GOVERNMENT FUNDING & NEWS

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The Public Health Agency of Canada announced over $10 million in funding – through its Healthy Canadians and Communities Fund  –  to support initiatives that empower Canadians to adopt healthy behaviours – such as being active, eating nutritious foods and avoiding smoking – ultimately leading to a longer and improved quality of life.

Funding recipients include:

• The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health –  $846,572.
•  The Lung Association of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island – $1,450,393.
• McMaster University – $2,999,250.
•  Montréal – Métropole en santé – $984,910.
• The Technology Evaluation in the Elderly Network (operates as Canadian Frailty Network) – $1,654,091.
•  University of Guelph – $1,391,542.
• Vivre Saint-Michel en santé – $835,901.

These organizations develop and promote programs and resources that empower communities to support the health and well-being of Canadians. Projects funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada's Healthy Canadians and Communities Fund focus on priority populations who face health inequalities and are at greater risk of developing chronic disease, such as Indigenous Peoples, newcomers to Canada, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, people living on low incomes and racialized communities. Public Health Agency of Canada

Canada is lifting retaliatory tariffs on $44.2 billion worth of U.S. goods eligible for the Canada-United States-Canada Agreement (CUSMA )  – without needing proof they meet its complicated rules-of-origin requirements. Audrey Milette, a spokesperson for Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, said Monday the exemption taking effect Sept. 1 will apply to all items on Canada’s counter-tariff list except steel, aluminum and autos. That differs from U.S. President Donald Trump’s carve-out, which prompted Canadian businesses to rush paperwork to prove compliance with CUSMA this spring. Andrew DiCapua, principal economist at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, estimated Canada’s remaining counter-tariffs would affect roughly six percent of U.S. imports –  about $1.7 billion – based on June data. Meanwhile, Dominic LeBlanc, the minister for Canada-U.S. relations, is headed back to Washington, D.C., for trade talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The Logic

The Government of Canada announced its partnership with Bruce Power and First Nations to produce cancer-fighting medical isotopes. Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, on behalf of Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, announced the next phase of an ambitious medical isotope production project at the Bruce Power nuclear plant facility in Tiverton, Ontario. This next phase will see the installation of a second isotope production system at Bruce Power’s CANDU Unit 6 reactor, which will allow for a significant increase in the plant’s ability to produce the medical isotope lutetium-177, used in targeted cancer therapies. The Canadian Medical Isotope Ecosystem is a pan-Canadian initiative led by the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization and TRIUMF Innovations, not-for-profit corporations specializing in radiopharmaceutical products and the commercialization of particle acceleration, respectively. Government of Canada

The Government of Canada has signed a memorandum of understanding with Toronto-based AI developer Cohere to help bolster Canada’s AI ecosystem and internal AI offerings. Since 2016, the government has announced over $4.4 billion to support AI and digital research infrastructure, including $2.4 billion announced in Budget 2024 to scale up AI compute infrastructure, support AI adoption programs and launch an AI safety institute. The government aims to support the responsible development and adoption of AI across the Canadian economy through a suite of measures – including the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy and the launch of the Canadian AI Safety Institute. ISED

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), through the Intersectoral Action Fund, is supporting projects that promote intersectoral policy action on the social determinants of health in ways that improve population health, reduce health inequities, and strengthen community resiliency. PHAC is providing over $3 million to 14 projects across the country.

The projects receiving funding are:

