Minister Ng highlights government initiative to scale up Canadian companies

Government of Canada investing in $20-million project to launch integrated market

TORONTO, Sept. 6, 2019 /CNW/ - The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, participated in a panel discussion on implementing medical innovation at the 2019 edition of the Toronto Global Forum hosted by the International Economic Forum of the Americas.

There, she highlighted the Government of Canada's recent establishment of an integrated market—a $20-million project to scale up companies in health and biosciences in communities across Canada. This will be done through an initial $7-million investment to support the establishment of the CAN Health Network with its first network partners.

The CAN Health Network is an integrated market that will allow promising companies to work directly with health care organizations to understand their needs and commercialize health technologies to meet those needs and scale up their companies. Through this integrated market, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and leading start-ups will be able to work with early adopter institutions to collaboratively research, develop and refine Canadian medical technologies to make them market-ready.

With procurement often identified as both a barrier and an opportunity, the CAN Health Network builds directly on the recommendations of the Health and Biosciences Economic Strategy Table to accelerate innovation adoption through new innovation procurement models.

Health care spending in Canada reached $253 billion in 2018—11% of the country's GDP—and the international market for medical technologies alone is estimated at $500 billion annually. With market opportunities of this magnitude, the global health technology sector is growing rapidly in Canada and around the world, and the CAN Health Network will position Canadian companies for success.

This investment will build the first points of the national network in western Canada and Ontario, with further expansion planned for Quebec, Atlantic Canada and northern Canada. The success of this initial investment will guide future funding decisions.

By harnessing this economic opportunity with leading-edge SMEs and scale-ups, the Government of Canada will build Canadian leadership in health care technologies, creating global companies that anchor thousands of middle-class jobs here in Canada.

Quotes

"Our government is making investments to scale up companies and create good jobs for Canadians. The integrated market is an innovative approach supporting technology development and business growth. Through easy access to a large, consolidated domestic marketplace, companies will scale up and be anchored in Canada, commercializing technologies that can be exported around the world."
– The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion

Quick facts

• The Government of Canada will be investing up to $20 million to scale up companies.
• This will be done through an initial $7-million investment to support the establishment of the CAN Health Network with its first partner organizations.
• We are building on the work of the Health and Biosciences Economic Strategy Table, which has the goal of doubling the size of the industry by 2025 and making Canada one of the top three hubs in the world in this sector.
• We need to unlock the full potential of Canadian innovation in both the public and private sectors, scaling up companies to become global leaders.
• With over a quarter trillion dollars being spent in Canada on health care every year, there is huge potential to scale up leading Canadian firms.
• This investment will help enable health technology companies to work directly with an integrated market of health care organizations to build global Canadian leadership.
• This national integrated market will help give made-in-Canada innovations easy access to a large, consolidated domestic marketplace.
• After the first sale is made within the integrated market, those technologies can then be easily sold to others in the CAN Health Network, enabling the company to scale up by leveraging the purchasing power of Canadian health care procurement.

Associated links

• Innovation and Skills Plan
• Canadian Trade Commissioner Service
• CanExport
• Canada Business App
• Accelerated Growth Service
• Industrial Research Assistance Program
• Innovative Solutions Canada
• Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative

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SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada