use its new competition tools to target successful digital platforms for the very practices that define retail competition on the merits. Centre for Canadian Innovation and Competitiveness

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U.S. tariffs create a fragmented Canadian economy, with softwood lumber sector the hardest-hit by tariffs and duties: RBC analysis

U.S. tariffs have created a fragmented Canadian economy where a subset of sectors faces a significant trade shock, while most other exports continue to enter the U.S. duty free, according to an analysis by RBC.

Exemptions under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement have protected the bulk of Canada’s U.S. trade, says the analysis RBC senior economist Claire Fan and economist Annie Zheng.

Even among the sectors targeted with tariffs, the impacts have been uneven given varying abilities among Canadian exporters and U.S. importers to find alternative international trade partners or domestic sources, their analysis found.

They tracked moderately lower manufacturing production and employment in most of the highly tariffed sectors in Canada.

These trends have also been much less volatile than international trade flow, which were heavily distorted around when tariffs were implemented (as U.S. importers front-ran purchases to build pre-tariff inventories in the first quarter of 2025), they said.

Selling prices among Canadian manufacturers have generally held up, with foreign buyers paying the bulk of initial tariff costs, but have led to declining U.S. corporate profits this year, according to their analysis.

 “We haven’t seen systemically higher U.S. consumer prices but still expect those will show up more significantly in 2026,” they said.

The analysis looked at how five key Canadian industries have fared in their production, employment and selling prices, amid rising U.S. tariffs.

Canada’s softwood lumber sector has been the hardest-hit by U.S. tariffs and countervailing and anti-dumping duties, with softwood lumber production in Canada at the start of this year already 20 percent below 2021. Production dropped another four percent from January to August from a year ago.

Downstream wood product manufacturing rose two percent from January to September from 2024, thanks mostly to stronger fall activities.

Jobs in forestry and logging fell four percent this year to September from 2024, extending multi-year losses. Employment in wood manufacturing fell a smaller one percent.

In auto manufacturing, Canadian value-added motor vehicle and parts production is down three percent year-to-date, but has improved in recent months with a first year-over-year increase (two percent) in September since the end of 2023. Employment mirrors the three-percent drop in auto manufacturing employment.

Capacity utilization rate in 2025 among Canadian transportation equipment manufacturers has, for the most part, been running above that a year ago.

In the aluminum sector, aluminum output edged down modestly by two percent this year to September with stabilization in Q3. Downstream aluminum manufacturing fell a larger 14 percent in the same time frame.

Jobs in aluminum manufacturing have improved despite lower production, and are up five percent year-to-date from 2024.

In Canada’s iron and steel industry, iron concentrate mining is down three percent this year through September compared to 2024 with a slight rebound in Q3 from Q2’s weakness. Production in iron and steel mills and ferro-alloy manufacturing is down five percent in the same period.

Jobs in iron and steel-related manufacturing subsectors contracted modestly by one percent on a year-to-date basis from 2024.

In the machinery, equipment and related sectors, machinery manufacturing saw a three percent increase in the first nine months of 2025 from 2024. Computer and electronics manufacturing also rose three percent while production in electrical equipment manufacturing edged two percent lower.

Employment in machinery, computer and electrical equipment manufacturing combined is down moderately, about one percent this year to September. RBC

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Canadian agriculture and agri-food stakeholders say diversifying trade away from U.S. should be a key priority

Of more than 500 Canadian agriculture and agri-food stakeholders surveyed, two-thirds (64 percent) say the U.S. now represents too large a concentration of industry trade, and that diversification should be a key priority going forward, according to a survey by the Angus Reid Institute and the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute.

More than half (53 percent) are confident that Canada can make up losses from the U.S. in other markets, though two-in-five (43 percent) show more trepidation.

As for where the industry should focus, four-in-five (84 percent) say the domestic Canadian market represents significant growth opportunities, whereas 84 percent say Asia (outside of China and India), and 82 percent say Europe .

Comparing the industry’s perceived threats from this year to last, trade barriers and protectionism remain top of mind (66 percent in 2024, 69 percent in 2025), while extreme weather and climate change both land in the top 10 again.

Increasing this year in perceived risk is the political dynamic of the United States, from 32 percent to 57 percent. Also rising are concerns over input affordability and commodity price volatility.

The industry clearly perceives challenges but also remains optimistic. Seven-in-10 (70 percent) say this of the future of agriculture in Canada, though notably, farmers (59 percent) are less optimistic than those working in government (80 percent) and civil society (85 percent).

