The Short Report: September 18, 2024

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

 Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) announced more than $502.3 million in funding for over 6,900 researchers, as well as students, institutions and research projects, across Canada. As part of Budget 2024, the federal government allocated more than $4.6 billion to strengthen Canadian research and innovation, including $825 million over five years to increase support for master’s and doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows, as well as $1.8 billion over five years, and $748.3 million per year ongoing, to the three federal granting councils to increase core research grant funding and support Canadian researchers. The more than $500 million in funding announced is distributed across the country through:

• 2023–2024 scholarships and fellowships– awarding $264.2 million to 5,554 scholarship and fellowship recipients through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
• College and Community Innovation program– awarding $29.05 million to 58 research projects and programs through the Mobilize grants and the College and Community Social Innovation Fund grants.
• John R. Evans Leaders Fund– awarding $86 million to 316 projects at 47 institutions across Canada, through the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Projects being funded include: predicting sea level rise; streamlining cheese production; examining gene mutation’s role in mental illness, and many others.
• SSHRC Insight Grants– awarding $86.3 million to 503 established scholars.
• SSHRC Insight Development Grants– awarding $36.8 million to 509 emerging and established scholars.

Budget 2024 also provided investments of $734 million in modern, high-quality research facilities and infrastructure. This includes $399.8 million over five years for TRIUMF, Canada’s Vancouver-based particle accelerator, to enable TRIUMF to upgrade infrastructure around its cyclotron particle accelerator. ISED

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) announced a contribution of $15.2 million, through the Strategic Innovation Fund, to support Quebec City-based Coveo Solutions Inc.’s project to enhance its platform with new, cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology. Coveo’s $100-million project will enhance the Coveo Platform with generative AI capabilities and other innovations, allowing enterprises to efficiently develop and deploy AI solutions that will provide personalized user experiences to customers and employees. This project, which aims to build new and exciting AI tools, encourages investment in technical AI resources in Canada. It also allows the opportunity to work closely with Canadian universities and research institutes and keep talented people working in Canada. ISED

The Government of Ontario is providing a loan of up to $1.34 billion to support construction of the Watay Power Transmission Project, the largest Indigenous-led and lengthiest electricity grid connection project in Ontario’s history. Through the second phase of a partnership between Ontario and Watay Power, Sachigo Lake First Nation will become the most recent community to connect to clean, reliable and affordable energy, ending the community’s reliance on costly diesel-powered generators. Approximately 1,800 kilometres of transmission line are being built by Watay Power Transmission Project. Once built, the Watay transmission line will connect more than 18,000 people in 16 remote communities, avoiding an estimated $1 billion in diesel costs over 40 years, and reducing 6.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year – equivalent to taking almost 35,000 cars off the road. The project achieved its first major milestone with the early connection of Pikangikum First Nation in December 2018. Since the project’s conception, nearly 1,000 First Nation members have worked on the construction of the line. Govt. of Ontario

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) announced federal investments of $14.9 million for 20 projects that will install more than 3,000 electric vehicle chargers across Canada, while raising awareness of the benefits of EVs and advancing training and code upgrades to ensure more communities have access to current information on and opportunities of EVs. The projects include a $1.5-million investment, through NRCan’s Zero-Emissions Vehicles Awareness Initiative, in Toronto-based Plug ’N Drive to raise awareness and help address challenges related to awareness, knowledge, confidence and adoption of zero-emission vehicles and lower-carbon trucks. The funding also includes an investment of more than $3.1 million, through Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada’s Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, in the CleanBC Communities Fund, to support two projects in British Columbia that will provide more options for electric vehicle charging. NRCan

The Government of British Columbia is providing more than $14 million this year, through the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund, to local businesses, foundations and First Nations to develop creative and effective ways to repair, reuse and recycle plastics into new products to reduce waste. This funding will support 32 projects and create more than 100 new jobs throughout the province. Nine of the 32 projects funded in this round are Indigenous-led, with recipients from the Indigenous projects category receiving more than $800,000. This year, the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund is piloting a new funding category, called regional plastics innovation, which supports projects based outside of the Lower Mainland and the Capital Regional District. This category is being funded in addition to the three previously existing categories: post-consumer recycled plastics, Indigenous projects, and circular economy innovation. An additional $8 million will be distributed in the final funding intake for Phase 3. Interested applicants can apply online, and successful projects will be chosen in early 2025. All projects must be B.C.-based and completed by February 2026. Govt. of B.C.

The Government of Saskatchewan announced more than $25 million, through the Saskatchewan Technology Fund, to support 13 industry-driven projects focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the province. These projects, which leverage more than $277 million in additional private sector and government investment, will ensure the sustainability of Saskatchewan industries and drive forward technologies that will lead to a cleaner, more prosperous future, the government said. The funding will support a range of market-ready technologies, innovations and improvement projects. The projects are expected to result in the reduction of nearly 4.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through reducing methane emissions from venting and flaring, upgrading equipment to enhance energy efficiency, and deploying carbon capture and storage technologies. Govt. of Saskatchewan

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOC) announced a $12.6-million investment, under the Community Futures program, to support the network of 41 Community Business Development Corporations (CBDCs) in Atlantic Canada. This investment will help CBDCs provide crucial financial support, skills training, expert knowledge and tailored on-the-ground initiatives to the rural businesses, organizations and communities they serve. Over the past year, CBDCs in all four Atlantic provinces have supported hundreds of businesses. These include companies such as: Krista Lyn Vaters Interior Design Studio Inc. in Botwood, Newfoundland and Labrador, Cielo Glamping Maritime in Haut-Shippagan, N.B., Ketobolic Kitchen in Bridgetown, N.S. and Prince County Guest House in Miscouche, P.E.I. ACOC

The Government of British Columbia is contributing up to $11.4 million, through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund, to eight forestry sector capital projects and one planning project in communities throughout the province. These projects will see local manufacturers innovate their business lines using advanced manufacturing equipment and processes to make higher-value products, scale up their operations to remain competitive, and improve overall production capacity, while establishing new local jobs and protecting existing ones. For example, Kruger's  pulp mill in Kamloops will receive up to $5 million to support the commissioning of a new pressure diffusion washer with an AI-powered control system that will be the first technology of its kind in Canada. The Government of Canada is also providing $4.9 million under the Investment in Forest Industry Transformation Program for this initiative. Govt. of B.C.

The Government of British Columbia is renewing its $4-million investment in the Canadian Tech Talent Accelerator (CTTA) program to prepare more than 1,800 jobseekers across the province for careers in the tech sector. The program was created in partnership with NPower Canada, Microsoft Canada, CIBC, and DIGITAL, the Vancouver-based global innovation cluster. This second phase of the CTTA's initiative will introduce new upskilling programs and opportunities in cybersecurity and generative AI. The CTTA project has a focus on increasing the number of underrepresented and marginalized communities in B.C.’s growing tech sector. Of the more than 2,200 participants currently served by the program, 77 percent of participants are Black, Indigenous, or People of Colour; 65 percent are newcomers to Canada; 48 percent are women; and eight percent identify as LGBTQ2S+. Vancouver Tech Journal

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) announced $2.9 million for Canadian organizations for eight projects dedicated to environmental education and climate literacy. Funded organizations and projects include:

• The Centre for Global Education in Edmonton, which will develop the Advanced Placement Nature and Earth Seminar program designed to redefine education for historically marginalized young people, by integrating knowledge from Indigenous communities with contemporary ecological concerns.
• The Musée de la santé Armand-Frappier in Laval, Que. will be setting up an exhibition and a bilingual online educational program focusing on the impact of climate change on human health and the importance of individual and collective climate action.
• The Foundation for Environmental Stewardship in Toronto will develop a net-zero solutions portal with video modules and educational kits for schools, along with a mentoring program for young people on net-zero solutions in rural communities across Canada.
• Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. will receive support for its Accelerating Climate Change Education in Teacher Education project, which aims to support climate change education in pre-service and in-service teacher training across Canada through consultations, webinars, online courses and resources. ECCC

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) announced more than $2.9 million, under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy’s Investments in Training Equipment funding stream, for nine projects in Alberta. These projects, resulting from two calls for proposals launched in 2022 and 2023, bolster training through the purchase of equipment and materials. Funding recipients include seven organizations that support apprenticeship training  receiving funding to purchase training equipment and materials, such as cranes, demolition machines, elevated work platforms, forklifts, power trowels and laser levelers. The funding aims to improve the quality of training for apprentices in Red Seal trades. ESDC

The Government of Alberta is providing $2.8 million, through Emissions Reduction Alberta, for a $6.1-million front-end engineering and design study led by Varme Energy. This funding helps get Canada’s first facility that uses carbon capture to turn municipal waste into clean electricity closer to construction. The future facility will be built on Gibson Energy land in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland in Fort Saskatchewan northeast of Edmonton, with operations estimated to begin in 2027. Solid waste from municipal landfills will be converted into electricity for the grid, with the captured carbon injected into one of Alberta’s carbon sequestration hubs and stored underground. The facility is expected to capture and store about 185,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Less than three per cent of municipal waste in Canada is currently being converted into energy, and none of these existing projects is capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions. With landfills accounting for 23 per cent of methane emissions in Canada, municipalities and corporations across the country are looking for innovative ways to reach their landfill diversion and sustainability targets. Govt. of Alberta