• From the stem to the root of food insecurity in the Acadian Peninsula ($188,300) – The project aims to combat food insecurity in the Acadian Peninsula by strengthening the capacities of the Food Insecurity Advisory Committee. This committee is made up of seven municipalities, a rural district and representatives from the health, education, agricultural and non-profit sectors. It will gather evidence on the local food situation, inventory national/international leading-edge food security practices, and provide recommendations for municipal and agricultural policies and systemic change.
• Implementation of upstream mental health promotion in Prince Edward Island (PEI) ($249,868) – The project will promote a mentally healthy and equitable PEI society by strengthening capacity for intersectoral action among governments, the private sector, and civil society; advancing upstream investment in communities, systems, policies and structures; and advocating, educating and supporting community resilience and implementation of mental health in all policies across the Atlantic Region.
• Black Food Sovereignty Alliance – Food security action plan ($250,000) – This project aims to bring together diverse Black community stakeholders and allies to effectively establish a Black Food Sovereignty Alliance of Champions. It will mobilize Black communities to increase understanding of the systemic issues around food sovereignty and identify strategic priorities for realizing Black food sovereignty. The project will also create sustainable economic opportunities for low-income Black Torontonians to become efficient leaders within the vast food industry. In addition, it will support the development of a Black food sovereignty assessment and leadership development plan, and conduct research to strengthen policy development and knowledge-sharing of Black food sovereignty priorities.
• Mobilizing intersectoral strategies for climate resilience in low-income rental housing ($203,300) – This project aims to develop and mobilize a suite of strategic options to support communities across Ontario to improve climate resiliency in rental housing and advance health equity through intersectoral action on extreme heat, flooding/mould, and degraded indoor air quality associated with wildfire smoke. This project includes the development of a toolkit of intersectoral strategies to increase climate resilience in low-income rental housing, and a collective statement and policy recommendations on the importance of climate resilience in rental housing for health equity and community well-being.
• Equity First: Impact analysis and participatory planning for upstream food system and sovereignty interventions to improve health outcomes for equity-denied groups in the capital region of British Columbia ($228,300) – The project will assess Good Food 2025 interventions with a focus on equity-denied groups to evaluate effectiveness and identify improvements. The project will involve meaningful engagement with Indigenous, racialized, newcomer, and immigrant groups, which are disproportionately impacted by food insecurity and experience poorer health outcomes. The findings from this project will help inform the development of Good Food 2030.
• Healthy city for all: A lens for equity-based municipal decision-making to improve health outcomes ($249,997) – This project seeks to transform decision-making in the City of St. John's by developing and implementing a municipal equity lens for policy and decision-making processes. The initiative will build on partnerships with Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services and the First Voice Urban Indigenous Coalition. It will support the mobilization of the City's Healthy City Strategy, which recognizes local government impact on the social determinants of health.
•  Operationalization of a food governance council for greater food equity in the Capitale-Nationale region ($250,000) – The project will establish a food governance council aimed at enhancing food equity in the Capitale-Nationale region through engaging citizens, strengthening partnerships, and developing a strategic plan to create a shared vision of a sustainable and resilient food system.
• Yukon health data legislation and impacts of Yukon First Nations self-determination ($249,740) – This project will establish an equitable framework that respects the rights and sovereignty of Yukon First Nations through the review of health data legislation and policies, and engagement with Yukon First Nations, community organizations and decision-makers. This includes advocating for policies that protect privacy and confidentiality, while enabling data sharing in a way that supports collaborative research, evidence-based decision making, and improved health outcomes.
• Developing an equity-based policy framework for upstream capital infrastructure investments in Halifax ($129,290) – The project aims to improve the well-being of Haligonians by creating an equity-based policy framework to prioritize infrastructure investments. The framework will inform capital infrastructure investments by providing decision-makers with an approach to prioritize infrastructure projects based on a set of neighbourhood-based socio-economic indicators. This will contribute to a more equitable distribution of social and physical infrastructure – such as libraries, community centres, parks, and transit – across the municipality.
• Housing precarity and gender-based violence: Towards community-driven structural solutions ($237,380) – This project will bring together systemically marginalized groups to advance upstream community actions to address the structural barriers underlying their high rates of poverty, gender-based violence (GBV) and housing security. Local Safety & Inclusion Solidarity Networks in Vancouver, Iqaluit, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montréal, and Saint John will collectively analyze the root causes of the population-specific, complex relationship between poverty, GBV and housing security. They will also do this through examining existing policy systems, identifying gaps, and exploring promising law and policy provisions.
• Improving the health of Nunavummiut through policy directions at the intersection of housing security and food security ($250,000) – This project seeks to identify and address the intersections of housing and food security in Nunavut, with a focus on improving health and equity for Nunavummiut (Nunavut residents). The project will examine evidence and key issues in the intersections of housing and food security through foregrounding and elevating Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit worldviews), and consulting partners, knowledge users, and the community. It will also include evidence reviews and collaborative analysis to identify gaps in policies and take action to address them.
• Improving financial well-being through intersectoral collaboration ($147,834) – This project will support intersectoral policy and systems change to improve the financial well-being of Manitobans with low incomes. By building off the work of established and new intersectoral partnerships, the project will conduct lived experience listening circles, knowledge mobilization events, and develop a financial empowerment policy strategy. The aim is to shift from a reactive approach to a more strategic and sustainable approach.
• Total health and equity (THE) partnership ($248,836) – This project seeks to examine the health impact of pandemic policies on Ontario's Black communities and inform future public health strategies. It will engage community members, public health experts, researchers, service providers, and government stakeholders in a coordinated effort to address social and structural inequities in health care. The project will include the development of recommendations to guide long-term policy change, ensuring sustainable, culturally relevant, and responsive public health systems. Key outcomes include improved health equity, stronger intersectoral partnerships, and practical solutions to mitigate barriers such as racism, socioeconomic challenges, and access to care.
• Indigenous youth housing equity initiative ($250,000) – This project seeks to develop and implement an equity-informed policy framework to enhance housing stability and security for Indigenous youth in Calgary. The project will focus on bridging the gap between research and implementation to create culturally relevant housing solutions. Guided by an advisory group composed of Indigenous Elders, youth representatives, and housing specialists, the project will review past housing needs assessments, focusing on implementation readiness through non-market land opportunities. Deliverables will include housing designs, policies, and a readiness action plan, contributing to long-term housing stability and enhancing community resilience. Government of Canada

New legislation by the Government of Ontario aims to stop companies from “ghosting” job applicants in the province. The legislation, first brought forward last year as part of the province’s Working for Workers Five Act: An Act to amend various statutes with respect to employment and labour and other matters, requires that employers update job seekers about the status of their application within 45 days of them having an interview with the company. Michel Figueredo, Director of Communications for the Ontario Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, says the measure aims to bring more clarity into the job market and “restore respect and fairness in the hiring process.” While the legislation’s goal is to encourage employers to respond to applicants in lieu of relying on AI automated systems for hiring, experts remain divided on how effective it will be. Dave McKechnie,  Partner, Employment & Labour Relations Attorney at McMillan LLP, highlighted that the law doesn’t require employers to respond to all job applicants, but only to those who have gone through an interview. Additionally, it also doesn’t require that they give any kind of feedback to job seekers, allowing them to simply respond with the decision. NowToronto

The Government of Canada has recognized The Red River Métis Business Directory as a source of verified Indigenous Businesses. The official recognition of the Manitoba Métis Federation’s Red River Métis Business Directory, with currently over 850 businesses registered, means that all listed businesses are now eligible for federal procurement opportunities under the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business. This recognition facilitates direct access to federal contracts set aside for Indigenous businesses, including Red River Métis. Federal departments, which are mandated to award a minimum of five percent of their total procurement each year to Indigenous businesses, can now use the Red River Métis Business Directory as a trusted source. Red River Métis businesses are now able to compete for federal defence contracts, such as the Future Aircrew Training Program, and other domestic and northern defence activities. Indigenous businesses, including Red River Métis, have faced systemic barriers to economic development and full participation within the Canadian economy, and are underrepresented in federal procurement. Indigenous Services Canada

The Government of Canada is delivering over $557.5 million to 1,123 recipients across Quebec this year through the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF). This allocation is part of the previously announced $2.8 billion in CCBF funding Quebec will receive by 2029 to build communities with stronger and more resilient infrastructure. In addition to its other significant infrastructure investments, the Government of Quebec is contributing more than $1.7 billion by 2029 to projects funded by the CCBF. The overall budget, which will allow for investments of more than $4.5 billion by the 2028-2029 fiscal year, is administered by the Société de financement des infrastructures locales, and the funds are distributed to municipalities for projects developed in collaboration with the ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation and the ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable. Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada

Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) announced over $5.9 million in non-repayable funding, through the Community Economic Development and Diversification program and the Regional Innovation Ecosystems program, for seven projects across Alberta to help communities strengthen rural and Indigenous employment and expand economic development opportunities. Projects receiving funding include: 

•  $1 million to support Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in building Indigenous-led Community Atlases – data platforms to assist communities with industry consultations, land use, decision-making on industrial projects, and land reclamation. 
• $810,300 for Siksika Nation to establish a new business resource centre and deliver programming to entrepreneurs.
• $689,000 to help the County of Grande Prairie and the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce launch Work Northwest Alberta – a collaborative partnership and regional approach to attract, retain and develop a skilled workforce.
• $750,000 for the Arts Council Wood Buffalo to transform a vacant Fort McMurray property into a large-scale arts incubator, supporting local artisans and hands-on community learning.
• $200,000 to help the AKSIS - Edmonton Indigenous Business and Professional Association in developing and operating the AKSIS Indigenous Resource Centre, which offers resources, networking opportunities, and support for Indigenous entrepreneurs, as well as delivers cultural awareness workshops to strengthen the community of non-Indigenous allies in Edmonton. 
• $458,250 for the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions Society to support the Blackfoot Confederacy to adopt regenerative agriculture practices, which align with cultural protocols, by launching a program to promote agribusiness. 
• $2 million for Bear Hills Gas Station to develop a 2,000 square foot travel centre that includes fuel and electric vehicle refuelling as well as a convenience store as part of a Louis Bull Tribe economic development initiative in Maskwacis. PrairiesCan

The Canadian Space Agency advised that a team of Canadian researchers, members of NASA's OSIRIS-REx international science team, have contributed to new studies related to the sample collected from asteroid Bennu. Three scientific articles published in Nature Astronomy and Nature Geoscience reveal that Bennu contains: stardust grains older than our solar system; interstellar organic matter (likely formed beyond our solar system), and high-temperature minerals that formed closer to the Sun. These new findings highlight the importance of asteroid sample return missions like OSIRIS-REx, with a Canadian Light Detection And Ranging instrument used to help select the Bennu sample site. In exchange for this contribution, Canada will receive four percent of the sample, making it the fifth country to preserve and study a sample collected from space. Canadian Space Agency

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) has announced nearly $12 million in support for six projects through the Regional Homebuilding Innovation Initiative, advancing innovation and housing supply across Ontario. Businesses and organizations  receiving funding include:

•  Arctic Acres ($1,500,00) – to adopt high-tech manufacturing equipment at its Portland location to improve its manufacturing capabilities for geodesic homes – strong, energy-efficient and self-supporting dome-shaped buildings made from connected triangles.
• Axe Buildings ($2,090,000) – to expand its manufacturing capabilities at its Thorold location and implement advanced semi-automated machinery to enhance efficiency, reduce construction costs, and increase the production of affordable, sustainable and high-quality pre-fabricated housing.
•  BK Cornerstone Design Build Ltd. ($2,560,000) – to add an automated wall panel manufacturing capabilities line, with state-of-the-art machinery at its Tecumseh location.
• Dyck Exterior Installations Inc ($1,500,000) – to enhance production capabilities through the adoption of advanced equipment to automate processes and increase capacity at its Aylmer facility.
• Infrastructure Development Partners Inc. ($2,300,000) – To enhance manufacturing capabilities for pre-fabricated housing through the adoption of advanced equipment and facility upgrades at its Chesterville manufacturing facility.
• University of Windsor. (2,000,000) – to showcase new 3D printing technology through the construction of a net-zero student residence building to demonstrate innovative housing solutions.

The Regional Homebuilding Innovation Initiative's goal is to advance innovative homebuilding solutions and boost productivity within the homebuilding sector in Canada. Through RHII, the Agency is prioritizing projects that support innovative homebuilding solutions and demonstrate a clear connection in expediting change in the way homes are built in Canada. FedDev Ontario

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced increased support for food and beverage producers across British Columbia through the B.C. Agriculture and Food Export Program, funded by the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership. This marks the fourth round of program funding and is anticipated to support about 15 to 20 projects with almost $600,000 through Sustainable CAP. Sustainable CAP is a five-year (from 2023 to 2028), $3.5-billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen the competitiveness, innovation and resiliency of Canada’s agriculture, agri‐food and agri‐based products sector. Eligible applicants can apply to three export-focused funding streams, supporting consumer promotional activities, marketing collateral and advertising campaigns, and trade shows and events. Applications are open until September 5, 2025. Agriculture and Agrifood Canada

The Government of Canada, along with Treaty One Nations, is advancing development on Naawi-Oodena, one of the largest First Nation-led Economic Development Zones in Canadian history. The site is being developed and is jointly owned by the seven First Nations who are signatory to Treaty No. 1, which includes: Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, Long Plain First Nation, Peguis First Nation, Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation, Sagkeeng First Nation, Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation, and Swan Lake First Nation. Naawi-Oodena is a landmark joint urban reserve project located in the heart of Winnipeg. The future development, including residential, commercial, education, cultural, sports/recreational, health and community spaces, will deliver nearly 5,000 housing units on the full site while creating lasting employment opportunities for both First Nation and non-Indigenous Manitobans. Naawi-Oodena is comprised of five parcels of Treaty One Jointly Held urban reserve lands, totalling 109 acres and is located on the former site of the Kapyong Barracks in the Winnipeg South Centre riding. Federal support for infrastructure design was increased to $1 million, with funding to support critical site servicing design, surveying, engineering and cost estimates, ensuring the project can move forward efficiently and sustainably. It will allow Treaty One Nations to build essential infrastructure, including homes, businesses, and educational facilities that will strengthen both the community's economy and overall well-being. This latest funding brings total federal investment in Naawi-Oodena's planning, training and site development to approximately $5.5 million through Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Indigenous Services Canada. This includes $3.5 million, which supported the development of Block A, home to Oodena Gas & Convenience—the first business to open on Treaty One's 109 acres of Naawi-Oodena lands. Indigenous Services Canada

RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Quebec-based Carbon removal firm Deep Sky has announced that Deep Sky Alpha, its cross-technology carbon removal centre, is up and running. The centre, located in Innisfail, Alberta, represents an industry first for the private development of scalable carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Powered by 100-percent solar energy, carbon dioxide captured at Alpha will be injected two kilometres into the ground, which the company says can safely retain the carbon for thousands of years. Deep Sky Alpha makes it possible for multiple Direct Air Capture (DAC) technologies to be deployed simultaneously, speeding up previously delayed carbon capture processes. Chosen for its favourable geological characteristics, Alberta is ideally suited for CO2 storage thanks to its extensive sedimentary basins, including the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin containing deep saline aquifers. The cap rock layers above these formations ensure the containment of CO₂, preventing its escape to the surface. Deep Sky 

Industrial park developer Restoration Lands, with support from BC Hydro, has launched the province’s largest commercial-industrial rooftop solar installation at its Okanagan Eco Industrial Park in Coldstream. Featuring almost 2,500 solar panels, the array spans nearly 150,000 square feet and is expected to produce 1.7 gigawatt-hours of renewable electricity annually. The installation was made possible in part through BC Hydro’s Load Displacement Program, which helps reduce demand on the provincial grid by empowering large energy users to generate their own electricity on-site. Restoration Lands was able to cover more than one-third of its solar installation cost through a custom incentive of over $850,000. The Okanagan Eco Industrial Park already has 10 businesses, including engineering, modular construction, and agritech companies operating onsite. Through its $700 million Energy Efficiency Plan, BC Hydro is expecting to deliver 2,000 gigawatt hours in electricity savings. TechCouver

Burnaby, B.C.-based Photonic Inc., which is developing distributed quantum computing, has been selected as a semi-finalist in the Canadian Department of National Defence’s Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) NORAD Modernization Science and Technology Contest. Photonic will receive an initial grant of $1 million, and over the next year, will deliver on its proposal to advance quantum repeater and networking technology, supporting Canada’s NORAD modernization plan and strengthening North America’s defence capabilities. Photonic’s innovative technology will address known limitations of existing quantum repeater designs, a critical step in achieving performance benchmarks necessary for next-generation quantum sensing and communication systems. This IDEaS program challenge provides grants to support innovations that advance NORAD modernization science and technology, with the goal of future-proofing North America’s defence. Photonic’s project builds on the company’s foundational expertise in scalable quantum computing and networking technologies. BusinessWire