Views of confidence in government to help either improve or mitigate the top 10 challenges shows a trend that is positive compared to 2024, but still largely negative. One-quarter or fewer have confidence across all 10 areas.

The top priorities for government according to the industry are improving interprovincial trade (42 percent), international market access (40 percent) and trade policy and advocacy (34 percent). The proportion prioritizing interprovincial trade has risen from 15 percent last year. Angus Reid Institute

THE GRAPEVINE – News about people, institutions and communities

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Marc Miller, who handled portfolios like immigration and Crown-Indigenous relations under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, will take over the heritage file, which includes responsibility for a new federal online harms bill. Miller replaces Steven Guilbeault, who resigned from cabinet after Carney signed an agreement with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith opening the door to a new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast. Carney also named Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement, to serve as Quebec Lieutenant. PMO’s Office

Matthew Boswell, commissioner of Competition Bureau Canada, announced he will end his term on December 17, 2025. “With my term as Commissioner of Competition set to end in February 2026, I have decided, for personal reasons, that I will leave the role a little earlier,” Boswell said. Jeanne Pratt, senior deputy senior deputy commissioner, mergers and monopolistic practices branch, will become the acting commissioner starting December 18 until a further announcement from the federal government is made regarding the position. Boswell has been an activist commissioner since his 2018 appointment, putting a new focus on Big Tech and  artificial intelligence. Competition Bureau Canada

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) appointed Richard Florizone and Joelle Foster to CFI’s board of directors, each for a three-year term. Florizone is president of Florizone Consulting, special advisor to the president of the University of Waterloo, senior advisor for Canadian Power-to-X Partners, and president Emeritus of Dalhousie University. Foster co-founded North Forge, a tech incubator and fabrication lab, in 2016. She has been president and CEO of North Forge since 2020. She is also managing partner and co-founder of the Women’s Equity Lab. The CFI also welcomed new members, Martha Crago, professor of communication sciences and disorders at McGill University, and Feridun Hamdullahpur, who has been president emeritus of the University of Waterloo since 2021. CFI

U.K.-based fintech Revolut appointed Jan Pilbauer as the new CEO of its Canadian operations as it considers re-entering the Canadian market, which it exited in 2021. Pilbauer, who previously led Al Etihad Payments in Abu Dhabi, brings extensive fintech experience, including roles at Payments Canada and the Bank of Canada. The new Canadian CEO will be responsible for scaling the business, acquiring necessary regulatory licenses, and building relationships with stakeholders. Startup Ecosystem Canada

Mark Evans, the founding executive of Winnipeg-based wealth-tech firm Conquest Planning Inc. is leaving his role as CEO and will move into the role of executive chair. Brad Joudrie, the firm’s longstanding chief revenue officer, will become the new CEO. The move comes after significant growth for Conquest, which was founded in 2018 and has grown to serve 60 percent of the Canadian advisor market as well as segments in the U.S. and U.K. Wealth Professional

Mississauga, Ont.-based goeasy Ltd. a Canadian alternative financial services company, announced that CEO Dan Rees will step down effective December 31, 2025. The board appointed Patrick Ens, currently president of easyfinancial, as incoming CEO, effective January 1, 2026. The company said Rees's blood disorder requires him to leave the role. He will remain with the company as special advisor to the CEO from January 1 through June 30, 2026, to support a transition period. goeasy  

J D Saint-Martin, the departing president of Lightspeed, is set to join Montreal venture capital firm Boreal Ventures as a co-managing partner. Saint-Martin announced his departure from e-commerce and point-of-sales company Lightspeed, effective at the end of March 2026, to return to his roots in venture capital. At Boreal Ventures, he aims to leverage his revenue-scaling expertise to help portfolio companies, particularly in blue-collar industries, fintech, and digital health, overcome common growth challenges. Boreal Ventures, which was launched in 2021 with Montreal incubator Centech, has nearly exhausted its $26-million first fund and is now raising its second fund. Startup Ecosystem Canada

Apple announced that John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president for machine learning and AI strategy, is stepping down from his position and will serve as an advisor to the company before retiring in the spring of 2026. The move comes as the Silicon Valley giant has lagged behind its competitors in rolling out generative AI features, in particular its voice assistant Siri. Apple also announced that AI researcher Amar Subramanya has joined Apple as vice president of AI, reporting to Craig Federighi. Subramanya brings a wealth of experience to Apple, having most recently served as corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft, and previously spent 16 years at Google where he was head of engineering for Google’s Gemini Assistant prior to his departure. Apple

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Groundbreaking research led by University of Alberta challenges the theory that mad cow disease is caused only by misfolded proteins

Groundbreaking research led by the University of Alberta (U of A) challenges the belief that mad cow disease is caused only by misfolded proteins – a discovery that sheds new light on the devastating outbreak in the U.K. 40 years ago and provides new hope for prevention.