The Government of Saskatchewan announced that Innovation Saskatchewan is providing $1.5 million to the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) to establish the Energy Innovation Hub (EIH) at PTRC's headquarters at Innovation Place Regina, to help meet current and future demands. EIH will allow PTRC to strengthen and advance current research in areas like carbon capture utilization and storage, and enhanced oil recovery and geothermal energy. In addition, EIH will expand PTRC's research portfolio into emerging priority areas, including methane reduction, clean hydrogen and compressed air energy storage, as well as offer robust and seamless support on research projects. Establishing EIH at Innovation Place Regina will strengthen Regina's innovation ecosystem, particularly the connection between the University of Regina and its researchers and students, and the facility will provide advanced training opportunities. Govt. of Saskatchewan

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster announced the nearly $1-million Port Watch AI Dredging Project, in which the federally funded global innovation cluster is investing $386,412 from its allocation under the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy program. The project is led by SeafarerAI based in Saint John, N.B., in collaboration with Teledyne Geospatial in Fredericton, N.B., DeepSense in Halifax, N.S., the University of New Brunswick, and Port Saint John. The project will improve dredging efficiency for ports using a new AI-enhanced cloud service. Combined with amplified Teledyne Geospatial software, the product will enable the port industry to make better and faster decisions when it comes to reference depth conformance, allowing for a smoother dredging process. Beyond improving dredging in real-time, the powerful new tool will provide data-driven insights into area and volume of dredging that ports can expect in the future, through prediction of sedimentation. As dredging activities can be disruptive to marine life and release pollutants into the water, introducing a new monitoring system will support development of a sustainable practice, minimizing the environmental impact of dredging activities on a much larger scale. Canada’s Ocean Supercluster

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) announced that federally funded Futurpreneur Canada is increasing its maximum collateral-free loan from $60,000 to $75,000, in collaboration with its co-lending partner, BDC. Also, entrepreneurs who have been in business for up to two years will now be eligible for Futurpreneur loans, giving young entrepreneurs an additional year to access collateral-free lending with mentorship through Futurpreneur’s programs. Funding through Futurpreneur’s Side Hustle Program will also increase from $15,000 to $25,000. Since Futurpreneur Canada’s creation in 1996, its programs and offerings have helped over 18,700 young entrepreneurs to launch more than 14,700 businesses across the country. ISED

Canadian Heritage announced it is partnering with Mila - Quebec’s Artificial Intelligence Institute, to examine the feasibility and practical ways of advancing responsible cultural data governance as part of Canada’s AI infrastructure development. By working with the AI experts at Mila to explore concrete tools and approaches to foster Canadian AI innovation, Canadian Heritage hopes to draw on their expertise to develop future AI-related policies, programs and initiatives that are responsible and supportive of Canada’s cultural sector. The announcement didn’t mention any funding specifically for the initiative. Canadian Heritage

RESEARCH, TECH NEWS & COLLABORATION

Toronto-based Conscience, a nonprofit drug discovery biotech company, announced seven newly discovered, promising early-stage molecules that could lead to a new treatment effective against all coronaviruses, not just SARS-CoV-2. Twenty-two teams from across academia and industry using different computational methods competed in Conscience’s challenge, submitting a total of 2,576 molecules, which were then tested in the lab. The top-scoring team, led by Karina dos Santos Machado, is from two lesser-known regional universities in Brazil. This second edition of the CACHE (Critical Assessment of Computational Hit-dinding Experiments) Challenges, governed by Conscience, along with pharmaceutical companies Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim, was sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and tapped into small molecule design expertise across continents. The top-scoring Brazilian team submitted the highest number of confirmed predictions using a combination of open source and internally developed AI tools to design the molecules that could treat coronaviruses. Other top participants were from Canada (teams from the University of Toronto and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research), the U.K. and U.S. – including a group using a citizen science gaming interface called Drug-It to design molecules – and from biotech companies in Canada and Ukraine. The dataset generated from the competition, including the promising new molecules, is now available publicly on the CACHE Challenges website for researchers anywhere to advance upon the research, including for training AI drug-design algorithms. Conscience

Saskatchewan’s technology sector is on track to meet and exceed Saskatchewan's Growth Plan goal of tripling the tech sector by 2030, according to a report commissioned by Innovation Saskatchewan. The report, by Derek Murray Consulting and Associates, says Saskatchewan’s tech sector has seen significant growth as well as consistent expansion, experiencing a 108.6-percent increase in employment growth rate since 2019. Saskatchewan’s tech sector had the largest increase in employment growth rate out of all Prairie provinces, outpacing both Alberta and Manitoba, at 21.3 percent and 29.65 percent, respectively. over the same period. The report also says Saskatchewan’s tech sector accounted for 10 percent of all job creation in the province from 2016-2023. On average, the tech sector added 715 new jobs per year since 2016, and is on track to exceed the target of adding 7,893 jobs by 2030. The report says 14 companies have been added since 2019 – five of which have 100 or more employees – for a total of 347 tech companies in 2023. Govt. of Saskatchwan

The Government of British Columbia is entering an agreement with the Government of Canada to enhance collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. This agreement will provide B.C. with access to cyber defence services that will further enhance the ability to defend, detect and respond to cyber threats. Increasing cybersecurity collaboration among all levels of government makes Canadian cyberspace a harder target, improving the ability to respond effectively to incidents and to build resilience through a national culture of cybersecurity. Over the past several months, B.C. has taken action to implement enhanced security controls based on guidance from the Cyber Centre and other partners. This includes: 

• implementing tools that give better insight into suspicious activity on B.C. government networks to enable a faster response to malicious cyberactivity.
• implementing additional controls to enhance secure access to systems. 
• engaging additional experts in cybersecurity in addition to the Cyber Centre and Microsoft DART, including Optiv Canada and EY. Govt. of B.C.

Vancouver-based fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power Systems announced a global corporate restructuring to reduce corporate spending and maintain balance sheet strength amid a slowdown in hydrogen infrastructure development and delayed fuel cell adoption. The restructuring measures – which Ballard expects will save more than 30 percent in operating costs – include a reduction in workforce, a rationalization in product development programs, operational consolidation, reduction in capital expenditures, and certain working capital improvement initiatives. As part of the restructuring, Paul Dobson, chief financial officer, and Mark Biznek, chief operating officer, will be leaving the company. Dobson will be succeeded by Kate Igbalode, previously vice-president, corporate finance and strategy, as new CFO, effective immediately. Biznek will be succeeded by Lee Sweetland, previously senior vice-president and chief transformation officer, as new CCO, effective at the end of 2024. Ballard also is conducting a strategic review of its China strategy, citing continued challenges in the China fuel market and underperformance of the Weichai Ballard joint venture. "Notwithstanding the slowing timeline for market adoption, we remain confident in the long-term value proposition of hydrogen fuel cells,” Randy MacEwan, president and CEO of Ballard Power Systems, said in a statement. Ballard Power Systems

TD Bank Group launched TD eCommerce Solutions, a turn-key, highly customizable eCommerce platform that enables Canadian small businesses to quickly begin selling their products and services online and accept payments with ease. TD said the platform offers a comprehensive set of flexible features, including intuitive webstore design tools from leading open software-as-a-service Texas-based ecommerce platform BigCommerce, inventory and order management, and a full suite of payment solutions from TD. The platform will be available to all TD Business Banking customers and new customers. According to a forecast by eMarketer, eCommerce is poised to make up nearly 12 percent of total retail sales in Canada this year, and more than 80 percent of Canadians are digital buyers – up 20 percent in the past five years. TD

Montreal-based satellite operator Telesat announced the completion of funding agreements with the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec for the highly advanced Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite constellation. Telesat said it now has all financing sources in place to fund the global Telesat Lightspeed network, including the satellites, launch vehicles to deploy them, an integrated terrestrial network of landing stations and points of presence throughout the world, and the network’s business and operational support systems. The federal government loan is for $2.14 billion and the Quebec government loan is for $400 million. The Telesat Lightspeed network is expected to play a critical role in bridging the digital divide by expanding the reach of internet and 5G networks in unserved and underserved communities in Canada and throughout the world, with affordable, high-speed broadband connectivity. In addition, the Telesat Lightspeed network is expected to help governments – including the Government of Canada – modernize their satellite communications technology and make meaningful contributions to North Atlantic Treaty Organization and North American Aerospace Defense Command modernization to bolster defence for Canada and its allies. Telesat

The Government of Quebec is investing a total of $475 million in Telesat LEO Inc., a subsidiary of Telesat, and in Brampton, Ont.-based MDA, to support the future Telesat Lightspeed network. This project consists of deploying, in low-Earth orbit, a constellation of 198 new-generation satellites integrated into a state-of-the-art terrestrial network. As part of the project, Telesat will set up a specialized centre in Gatineau, in the Outaouais region, to ensure satellite control and operations, cybersecurity, data processing and information technology support. These facilities will make it possible to develop strategic Quebec expertise in telecommunications technologies and satellite cybersecurity. In addition to a $400-million loan, the Quebec government, through Investissement Québec, is providing MDA, which is building the Lightspeed satellites in a Montreal-area factory, with $75 million to strengthen its capabilities as a prime contractor in space technologies. Govt. of Quebec

Montreal-based Hypertec Cloud Inc. announced a major expansion of its AI cloud infrastructure, designed to meet the growing demand for AI training and inference workloads. This expansion includes capacity to support up to 100,000 of the latest generation graphics processing units (GPUs) by the first half 2025. This major expansion will allow Hypertec Cloud to offer GPU capacity throughout North America with initial data centres strategically located in regions such as Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Indiana. The expansion secures over 150 megawatts of capacity by mid-2025, with the potential to grow to 500 MW within the year. Hypertec said the infrastructure will support next-generation NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD GPUs, providing unparalleled performance and energy efficiency for the largest training and inference workloads. Up to 50 percent of these GPUs will be reserved for the Canadian market, supporting AI-platform-as-a-service providers, AI application developers and solutions providers, as well as organizations in technology, financial services, the public sector, higher education and research centres. Hypertec Cloud

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Access to graphics processing units a major concern for global organizations developing AI models

Access to GPUs is a major concern for global organizations, with 30 percent of organizations surveyed citing GPU availability among their top three most serious challenges in moving AI models into production, according to WEKA’s second annual Global Trends in AI report.

The need for AI accelerators has driven 46 percent of surveyed organizations to leverage hyperscale public clouds for model training, as well as – increasingly – specialist GPU cloud providers (three percent).

WEKA is a Montreal- and California-based AI-native data platform company. The global study, conducted by S&P Global Market Intelligence and commissioned by WEKA, surveyed over 1,500 AI practitioners and decision-makers to understand the underlying trends influencing AI adoption and implementation.

Other key findings of the study include:

• AI applications are now pervasive in the majority of organizations surveyed, with investments in product quality (42 percent of organizations) and IT efficiency (41 percent) being top priorities.
• AI adoption in Canada lags, with only 35 percent of organizations saying AI is “widely implemented, [and is] driving critical value.”
• Many AI projects fail to scale, due to legacy data architectures with weak data foundations and availability of quality data. Thirty-five percent of respondents cite storage and data management as the primary infrastructure issues hindering AI deployments – greater than computing power (26 percent), security (23 percent) and networking (15 percent).
• Generative AI has rapidly eclipsed other applications. Eighty-eight percent of organizations are now actively investigating generative AI, far outstripping other AI applications such as prediction models (61 percent), classification (51 percent), expert systems (39 percent) and robotics (30 percent). Despite GenAI being in the market for a relatively short time, 24 percent of organizations say they already see GenAI as an integrated capability deployed across their organization. Just 11 percent of respondents are not investing in GenAI at all, and the majority of organizations are actively in the process of turning this investment into scaled-up, integrated capabilities.
• Concerns about AI’s environmental impacts persist but are not slowing AI adoption; sustainable AI practices offer opportunities to mitigate emissions. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of organizations say they are concerned about the impact of AI/machine learning (ML) projects on their energy use and carbon footprint; 25 percent of organizations indicate they are very concerned. Forty-two percent of organizations indicate they have invested in energy-efficient IT hardware/systems to address the potential environmental impacts of their AI initiatives over the past 12 months. Of those, 56 percent believe this has had a “high” or “very high” impact. Others have found that making changes in data infrastructure vendors (59 percent) and AI project scope (57 percent) had a “high” or “very high” impact. WEKA

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Boston-based Somite Therapeutics and Hamilton, Ont.-based OmniaBio Inc. announced a cell therapy development and manufacturing collaboration for producing SMT-M01, Somite's flagship program for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Somite Therapeutics is a tech-bio company harnessing big data and AI to pioneer novel cell replacement therapies. OmniaBio is a technology-driven cell and gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organizaton founded by the Toronto-based Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine. DMD is a rare, severe genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness and has no known cure. The new collaboration leverages OmniaBio's extensive induced pluripotent stem cell (cells that are able to develop into many different types of cells or tissues in the body) expertise to support Somite's development of a cell replacement therapy that aims to restore muscle function, slow disease progression, and improve quality of life for individuals living with DMD. Through the collaboration, OmniaBio will conduct process optimization, master cell banking, the differentiation of the pluripotent stem cells to the myogenic satellite cells (involved in the normal growth of muscle); identification of harvest conditions; and fill finish of the drug product. Somite Therapeutics

Toronto-based Neo Performance Materials officially opened its new Neo Jia Hua Advanced Materials (Zibo) Co., Ltd. (NAMCO) facility, a world-class emissions-control catalysts production plant in Zibo, China. The new facility is a modernization and upgrade of Neo’s prior catalyst plant in Zibo, with expanded capacity, improved operating efficiencies and advanced processing technology. Customer requalification is underway, with four of NAMCO's five major customers already completing their product qualification process for some of their key product lines. Pending customer approval, NAMCO is currently completing final commissioning of its facility and is expected to achieve full production capacity by the end of 2024. As of June 2024, Neo has invested US$46.4 million in NAMCO's relocation, upgrade and modernization, and updated its initial project budget to US$70 million. Neo Performance Materials

Google and Apple lost their court fights against the European Union and owe billions in fines and taxes. The European Union’s top court rejected Google's appeal against the 2.4 billion euro ($2.7 billion) penalty from the European Commission and the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, for violating antitrust rules with its comparison shopping service. The fine was one of three huge antitrust penalties for Google from the commission, which punished the Silicon Valley giant in 2017 for unfairly directing visitors to its own Google Shopping service over competitors. Apple lost its challenge against an order to repay 13 billion euros ($14.34 billion) in back taxes to Ireland, after the European Court of Justice issued a separate decision siding with the European Commission in a case targeting unlawful state aid for global corporations. Both companies have now exhausted their appeals in the cases that date to the previous decade. Together, the court decisions are a victory for European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who's expected to step down next month after 10 years as the commission's top official overseeing competition. The combined bill of 15.4 billion euro ($17 billion) facing Apple and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, represents just 0.3 percent of their combined market value of 4.73 trillion euro ($5.2 trillion). Associated Press

Since 1991, scientists have been celebrating the silly side of their business with the Ig Nobel Prize awards, created by Marc Abrahams, editor of satirical magazine Annals of Improbable Research. The Ig Nobel Prizes are a satire of the highest honour most researchers can achieve. This year’s awards, announced at a gala hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, recognized research – all of it published in journals – that showed:

• Placebos that cause painful side-effects can be more effective in patients than fake medicine with no side-effects.
• The swimming patterns of live versus dead trout.
• Coin flips are more likely to land the same way as they started, but only by a small margin.
• Mammals can breathe through their anuses. Who would have thought?!
• Using chromatography to separate drunk and sober worms, as a model to study whether mixtures of polymers can be separated in a similar manner.
• Placing a cat on the back of a cow and repeatedly popping inflated paper bags next to it to see if milk flow changed. The cows that were scared ended up producing less milk.
• The South American plant Boquila trifoliolata can mimic the leaves of plastic plants it is placed alongside. BBC Science Focus

VC, PRIVATE INVESTMENT & ACQUISITIONS

Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management will invest up to US$1.1 billion in U.S.-based electro fuels (e-fuels) developer Infinium Holdings, under a strategic funding partnership. The partnership is to accelerate the growth of Infinium’s eFuels platform, which includes eSAF, a next-generation electro-sustainable aviation fuel that can reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 90 percent or more compared with today’s conventional jet fuels. Infinium eSAF is produced through a proprietary process that combines water, waste carbon dioxide, and renewable energy to produce ultra-low carbon fuels including eSAF, eDiesel, and eNaphtha. Under the terms of the deal, Brookfield has committed to invest more than US$200 million in Infinium’s Project Roadrunner commercial-scale aviation fuel plant, under development in West Texas, and up to an additional US$850 million for deployment of other Infinium eFuels projects globally, all subject to pre-agreed metrics. The investment will be made by the first vintage of the Brookfield Global Transition Fund (BGTF I), and it marks Brookfield’s first direct investment in sustainable aviation fuel. Brookfield will also serve as lead in Infinium’s Series C Preferred Stock offering. BioEnergy International

Leading AI researcher and Stanford University professor Fei-Fei Li raised $230 million for a San Francisco-based startup, World Labs, that she and three colleagues founded to make AI technology that can understand how the three-dimensional physical world works. Initial funding for World Labs was led jointly by Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates and Radical Ventures. Other investors included AMD Ventures, Intel Capital and Nvidia’s NVentures. Li, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in AI in 2023, led AI at Google Cloud from 2017 to 2018, served on Twitter’s board of directors and has done stints advising policymakers, including at the White House. Li made her name in AI by developing ImageNet, a large-scale image dataset that helped usher in a generation of computer vision technologies that could identify objects reliably for the first time. Reuters previously reported that Li was working in stealth mode on an AI startup that could render ideas into 3D environments. World Labs’ other founders are computer vision researchers Justin Johnson, Christoph Lassner and Ben Mildenhall. While commercially available generative AI models can produce dazzling text and photo outputs, Worlds Labs focuses on “spatial intelligence,” or the ability to reason how the 3D world works, Li told Reuters. Spatial intelligence models could be used in the future for augmented and virtual reality or robotics, she said. The Globe and Mail