Aspiration Co-Founder Joseph Sanberg agreed to plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud, which could result in up to 20 years of imprisonment each. Sanberg was arrested in March after defrauding investors. Sanberg is accused of disguising the source of payments used to inflate Aspiration’s revenue figures. He obtained letters of intent from companies interested in using the startup’s tree-planting services. Those letters committed the companies to tens of thousands of dollars per month in revenue, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California. Sanberg also allegedly fabricated a letter from Aspiration’s audit committee that said the startup had US$250 million in cash and equivalents available. In reality, Aspiration had less than $1 million in cash. Ultimately, victims of the fraud suffered more than US$248 million in losses, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. TechCrunch

According to recent Statistics Canada data, youth employment in Canada has fallen to its lowest level since 1998, with the employment rate for those aged 15 to 24 dropping to 53.6 percent last month. Industries that typically hire younger workers – such as retail, food service, and hospitality – are showing particular weakness, leaving many teens struggling to find jobs despite multiple applications. Analysts and employment specialists attribute the decline to lasting impacts from the pandemic, economic uncertainty and employers’ caution in hiring inexperienced workers. Some employers argue that younger workers lack motivation or work ethic, while some point out a gap in experience and workplace skills due to missed opportunities during COVID-19. Canada Minute

Saskatchewan-based sustainable recycling company Prairie Robotics deployed AI-enabled camera systems on recycling collection trucks to identify contamination in curbside materials in real time. The system pinpoints the source address of contamination, then triggers personalized education such as postcards, app notifications or in-person audits, helping municipalities reduce recycling errors without fines. Operating in about 40 North American cities, the technology also provides haulers with detailed route-level data to improve recycling quality and lower contamination-related costs. Center for Data Innovation

Ottawa-based vertical farming firm Growcer CEO Corey Ellis won a bidding battle in a Boston courthouse to acquire the assets of Freight, his company’s American competitor. The US$2.6-million (about Cdn$3.6 million) asset acquisition expanded the startup’s operations significantly. The startup now has about 600 new customers (including municipalities, food banks and other community food organizations) and farm containers across 30 different countries, as well as the use of Freight’s proprietary software. Founded in 2016 by Ellis and chief financial officer Alida Burke when they were students at the University of Ottawa, Growcer’s flagship offering is a modular vertical farm unit designed and built in Canada to withstand climates from -40 °C to 40 °C. The climate-controlled unit features racks of leafy produce from floor to ceiling, all growing on a controlled water system that allows farming year-round. BetaKit

Buzz High Performance Computing, a subsidiary of Hive Digital Technologies LTD, has partnered with Bell Canada to deliver one of Canada’s largest sovereign AI systems through Bell AI Fabric. BUZZ HPC will provide Bell’s government and enterprise customers with access to NVIDIA Ampere, NVIDIA Hopper, and NVIDIA Blackwell GPU clusters, scalable over NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking. BUZZ HPC’s large-scale NVIDIA accelerated computing infrastructure, purpose-built for AI, machine learning and scientific computing, will be integrated with Bell AI Fabric’s advanced fibre network, data centres and partner ecosystem, including Cohere. This combined capability supports a range of use cases, including developing AI foundational models and fine-tuning existing models, all within Canada. BCE

Scientists from King’s College London have discovered that toothpaste made from human hair may offer a sustainable and clinically effective way to protect and repair damaged teeth. The team found that keratin produces a protective coating that mimics the structure and function of natural enamel when it comes into contact with minerals in saliva. Dr. Sherif Elsharkawy, senior author and consultant in prosthodontics at King’s College London, said: “Unlike bones and hair, enamel does not regenerate; once it is lost, it’s gone forever.” Acidic foods and drinks, poor oral hygiene and ageing all contribute to enamel erosion and decay, leading to tooth sensitivity, pain and eventually tooth loss. While fluoride toothpastes are currently used to slow this process, keratin-based treatments were found to stop it completely. Keratin forms a dense mineral layer that protects the tooth and seals off exposed nerve channels that cause sensitivity, offering both structural and symptomatic relief. The treatment could be delivered through a toothpaste for daily use or as a professionally applied gel, similar to nail varnish, for more targeted repair. The team is already exploring pathways for clinical application and believes that keratin-based enamel regeneration could be made available to the public within the next two to three years. EurekAlert! 