The study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, shows for the first time that such prion-like brain diseases can be triggered without the presence of infectious prions. Prion disease occurs when normal proteins in the brain misfold into infectious, abnormal proteins.

Instead, researchers in the new study identified chronic inflammation caused by a powerful bacterial endotoxin called lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as a culprit that can independently trigger brain damage resembling prion disease.

“This fundamentally challenges the prevailing theory that these types of brain diseases are only about prions or similar misfolded proteins,” says Burim Ametaj, a nutritional immunobiologist in U of A’s Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences and lead author on the study.

The research revealed more of a multifaceted process behind that neurodegeneration, showing that inflammation weakens the brain’s defences first, overwhelming cells. Proteins could then start misfolding and the immune system over-reacts, causing more damage.

“All three processes feed into each other, which means we need to target inflammation and immune health, not just the misfolded proteins,” Ametaj said.

The discovery suggests that endotoxins in the animal-derived feed offered to cattle may have contributed to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, crises in the United Kingdom, he said.

The outbreaks devastated the livestock industry in the 1980s and 1990s, resulting in the deaths of more than 160 people who’d eaten infected beef, and the slaughter of more than four million cattle.

The U of A-led study provided striking evidence that LPS alone, administered under the skin, caused spongiform brain symptoms in 40 per cent of mouse models – a “holey” appearance in the tissues seen in BSE and related diseases. When LPS was combined with lab-created misfolded proteins, that number rose to 50 per cent.

In both scenarios, this Alzheimer-like damage happened even when the naturally occurring infectious prion responsible for BSE was absent.

The research also showed that when an actual prion disease such as BSE is present, inflammation caused by LPS dramatically worsens damage to the brain, resulting in 100-percent mortality within 200 days of infection.

The new findings could offer insight into why there were many more BSE cases in England and Wales than in Scotland, based on the procedures that meat-rendering plants used to make livestock feed, Ametaj said.

“Plants in England and Wales removed a critical substance called hexane from the production process to cut costs. This solvent was essential not only for fat extraction, but also for dissolving and removing LPS from the meat-and-bone meal.

“In contrast, Scottish rendering plants retained the hexane step and potentially because of that, had markedly fewer BSE cases – a fact long known but never systematically explained,” Ametaj said.

The study measured LPS in meat-and-bone meal, blood meal and tallow – the feed implicated in BSE – and confirmed high levels of contamination.

Combined with chronic exposure to such feed, predisposing conditions in dairy cows induced by high-grain diets immediately postpartum, and by an increased “leaky gut,” can trigger systemic inflammation and could contribute to the development of neurodegenerative disease, Ametaj noted.

The research may hold major implications for feed and livestock producers, he added.

“The lessons from the BSE outbreaks about proper rendering processes and better feed safety remain relevant today. The prevention path is clear: maintain endotoxin-removal processing steps and monitor contamination. Any industrial feeding system that doesn’t control this could create conditions for neurodegeneration.”

Ametaj is also “cautiously optimistic” about how the findings could help prevent or treat human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson’s.

“It opens up an entire anti-inflammatory medicine toolkit. Bacterial endotoxins have been found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, so risk factors that reduce dementia – exercise, anti-inflammatory diets, gut health, metabolic health – might work partly by reducing endotoxin burden.

“These diseases are complex, but if endotoxin exposure contributes to even 20 to 30 per cent of cases, controlling this modifiable risk factor could spare millions of people,” Ametaj said. “We might prevent some neurodegenerative diseases the way we prevent heart disease, by managing inflammatory risk factors throughout life.”

Study co-authors include former master’s student Seyed Ali Goldansaz, postdoctoral fellows Dagnachew Hailemariam and Elda Dervishi, U of A scientists David Wishart and David Westaway and his team, and researchers from the University of Warmia and Mazury in Poland. U of A

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