Toronto-based Radiant Biotherapeutics closed a US$35-million Series A funding round, co-led by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Amplitude Ventures. Additional participants included new investors BDC Capital, the investment arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada, through its Thrive Venture Fund, and abrdn plc of Edinburgh, Scotland; and existing investors FACIT, Alexandria Venture Investments and Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners. Radiant Biotherapeutics is a preclinical biotechnology company developing an antibody platform to deliver transformative therapies for patients facing life-changing disease. The company has built a best-in-class, proprietary, multi-valent, multi-specific antibody platform called Multabody™. The funds will enable Radiant to further develop the company’s lead clinical candidate, 4-1BB, and move it towards clinical trials. Radiant, founded in 2020, is built around foundational science developed at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto and the University of Toronto, based on and including work performed at the laboratories of Dr. Jean-Philippe Julien, Ph.D., senior scientist at SickKids, and associate professor at UofT’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and Dr. Bebhinn Treanor, Ph.D., a professor at UofT. Radiant Biotherapeutics

Vancouver-based Spare, which provides mobility operations software, raised $42 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Inovia Capital, a longtime partner and lead investor from Spare’s Series A funding round. Other previous investors, including Kensington Capital and Nicola Wealth, also participated. Spare said this new funding will enable the company to meet the growing demand for innovative transit solutions, particularly in the paratransit sector (which supplements fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables). The capital will be used to expand Spare’s global reach, allowing more agencies to serve their riders better while accelerating the development of its AI-driven platform. Spare

Daniel Saks, a Canadian entrepreneur who co-founded software firm AppDirect, launched his latest venture, Landbase, out of stealth operating mode with US$12.5 million in seed financing. The all-equity seed round was co-led by A*, 8VC, and First Minute Capital, with participation from Montreal-based venture firm Inovia Capital, as well as Picus, General Catalyst and a number of angel investors. Landbase is developing an artificial intelligence-powered platform that allows companies to automate, unify and optimize their go-to-market processes, to find new customers. The company, like Saks’ previous venture AppDirect, is headquartered in San Francisco, though its CEO’s Canadian roots run deep. Top Tech 100

Vancouver-based Cantalera BioSolutions raised US$8 million in a Series A funding round led by Chicago-based venture capital firm S2G Ventures and which included FCC Capital (an investment arm of Farm Credit Canada). Cantalera aims to make biologicals “the future” of crop protection and pest solutions. Biologicals is a generic term to describe crop protection and crop fertility products derived from bacteria, fungi, plant extracts and other natural organisms. Terramera, an ag-tech company in Vancouver, spun off part of its operations to create Catalera in May. Catalera has several bio-pesticides already on the market in the U.S. and Mexico. The company holds more than 200 patents and will launch new products over the next few years. AgCanada

Calgary-based Syantra Inc. raised an additional $4.9 million in Series A-1 funding. Syantra is a privately held precision biotechnology company pioneering a platform to change the way cancer is detected and treated. The funding, which comes from a collective of individuals introduced by CG Wealth Management, along with additional support from existing investors, will enable Syantra to fast-track clinical validation and commercialization of the first test on its patent-pending platform for early detection of breast cancer. Syantra also announced the addition of Dr. Rick Mangat to its board of directors. Mangat brings over 20 years of experience as a medical device executive, including as co-founder of NOVADAQ Technologies Inc. in 2000. Cornell University and the University of Calgary recently received partnering awards from the U.S. Department of Defense for a total of more than US$2.4 million to fund a three-year, 2,000-participant clinical study to expand work with Syantra’s early breast cancer detection blood test at six sites in the U.S. and the U.K. Syantra

Toronto-based artificial intelligence and e-commerce startup Ecomtent closed $1.15 million in pre-seed funding as it looks to continue scaling its AI-powered content generator for retailers. The funding was led by MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (MaRS IAF), with participation from Techstars, eBay Ventures, and undisclosed angel investors that include executives from the retail and tech industries. Ecomtent’s solution lets sellers and retailers generate visual and written content with generative AI. The company said this content is optimized explicitly for AI-powered searches across large catalogues on platforms such as Amazon, Google, and Ebay. The company is looking to be the “go-to solution” for the Amazon Seller and Amazon Agency communities. Its technology is patent pending, with a filing recently accepted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. BetaKit

Vancouver-based Methanex Corporation has agreed to acquire the Netherlands-headquartered OCI Global’s international methanol business for $2.05 billion. The transaction includes OCI’s interest in two world-scale methanol facilities in Beaumont, Texas, one of which also produces ammonia. The deal also includes OCI HyFuels, a low-carbon methanol production and marketing business and a currently idled methanol facility in the Netherlands. Methanex said OCI’s methanol business enhances Methanex’s asset portfolio, with highly attractive assets in a low-risk jurisdiction that has an ample and economic supply of feedstock natural gas. As part of the transaction, Methanex said it expects to achieve approximately $30 million of annual cost synergies from lower logistics costs and lower selling, general and administrative expenses. Methanex Corporation

Toronto-based Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. has agreed to acquire U.K.-based Brooks Macdonald Asset Management Limited (BMI) for £28 million (about $50 million) and up to an additional £22.85 million ($40.7 million) on the deal’s second anniversary, subject to meeting certain revenue targets. BMI provides investment management, financial planning and fund management services through its offices in Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man. As of  June 30, 2024, BMI had funds under management of £2.3 billion and annual revenue of £19.9 million. Canaccord Genuity Group said the addition of BMI will complement Canaccord’s existing capabilities in Jersey (the biggest of the Channel islands) and provide a strong foundation to strengthen and support continued growth and development. Canaccord Genuity Group

Toronto-based MaRS Discovery District announced 10 entrepreneurs and their companies participating in the next cohort of the RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator. This intensive two-year program aims to help women-led Canadian ventures scale their breakthrough climate change solutions for global impact, guided by principles of diversity, equity and inclusion. The accelerator aims to directly address some of the challenges women face in the sector by providing a support system and fostering collaboration, equipping cohort participants with tools to help them succeed. The accelerator’s program also provides participants with access to investor and mentor networks, along with exclusive opportunities to engage in high-impact events hosted by MaRS and its ecosystem partners. MaRS

REPORTS & POLICIES

Canada’s startups need anchor firms, access to capital, government procurement, housing affordability and skilled talent

Canadian startups need better access to capital, more government procurement, adequate housing affordability and sufficient skilled talent, according to a new report by the Conference Board of Canada and the MaRS innovation hub.

Canada also needs to grow more anchor firms that help improve the entire innovation ecosystem, including for small and medium-sized companies, says the report, Risky Business.

“Our tech ecosystem is at a critical juncture,” Krista Jones, the former chief delivery officer at MaRS, said in the report. “We don’t yet have a critical mass of anchor companies—we’re just on that cusp.”

Even if a startup survives the first gruelling five years (a benchmark not even one-third of goods-producing companies and close to half of service-producing companies achieve), the prospect of scaling operations becomes even more challenging, according to the report.

After 19 years, more than 70 percent of businesses in the goods-producing sector and close to 80 percent of companies in the service-producing sector have exited.

“We could maximize the benefit of new innovations if entrepreneurs had the necessary resources to scale,” the report says.

The report says anchor firms can improve the innovation ecosystem in a range of areas, including:

• Procurement and supply chain: Anchor firms create targets and plans on how they will spend locally or on specific types of organizations.
• Local impact investing: Anchor firms often invest in local communities or social enterprises. This can range from awarding grants to lending to startups at low interest rates.
• Workforce and skills development: Anchor companies may focus on hiring from the local talent pool, including working with universities to develop a pipeline of talent.
• Developing infrastructure and capital projects: Anchor firms may invest in physical infrastructure or capital projects that regenerate the existing infrastructure.
• Community engagement: Anchor companies may establish public-private partnerships to benefit the local community.
• Promoting the local economy: Anchor firms can provide incentives to support the local community.

According to the report’s analysis of Pitchbook data, approximately three-quarters of all acquisitions in Canada happen when startups are generating less than $50 million in revenue and are just starting to scale, a phenomenon common among G7 nations.

Many Canadian entrepreneurs feel as though they have no option but to sell – the challenges in developing technologies, accessing funding and customers, and expanding market share are just too large to overcome.

“Canadians are making fabulous products but they’re not being adopted fast enough, so companies end up moving to the United States or simply do not have enough funds to grow,” Hanif Montazeri, co-founder of cleantech firm Enersion, said in the report.

“The people who build these products went through the university systems here. We’ve been supported by the Canadian ecosystem and many wonderful organizations. But I don’t think we can survive as a country if we don’t increase our appetite for risk.”

Canada now ranks No. 14 among peer nations in the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation, according to the Entrepreneurship Index, an assessment that draws on a range of factors including innovation, competitiveness, infrastructure and access to capital.

The report says a multi-pronged, concerted effort is required to improve the situation, particularly in three areas:

1. Finding capital:

During a town hall held at the MaRS Centre in May 2024, several entrepreneurs commented on how they have found that Canadian investors are more risk-averse, the due diligence process can take longer, and valuations are lower compared with American counterparts. As a result, many founders look to U.S. investors.

When Kris Bennatti was raising seed funding for her AI startup Hudson Labs, she focused more on U.S. investors because of their relative speed. In fact, “none of the Canadian investors had finished their due diligence by the time we closed,” Bennatti said.

2. Finding customers:

The government can play a critical role in this realm – as the largest purchaser of goods and services in the country, the public sector can wield significant influence in creating market demand.

“This is where the government can send a signal by using its purchasing power. Government bodies need to stand behind companies and say buying Canadian is not risky and bring in policies that encourage that,” Jones said.

3. Finding talent:

With comparable skilled talent positions in the U.S. potentially offering salaries as much as 46 percent higher, Canadian startups are faced with a costly decision if they want to secure American talent.

Canada needs to move away from exporting our best resources for others to commercialize and break from our resource-based roots, said Michael May, president and CEO of the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine.

“In a knowledge-based economy, we need to add value to our own IP before selling it,” he said. “Instead of chopping down a tree and sending it to the United States for them to build a chair and sell it back to us for 10 times the price, we need to make the chair ourselves.”

Leaders from across the innovation community highlighted for the report the changes they’d like to see, including:

Expand the pool of founders:

“We need to improve access to early-stage funding for young entrepreneurs to create a healthy pipeline of startups for our ecosystem. The reality is that most founders today aren’t in a position to turn to family and friends for funding. In order to inspire more individuals to start and scale a business, we need to remove as many barriers as possible,” said Abdullah Snobar, executive director at DMZ.

Increase government funding:

“Canada’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credits were game-changing for us. In my opinion, other government programs, like the [National Research Council’s Industrial Research and Assistance Program], have significantly more overhead and less flexibility,” said Stuart Lombard, founder of ecobee.

Provide ongoing, long-term support:

“We’ve seen with electric vehicles that government subsidies can help reduce the price of a new technology to the point where more customers will buy it,” said Amanda Hall, founder of Summit Nanotech.

Build a feeder system:

“There are models out there that work and we can mix and match and adapt to Canada a local model that will work,” said Edna Chosack, healthcare lead at District 3 Innovation Hub.

“We could take a page out of Israel’s playbook. It’s built a whole network of incubators that are run by consortiums of big commercial companies. Startups that are accepted get enough funding to give them two years of peace and quiet to work,” Chosack said.

Give them space to grow:

“There is a real need to support entrepreneurs locally with some sort of manufacturing space, because the alternative is getting someone else to make the products,” said Mike McNeil, board director at Venturepark Labs.

“That’s the favourite option for a lot of investors and VCs because there’s less upfront capital risk. But over time, it also becomes quite expensive. And you’re turning your product over to someone else to make,” McNeil said.

Create buyers for our IP:

“The problem is that most of our focus has been on R&D – and patents are the most movable innovation currency. If you want IP to stay in Canada, you need to create stable receptors – manufacturing, investors, hospitals, developers, companies and other entities – for that IP," said Michael May at the Centre for the Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine. May’s recommendations include:

• Increase the budget of government granting agencies tenfold over a decade to create a strong foundation for innovation.
• Augment the scope of the SR&ED platform to attract foreign investment.
• Seed substantial investment funds from early-stage through to scale-up.

Build resilience:

“My research that looks at the discontinuation of drug discovery projects suggests that building experience from failing can make you stronger if you are willing to learn from the failures,” said Moren Lévesque, co-director of entrepreneurial studies in the Schulich School of Business at York University. “Embracing failure, and increasing your tolerance from it, can eventually result in positive outcomes.”

Sharpen the sales pitch:

“The fundamental reason we don’t create big companies is that we don’t spend on marketing and sales. I see quite large companies that really have never had an organized sales and marketing approach,” said Charles Plant, co-founder of the Narwhal Project.

The reason for that is Canada is oligopolistic, with relatively few companies and three mid-size regional markets which means companies don’t have to be competitive, he said. “We don’t have to innovate. And we don’t have to get good at marketing and sales either.” 

Create a culture of ambition:

“I feel it comes back to the idea that we need to believe Canada’s economy should be more than just real estate and a whole bunch of oligopolies. We have to celebrate our entrepreneurial success stories to inspire the next generation,” said Mike Andrade, CEO of Morgan Solar. Conference Board of Canada

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Canadian startups supported by business accelerators or incubators have higher employment and pay higher wages than startups not supported

Canadian companies that received support from a business accelerator or incubator (BAI) have higher employment and initially higher revenue than similar businesses not supported by BAIs, according to a new study by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. (ISED)

In the year a company received support from a BAI, its employment tends to be 14 percent higher compared with that of a similar company not supported by a BAI, and the BAI-supported company’s revenue is higher by 13 percent.

However, while BAI-supported companies continue to have higher employment size in the subsequent year, these companies no longer have an advantage in revenue.

It should be noted that the 2020 BAI-supported cohort primarily consists of young companies, and 2020 was the year in which they participated in a BAI program, the study says.

“Therefore, it is not surprising that the [BAI-supported] companies exhibited lower revenue figures than the comparison group from 2016 to 2020” – which included 41,105 companies of all ages (but with 100 or fewer employees) that weren’t supported by BAIs.

The study suggests that business accelerators do work with high potential startups and that, by participating in an accelerator, these startups are receiving important services that assist their growth in employment and revenue, ISED says.

The statistical summary indicates that the 2020 cohort of 1,877 companies supported by a total of 33 BAIs tends to be younger and concentrated within the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector, according to the study. These companies demonstrate a greater inclination to invest in research and development, compared with the group of companies not supported by BAIs.

Around 45.2 percent of the BAI-supported companies are in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector, compared with 13.3 percent in the comparison group in this sector.

The second-largest group of the 2020 Cohort is the Manufacturing sector, whose share of BAI support is 17.1 percent, but the proportion in the Manufacturing sector for the comparison group is only four percent.

 For the 2020 BAI-supported Cohort, R&D engagement was at 21.7 percent, whereas the proportion for the comparison group is only 1.3 percent.

The majority of BAI-supported companies were located in Ontario (32 percent) and Quebec (29.6 percent), followed by the Prairies (14.9 percent), Atlantic Canada (12.1 percent) and B.C. (11.5 percent).

For the BAI-supported 2020 Cohort, 24 percent of the companies are majority women-ownership, while the comparison group of Canadian small businesses stands at 25 percent. 

While the distribution of employment among BAI-supported companies is similar to that of the comparison group, BAI-supported companies exhibit a higher proportion of high employment growth.

 Also, between 2016 and 2020, the 2020 cohort consistently paid higher salaries than the comparison group across each quartile, albeit with generally lower revenue levels across these quartiles.

The higher average wages paid out by the BAI-supported companies suggest either a greater investment in their talent, or that those jobs command a higher salary than those of the comparison group, the study says.

The study, which includes a survey for BAI participants, is part of the ISED-managed Business Accelerator and Incubator Performance Measurement Framework project launched in 2016 by ISED and the business accelerator and incubator community.

The study used data collected from 2017 to 2020, the most recent data available at the time of the study, along with Statistics Canada’s tax filing data. StatsCan’s data included 8,062 business that received BAI services during 2017 to 2020.

BAI programs aim to reduce the risk of failure for high growth potential companies, broadening the funnel of Canadian startups and accelerating their growth, the study says. BAIs offer services like business development, product validation, IP development, and visibility to potential investors and corporate customers. ISED

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Weak business investment is driving Canada’s drop in productivity and living standards

Persistently weak business investment is driving a significant drop in Canadian productivity and living standards, according to a new report by the C. D. Howe Institute.

Capital available per Canadian worker has been shrinking since 2015, authors William B.P. Robson, president and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, and research officer Mawakina Bafale say in the report, Underequipped: How Weak Capital Investment Hurts Canadian Prosperity and What to Do about It.

Worse, they say, the gap between investment per worker in Canada and other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries is widening. Canadian workers now receive just 66 cents of new capital for every dollar their OECD counterparts receive, and a mere 55 cents compared with workers in the U.S.

“Investment is the lifeblood of productivity growth,” Robson said in a statement. “When businesses invest, they equip workers with better tools, driving productivity and, in turn, higher earnings and improved living standards.”

“The fact that Canadian workers are increasingly underequipped compared to their peers abroad signals less competitiveness and lower wages – a threat to our quality of life,” Robson said.

The report’s authors say Canada’s investment in machinery and equipment (M&E) and intellectual property products is alarmingly low. M&E investment per Canadian worker is only 41 cents for every dollar invested in the U.S., while intellectual property products investment per Canadian worker is just 30 cents compared with U.S. counterparts.

U.S. M&E investment per available worker has recently been 2.5 times higher than in Canada – about $10,000 annually in the US compared with $4,000 in Canada.

Differences in investment per worker on that scale could represent a significant shortening of the replacement and upgrade cycle for equipment such as trucks, excavators or machine tools, workplace equipment, and the potential replacement of entire information and communications technology systems, all of which would offer the workers enjoying the larger investment a noticeable improvement in the rewards they get for their work, the report points out.

“Given the potentially outsized importance of M&E investment for productivity growth, this gap bodes poorly for the competitiveness of Canadian workers against their U.S. counterparts and for the attractiveness of Canada as a place to live and work.”

From 1990 to 2014, notwithstanding setbacks during the economic slump of the early 1990s and the financial crisis and recession of 2008-2009, the trend in investment per worker was up in Canada, the report notes.

However, M&E investment has fallen by 21 percent during the last decade according to the report. Adjusted per-available-worker investment in the second quarter of 2024 was only about $14,000 in 2023 dollars – down almost one quarter from its 2014 peak of $18,600.

The recent extraordinary immigration-driven growth in Canada’s labour force is not prompting businesses to tool up to deploy the newly available brains and hands, the report says.

The OECD’s projections for 2024 show $21,100 of new capital per available worker this year for the other OECD countries, compared with $15,700 for Canada.

In other words, the OECD’s projections for countries other than Canada and the U.S. indicate that gross new capital per available worker in Canada will be about one-quarter less than in those OECD countries this year.

“Our concern about these numbers is their implication that Canadian businesses either do not see opportunities and competitive threats that would prompt them to undertake productivity-improving capital projects, or that when they see such opportunities and threats they respond slowly or incompletely,” report authors Robson and Bafale say.

Research has shown that countries with higher capital intensity tend to have higher productivity and higher wages, and countries with lower capital intensity tend to have lower productivity and lower wages, they note.

In the 1990s, U.S. workers produced $12 more per hour than their Canadian counterparts, and the gap has widened since, according to the report.

In the 2000s and 2010s, Canada generated respectively $74 and $81 per hour worked, compared with $93 and $107 for the US. In 2023, Canada generated just $83 per hour worked compared with $111 in the U.S.

In the 1990s, Canada generated $64 per hour worked compared with $68 per hour of work in other OECD countries – a gap of about six percent.

 By 2023, Canada generated $83 per hour worked compared to $105 in other OECD countries – a gap of 20 percent.

As for IP products, in 2008, Canadian business spending on these products was about $2,000 per available worker, while the U.S. figure was about $4,000.

In 2023, the Canadian figure had crept up to about $3,000, while the U.S. figure soared to more than $10,000.

This gap might reflect greater use by Canadian businesses of services produced by IP products owned abroad, or lesser use of IP products created and owned in Canada due to lack of success in commercializing them, according to the report.

When it comes to business investment in R&D, the report says the average Canadian worker has recently been receiving less than 20 cents of such new capital for every dollar received by the average U.S. worker.

For software investment, the average Canadian worker in 2023 has recently been receiving less than 50 cents of new investment in software for every dollar received by the average U.S. worker.

As for the causes of low business investment and poor productivity in Canada, the report points to several cited by researchers, including:

• Canada’s bias toward investing in residential construction and a growing share of residential investment in GDP that “could limit the responsiveness of non-residential investment to opportunities and threats.”
• The “hostile regulatory environment” for Canada’s fossil fuel industry since 2015 [the year Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government was elected].

In 2014, oil and gas industry investment per worker in Canada, adjusted for purchasing power, was 83 cents for every dollar invested per U.S. worker. By 2021, it had fallen to 52 cents.

• The small scale of many Canadian businesses, and the widening gaps between the effective tax rate on small businesses and both the general corporate income tax rate and personal income tax rates, combined with generally low interest rates.
• Higher immigration accompanied by a shift in composition toward students and temporary foreign workers, and a lowering of the thresholds in the points system used to screen principal applicants in the economic stream.
• The heightened threat of U.S. protectionism, coupled with uncertainty about domestic policies and restrictive regulatory initiatives affecting the energy, plastics, financial services, and telecommunications industries.
• Canadian business managers who lack entrepreneurial spirit and have little tolerance for risk.
• Canadian tax policy driven by popularism and by voters’ irritation rather than economic logic, such as taxes on large banks and insurers related to profits and Ottawa’s recent threats of tax measures to punish grocery retailers for high prices.

“Less weaponizing of economic policy in the service of populist impulses would improve the climate for business investment in Canada,” the report says.

Robson and Bafale make several recommendations to governments to reverse the decline in business investment and boost Canada’s productivity, including:

• Reform corporate taxes to encourage business growth and scaling of companies.
• Lower the general corporate income tax rate and lower personal rates at the top end, to reduce “distortions” that reduce investment and productivity.
• Offer tax incentives, such as a general investment tax credit, to spur immediate investment.
• Apply a lower tax rate to business income derived from intellectual property products, including IP products embedded in other goods and services.
• The federal government could offset any near-term revenue cost by reducing the subsidies it currently provides for research and development, which some experts have found “likely promote too much work of too low a quality to be commercialized.”
• Reduce regulatory barriers, particularly in sectors like fossil fuels, to foster a more investment-friendly environment.
• Promote IP investment through targeted tax incentives to encourage the commercialization of IP products.
• Address policy uncertainty and streamline regulatory processes to create a more stable and predictable investment environment.

Current weakness in Canadian business investment compared with the past and compared with other countries is a threat to Canada’s prosperity and competitiveness, the report warns.

“Governments need to prioritize pro-growth policies that encourage business investment,” Bafale said. “Without urgent reforms, Canadian workers risk being relegated to lower-value-added activities, falling further behind their international peers.” C.D. Howe Institute

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Focus on construction industry in improving labour productivity: TD report

Canada risks a continued drop in living standards, worsening wage stagnation and a dangerous deterioration in public services if it doesn’t “play to win” on labour productivity, according to a new report by TD.

The pronounced decline in labour productivity since the COVID pandemic has affected most industries, especially the goods-producing sector and the construction industry where productivity is at a 30-year low, says the report, From Bad to Worse: Canada’s Productivity Slowdown is Everyone’s Problem.

Productivity in mining and oil and natural gas extraction has fallen 0.5 percent since the COVID pandemic, according to the report. In the manufacturing sector, productivity also has swung from gains to losses.

The report was written by Beata Caranci, senior vice-president and chief economist at TD, and James Marple, associate vice-president and senior economist.

Over the decade prior to the pandemic, business sector productivity grew by a respectable rate of 1.2 percent annually, their report says. Since 2019, it has ceased to expand at all, setting Canada apart as one of the worst-performing advanced economies, not to mention in stark contrast to the U.S.

Due to the construction sector’s increasing size within the economy, a focus needs to be on this sector, especially on residential building, according to the report. “It has accounted for the vast majority of the decline in overall Canadian productivity relative to the pre-pandemic period.”

In 2023, the construction sector represented 12.6 percent of all labour hours worked in Canada, up from eight percent in 1997. Considering only the goods-producing sector, construction hours worked now exceed those in manufacturing, nearly doubling from 23 percent in 1997 to 42 percent today.

The construction sector is composed mainly of small firms (25 percent have fewer than 25 employees), which are slower to adopt new technologies than larger firms. Productivity has been weakest in building construction, which has the largest share of small firms.

Targeted strategies to address constraints to growth could be beneficial, the report says. Harmonizing building codes and licensing requirements across provinces could help increase competition while allowing for greater returns to scale across the industry.

For service industries, greater reliance on non-permanent residents appears to have contributed to the productivity deterioration since the pandemic, the report notes.

This may seem counterintuitive amid an aging labour force, but the concentration of non-permanent residents in low-paid work has worsened Canada’s productivity performance.^.

Raising productivity growth in services will require supportive tax and regulatory policy that encourage greater investment and accelerate technology adoption, the report says.

The report recommends:

• Simplify and broaden the corporate tax code, reduce tax rates on investment and maintain Canada's competitive advantage.
• Break down jurisdictional barriers to growth, encourage scaling and allow construction to thrive with smarter regulations.
• Reduce regulatory fragmentation, promote labour mobility, increase investor transparency.

“Addressing Canada’s productivity issues requires comprehensive strategies, including promoting competition, incentivizing technology adoption, reducing barriers to growth across jurisdictions, and implementing smarter regulations," the report says. TD

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Many Canadian businesses don’t know they’re using AI tools, even though 86 percent of large SMEs have adopted AI

Most Canadian businesses are already using some AI-powered tools but many don’t realize it, according to a new study by BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada).

When first asked, only 39 percent of businesses surveyed said they used artificial intelligence. However, when provided with a definition of AI and a list of AI-powered tools, 66 percent of businesses selected at least one tool they were using.

This suggests that up to 40 percent of businesses may not know they’re using AI, according to the study, The AI Imperative for Canada’s Entrepreneurs, based on data analyzed and interpreted by BDC and including a survey with 1,247 business owners.

 Along with Canada’s declining productivity, Canadian businesses recently faced a record spike in costs as the industrial product price index increased by 28 percent between January 2020 and June 2024, Pierre Cléroux, vice-president, research and chief economist at BDC, noted in the study.

“Even with the rate of inflation slowing down, the shock was so significant that it will continue to affect businesses,” he said.

AI can help SMEs work more efficiently, make better decisions and reduce costs, Cléroux said. “Although finding the right AI tools can be complicated and costly for smaller businesses, investing in these tools could help them improve their efficiency and remain competitive in the long run.”

Larger and younger firms have higher AI adoption rates than micro-businesses and older firms, according to the study. The category of businesses with AI adoption rates are:

• Larger SMEs (100 employees or more): 86 percent.
• Young firms (five years old or younger): 78 percent.
• Micro-businesses (one to four employees): 60 percent.
• Older firms (25 years or older): 48 percent.

Over the next two years, only 24 percent of SMEs have budgeted for AI adoption.

Only five percent of larger SMEs are “laggers,” compared with 35 percent of micro-businesses. Laggers are the only group not planning to adopt AI or expand AI use.

This means that by 2026, 95 percent of larger SMEs and 65 percent of micro-businesses will be using at least one AI-enabled tool. While adoption rates will increase slightly for all groups, the difference in adoption rates between larger SMEs and micro-businesses is likely to widen in the next two years, the study says.

Businesses in large urban areas (78 percent) use AI more than businesses in rural areas (55 percent), and this difference persists even among younger businesses (84 percent compared with 65 percent). The more limited access to high-speed Internet among rural businesses could explain part of the difference.

 Ninety-seven percent of businesses see benefits that include: increased efficiency; reduced costs; higher sales; improved customer service; and better sales, production or inventory management.

Although AI has helped businesses solve multiple problems, sometimes the results have fallen short of companies' initial expectations. For example, 38 percent hoped AI would improve customer service, but only 29 percent felt AI did so.

Micro-businesses had higher hopes for AI than how they felt it performed, in all categories.

 Larger SMEs, on the other hand, felt the benefits of AI surpassed their expectations in terms of: boosting growth; reducing costs; automating redundant tasks; and improving their understanding of clients.

Among all business size categories, the satisfaction rate among AI users was: 77 percent satisfied; 20 percent neutral; and four percent dissatisfied.

Of the business owners surveyed, 46 percent said that they plan to use more AI within the next 24 months, whether by starting from scratch or expanding their current use of AI-enabled tools.

Generative AI tools, which generate content based on user instructions, are the most popular among businesses (28 percent of businesses using GenAI tools, which rises to 49 percent for larger SMEs).

Fifty-nine percent of businesses using GenAI and 46 percent of those using chatbots didn’t use them before 2023, the study says.

The next most popular AI tools used by all businesses are:

• Online automated advertising tools: 26 percent.
• Automated translation services: 24 percent.
• Automated customer services: 16 percent.
• Transportation-route optimization tools: 10 percent.
• AI-enabled tools to optimize production, machine maintenance or quality control: 10 percent.
• AI-enabled software to forecast sales or inventory: nine percent.
• AI-enabled software to help recruit or retain employees: six percent.

Larger SMEs are moving away from free AI tools and are starting to use paid tools more often (58 percent), for security and privacy reasons, the study says. Larger SMEs also are starting to build more custom AI tools (40 percent).

Micro-businesses rely more on their employees to implement AI (72 percent) than on consultants (19 percent) or new hires with the skills to implement the tools (12 percent).

Businesses with at least 100 employees rely less on their existing employees (54 percent) and are more likely to hire a consultant (43 percent) or new employees (29 percent). This is especially true for complex, customized tools requiring data analysts or scientists to ensure effective use of the technology.

Most businesses (62 percent) implemented AI for less than $5,000, the study says. More than one‑third (39 percent) spent less than $1,000, but these tended to be light users, leveraging tools such as GenAI, translation AI and/or AI-powered online advertising.

Most businesses using more complex AI tools to optimize production, forecast sales or help recruit employees will spend more than $10,000 per year on maintenance. Heavy users also tend to use multiple AI tools, which increases the overall cost.

Only two per cent of larger SMEs spent more than $1 million on implementing AI.

According to the study, there are several barriers to businesses adopting AI but the main issues are:

• Unfamiliarity with different AI options.
• Uncertainty about which AI tool fits their business.
• Lack of awareness of their current AI tool’s shortcomings.
• Concerns about data privacy and security.
• Cost of implementation, especially for businesses in low-margin sectors, such as accommodation and food services (34 percent), and transportation and storage (38 percent), where cost is No. 1 challenge to adopting AI.

The study offers three tips for businesses to get started with AI:

• Access the business’s needs and objectives, starting with a clear digital strategy that aligns with your vision.
• Adopt a data-driven culture; to work well, AI needs high-quality data.
• Learn about the different AI options and choose the tools that best fit your needs in terms of your objectives, feasibility, complexity of implementation and budget.

The study also offers examples of AI-enabled tools that can help businesses to control costs, increase sales, navigate uncertainty and ease labour shortages.

Thirty-five percent of businesses that have implemented a chatbot report it helped to reduce costs, the study notes. Also, 61 percent of businesses are satisfied with their AI-enabled chatbot.

Forty-nine percent of businesses using AI to optimize production activities said it has increased sales and/or production. Sixty-five percent of businesses are satisfied with their AI tool for optimizing production activities.

Forty-seven percent of businesses using AI-enabled forecasting software said it helps with planning and decision-making. Seventy-three percent of businesses are satisfied with their AI-enabled forecasting tool.

Twenty-two percent of businesses using at least one AI tool to improve efficiency – including chatbots, forecasting tools and translation applications, said the tool has reduced hiring needs. BDC

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Jobs of highly educated Canadian workers could be more at risk from AI than their less educated counterparts

Artificial intelligence might be more likely to transform the jobs of highly educated workers than those of their less educated counterparts, according to a study by Statistics Canada (StatsCan).

“This is contrary to prior waves of technological transformation, which mainly affected less educated workers,” says the study, Experimental Estimates of Potential Artificial Intelligence Occupational Exposure in Canada. 

For instance, the study estimates that, in May 2021, 50 percent of workers with a bachelor's degree or higher held jobs highly exposed to and highly complementary with AI. This is almost four times the rate of 13 percent observed for workers with a high school diploma or less.

Workers with a bachelor's degree or higher (36 percent) also held proportionately more jobs that were highly exposed to AI and whose tasks might be replaced by AI than workers with a high school diploma or less (25 percent).

In sum, 86 percent of highly educated workers held jobs highly exposed to AI in May 2021, compared with 38 percent of their less educated counterparts.

Compared with employees in other industries, exposure to AI-related job transformation is higher for employees in: professional, scientific and technical services; finance and insurance; information and cultural industries; educational services; and health care and social assistance.

Education and health care professionals are more likely to be in jobs that are highly complementary with AI.

Employees in industries such as construction, and accommodation and food services face relatively lower exposure to AI-related job transformation. 

The study’s authors are Tashin Mehdi, research economist, and Réne Morissette, senior economist – both with StatsCan’s Social Analysis and Modelling Division.

Their study notes these experimental estimates of AI occupational exposure are based on a limited number of AI applications and how they might interact with some human abilities. The set of tasks which AI might be able to perform fully unsupervised might grow in the future with technological advancement. 

The study found that in May 2021:

• Around 4.2 million employees (31 percent) in Canada held jobs highly exposed to and with low complementarity with AI.
• About 3.9 million (29 percent) were in jobs with high exposure and high complementarity to AI.
• About 5.4 million (40 percent) were in jobs with low exposure to AI.
• The AI occupational exposure distribution was similar in May 2016.

There are several reasons why employers may not immediately replace humans with AI, even if it is technologically feasible to do so, StatsCan points out.

These reasons include financial, legal and institutional factors. “Consequently, relatively higher occupational exposure to AI does not necessarily imply a higher risk of job loss.”

“As AI technologies continue to evolve, they have the potential to reshape industries, redefine job roles and transform the nature of work. AI may also create new challenges and divides and push boundaries,” say report authors Mehdi and Morisette.

But large-scale AI adoption may take some time, as employers may face financial, legal and institutional constraints,” they conclude.

The Science Council of Canada (SCC), in a prescient AI workshop report in 1983, argued that ''if Canada is to have a role in this [artificial intelligence technology] and a slice of an enormous potential market, then the government must demonstrate a long-term commitment to R&D."

“If this support does not come about quickly, then Canadian companies and research workers will lose their positions in the field and will rapidly fall behind the other technological nations." 

Some SCC workshop participants felt that a major research centre should be established to provide sufficient computing power and the infrastructure and funding for long-term software development. Others suggested that an AI centre for industrial applications should be built.

“The creation of special AI research centres in Canada would have the effect of protecting home-grown talent and attracting some of the best research workers on the international market,” said the SCC workshop report.

 It took another 38 years for Canada’s federal government to implement the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, supporting it with a total of more than $440 million in funding in Budget 2021. StatsCan

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European Union should create an innovation agency modelled on U.S. DARPA, says report on EU competitiveness

The European Union should create an innovation agency modelled on the U.S Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi says in a report on the EU’s competitiveness.

“Support for breakthrough disruptive innovation remains limited,” the report says. “Even though Horizon Europe’s mission is to promote disruptive research and innovation, the programme is neither sufficiently funded nor well-structured for the purpose.”

Following the apparent success of DARPA, the U.S. has set up Advanced Research Project Agencies (ARPAs) in energy, intelligence, health, homeland security and infrastructure.

The U.K. set up the similarly-named Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), while Germany’s innovation agency, Sprin-D, founded five years ago, is also influenced by the DARPA model.

In Canada, Robert Asselin, senior vice-president, policy at the Business Council of Canada, and others have called for a DARPA-like agency to get the country’s innovation ecosystem back on track.

The Draghi report wants an ARPA-type agency created out of the European Innovation Council (EIC), which was launched in 2021 with a €10 billion budget to help turn science into real world innovation.

Draghi said the EIC isn’t independent enough of European Commission officials, is too slow, and doesn’t involve enough program managers – experts, who, under the U.S. ARPA model, are given huge leeway and budgets to pursue radical innovations.

Draghi’s criticisms of the EIC, and support for an ARPA-type body, are taken in some places almost word-for-word from another report, EU Innovation Policy: How to Escape the Middle Technology Trap, released in April by a group of five European economists.

Co-authors of that report, including Daniel Gros, director of the Institute for European Policymaking at Bocconi University, argue that the EIC is too focused on funnelling money to later-stage technologies, propping up SMEs and startups in the absence of private investment, rather than backing truly novel inventions (those at Technology Readiness Level 3-4).

Moreover, over half of the EIC’s budget goes to open calls. In contrast, U.S. ARPAs typically have specific R&D goals, set and managed by program managers.

One piece of the puzzle is procurement – government contracts are one of the key ways proof-of-concept technologies get scaled up out of ARPA-style organisations, said Kat Borlongan, an EIC board member. “You’re also going to need to make sure the member states are planning on pre-purchase.”

Acceptance that some projects “must be allowed to fail soon and graciously” is also a key part of the design of ARPA-style organisations, said Andrea Renda, director of research at the Centre for European Policy Studies, a Brussels-based think tank.

“This is going to be very difficult to implement, of course, as our European research community is more used to a vision of R&I funding that is less selective and more inclusive,” he said. Science|Business

THE GRAPEVINE – News about people, institutions and communities

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has promoted Geneviève Bouthillier to executive vice-president of BDC Capital, Canada’s largest and most active VC investor. The news was announced by BDC president and CEO Isabelle Hudon and Bouthillier via LinkedIn posts. Bouthillier will begin in her new position on September 16. Bouthillier joined BDC in March as senior vice-president of growth and impact investments. Prior to that, she oversaw medium-sized businesses at Québec pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec as vice-president. In her new role, she will oversee BDC’s direct VC and fund-of-fund investments and programs like the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative. Bouthillier’s promotion to executive vice-president comes three months after her predecessor, Jérôme Nycz, abruptly departed after more than 10 years in the role and 22 years at the Crown corporation. Top Tech 100

The Royal Bank of Canada appointed Katherine Gibson as chief financial officer, effective immediately. Gibson has served as interim CFO since April 5, 2024. Prior to this, she was senior vice-president, enterprise finance and controller, with global responsibility for head office finance, including all external, board and management reporting, accounting policy and financial management systems. As CFO, Gibson, who joined RBC 22 years ago and has been in several executive roles, is responsible for finance for all businesses and functions, enterprise financial planning, analysis and reporting, as well as taxation, corporate treasury, investor relations, performance management and corporate development. RBC

Retired general Rick Hillier was appointed as strategic advisor to Ottawa-based ONE9, Canada’s national security and defence-focused venture capital fund and innovation hub. Hillier, former chief of the defence staff for the Canadian Armed Forces, has a deep understanding of global security challenges and defence strategies, and will play a pivotal role in strengthening ONE9's mission to deliver cutting-edge investment and innovative solutions to founders, investors, and national security and defence end-users, the VC fund said. ONE9

Montreal-based fintech Zūm Rails announced it has formally established its U.S. headquarters in Miami, and CEO Miles Schwartz will permanently relocate to Florida. The payments technology company said it saw a 75-percent increase in its U.S. business over the last year and is now preparing for at least 50 percent of its overall revenue to originate stateside within the next 18 months. Zūm Rails is now seeking to expand its reach among companies in retail, real estate tech and lending that disproportionately benefit from being able to send and receive payments seamlessly via any rails they want including Visa Direct, ACH, credit, and debit, and across different countries and having all funds settle into the same place. The company selected Miami due to its emergence as a destination for some of the country’s largest technology and finance corporations, following the Silicon Valley exodus of tech talent in recent years. Fintech.ca

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) announced several new appointments to its board of directors and members' governing body, including:

• Bruce Archibald, president of Archibald Innovations Inc., and François Gros-Louis, full professor in the department of surgery at Université Laval’s faculty of medicine and Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering and 3D Modelling of Brain Disease, were appointed CFI’s board.
• Morag Park and William Waterman were reappointed as board directors for a second three-year term.  
• Joining the CFI as new members and the organization’s higher governing body are Janet Ecker, founding CEO of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance and former Ontario minister of finance, and Alexandra King, assistant professor of general internal medicine and Cameco Chair in Indigenous Health and Wellness at the University of Saskatchewan. CFI

The University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton, N.B. and its J Herbert Smith Centre for Technology Management and Entrepreneurship has partnered with Harvard University’s Harvard HealthLab Accelerators (H2A) to launch H2A Canada, a new initiative designed to empower student entrepreneurs passionate about creating a positive social impact. This collaboration will provide a unique platform for students to develop innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing public and planetary health challenges. H2A Canada is dedicated to fostering the next generation of social entrepreneurs. The program offers a comprehensive suite of resources, including tailored mentorship, networking events, workshops, opportunities to pitch ventures. and co-curricular entrepreneurship education. The focus is on building ventures that contribute to a healthier, more sustainable world, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. UNB

Memorial University in St. John’s, Nfld., and the university’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics launched a new Data Science degree program. The new major brings together interdisciplinary courses and hands-on learning opportunities to provide undergraduate students with fundamental knowledge that can be applied to a variety of sectors and industries. “It aims to teach statistical and computational thinking, mathematical and statistical foundations, model building and assessment, algorithms and software foundation, data curation and knowledge transference,” said Memorial associate professor Dr. Yildiz Yilmaz, PhD, who chairs the new program’s development committee. Graduates of the program will be able to complete sampling and study designs, and will have the tools to employ computational and statistical methods, machine and statistical learning algorithms, neural networks and deep learning, he said. Memorial University Gazette

The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Engineering is launching a new undergraduate degree program integrating the high-demand fields of robotics and electrical, computer and mechanical engineering. The five-year program – including 20 months of industry co-op placement – will be the first of its kind in the Prairie provinces. It is a direct response to the aims of the Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs strategy, helping Alberta become a “technology hub” to attract top talent from around the world. Since few of today’s technological devices and systems are purely mechanical or electrical, U of A's Mechatronics and Robotics Program will provide students with the skills needed to solve complex problems in product design, manufacturing and maintenance, as well as develop expertise in artificial intelligence. The program’s first cohort will begin specializing in mechatronics and robotics in the fall of 2025 after completing a foundational first-year engineering program. University of Alberta

Camosun College in Victoria, B.C. launched its “Array of Hope” solar project with the goal of reducing the institution’s carbon footprint. As part of this project, Camosun is installing 90 photovoltaic panels on the lower roof and walls of its two Lansdowne campus libraries. The panels are expected to generate  approximately 50 percent of the building’s electricity needs. Camosun will also install an interactive information kiosk in the libraries to provide students and the community with information about the project. The initiative is being funded through a US$97,000 grant from EBSCO Information Services, with additional funding from the college. Camosun College

The new Nova Scotia Community College Sydney Waterfront campus commemorated its official opening. The campus, featuring modern design, open spaces and state-of-the-art technology, opened its doors to students and faculty earlier in September. The new campus is 305,000 square feet over four buildings connected by a series of pedways. In addition to modern learning spaces and an open concept library and learning commons, the campus includes a presentation theatre, applied research centre, early childhood education centre and day care, and cultural spaces including a Mi’kmaw Cultural Centre and an Elders room. Located downtown, the campus offers many off-campus amenities for students and staff, who can enjoy the boardwalk, visit local shops and restaurants and easily access public transit. Govt. of Nova Scotia

Researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU), in collaboration with a group from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, have identified a gene that appears to reverse Parkinson’s disease symptoms in fruit flies. SFU’s Esther Verheyen laboratory discovered that increasing the amount of the fruit fly Cdk8 gene in flies with Parkinson’s causes the disease’s symptoms to reverse. The discovery was published recently in Nature Communications and the work at SFU was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Parkinson’s Canada. “With familial Parkinsonism, one of the big problems is a gene mutation that causes mitochondria to malfunction, and this can make cells sick or cause them to die,” said Verheyen, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry and corresponding author of the paper. “This contributes to a lot of the cognitive losses and other disease symptoms.” The team’s research shows that fly Cdk8 and its human counterpart CDK19 have a role in regulating mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell. Numerous studies have looked at ways to suppress Parkinsonism, but Verheyen’s lab is the first to identify that particular function for the gene Cdk8 and CDK19. SFU

Farmers across Canada will soon have a new tool for real-time nutrient control and monitoring thanks to a team of University of Calgary researchers. Dr. Zahra Abbasi, PhD, an assistant professor with the Department of Electrical and Software Engineering, and her team at the Calgary Sensors Lab at the university’s Schulich School of Engineering have partnered with Calgary-based company Livestock Water Recycling (LWR) to create a cutting-edge nutrient-monitoring sensor device. In the agriculture industry, regular nutrient monitoring in water is a necessary, yet tedious, process to assess nutrient levels. This involves collecting soil, drying out the soil to remove moisture, sieving the sample, sending it to the lab and then waiting for the results. Currently, there is no affordable approach to monitoring multiple nutrient levels at the same time in farms. Abbasi and her team’s proposed device will seamlessly fit into existing agriculture setups, using electromagnetics, circuit and system development, and data analysis to instantly track nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. A $1.7-million investment by LWR and Alberta Innovates’ Agri-Food and Bioindustrial Innovation Program supports the three-and-a-half-year project that began in April 2024. The partnership with LWR aims to tackle agriculture’s challenges of overfertilization, under-fertilization and nutrient contamination, in hopes of promoting a more sustainable food-production process. UCalgary

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