Saskatoon, Sask.-based software firm Vendasta expanded its reach into agentic AI with a recent pivot to AI customer acquisition and engagement platform offerings for small and medium-sized (SMB) businesses. Vendasta seeks to give those businesses access to “enterprise-grade AI automation” with its revamped platform. This includes new AI agents that it claims can handle different SMB customer acquisition and retention tasks autonomously to help clients grow without the need to expand their headcount. The firm has established a reputation for helping agency partners sell sales and marketing software solutions developed by Vendasta and third-party providers to SMBs through its platform and marketplace. Vendasta’s AI agent roadmap is starting with a receptionist and assistant, and it has teased plans to make more “AI employees” available over time. The company claims these agents are pre-trained, immediately ready to use, customizable based on customer needs, and trained on businesses’ data to ensure accuracy. BetaKit

LawZero announced it has received a grant from the Gates Foundation to advance its work in developing AI safety benchmarks and algorithms. This grant will support the development of “Scientist AI,” LawZero’s new approach to ensuring robust, trustworthy AI systems. This innovative technical solution is designed to move beyond human imitation, focusing on data understanding and explanation to generate trustworthy hypotheses. In addition to enabling the creation of novel AI safety guardrails, the solution would be helpful in a variety of fields, including scientific research and drug discovery. "This work will be instrumental in supporting the creation of our technical solution to address critical AI safety challenges and propel scientific discovery,” said Yoshua Bengio, Co-President and Scientific Director of LawZero. This latest grant brings the total amount raised by LawZero to over US-$35 million. LawZero was incubated at Mila - Quebec AI Institute, a non-profit founded by Bengio. Mila now serves as LawZero's operating partner. LawZero

Health Canada approved Moderna’s newly updated COVID-19 vaccine – and for the first time, the vaccines will be “made in Canada.” The company says having the vaccine available from domestic manufacturers and suppliers creates a critical piece of health resilience to “ensure Canada is ready, not just reactive.” Moderna announced the federal regulator authorized its mRNA vaccine known as Spikevax, which the pharmaceutical company says targets the SARS-CoV-2 LP.8.1 variant circulating for fall vaccination. The updated vaccine is on track to be available in time for the upcoming vaccination season. These vaccines will be made in Canada via facilities in Cambridge, Ont., and Laval, Que. Global News

VC, PRIVATE INVESTMENT & ACQUISITIONS

Guelph, Ont.-based cleantech startup Friendlier raised $4.5 million as it looks to replace more kinds of single-use waste for food service operators. The round included participation from Toronto-based investment firms Good & Well and Relay Ventures, as well as other undisclosed investors. Friendlier has raised a total of nearly $13 million to date. Founded in 2019 by CEO Kayli Smith and chief revenue officer Jacquie Hutchings, Friendlier offers food service operators reusable plastic containers to replace single-use counterparts. Customers pay a deposit for their signature ocean blue-coloured containers and receive refunds when the containers are dropped off at deposit stations. Friendlier sanitizes used containers from vendors before redistributing them. The reuse program is available across Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. The funding will be used to “deepen” Friendlier’s infrastructure, Smith said in a statement. The company is evolving its system to work across more food service environments than just traditional dining halls, including accommodations for hot beverages, catering and retail grab-and-go stations. The company is also deploying additional “micro-sanitation hubs,” or proprietary facilities that process the reusable packaging at scale. BetaKit

Toronto-based AI scaleup firm Cohere closed a US$500-million (Cdn$690 million) in its latest funding round, led by returning investors Radical Ventures and Inovia Capital, with existing backers including AMD (via AMD Ventures), Nvidia, Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board, and Salesforce Ventures. The round also included the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan participating as a new investor. This latest round closes the funding gap that the  Financial Times first reported on in June, bringing Cohere to a US$6.8 billion (Cdn$9.4 billion) valuation. Beta Kit

According to KPMG International’s Pulse of Fintech H1’25 bi-annual report, a total of US$1.62 billion was invested in Canadian fintechs across 60 deals in the first half of the year, down significantly from the record US$7.5 billion invested in the second half of 2024 and the US$2.4 billion invested in the first half of last year, according to data compiled by PitchBook for KPMG International. Deal counts include mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital. KPMG

U.S.-based nuclear company Aalo raised US$100 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from new and existing investors including Fine Structure Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, Crosscut, NRG Energy, Vamos Ventures, Tishman Speyer, Kindred Ventures, 50Y, Harpoon Ventures, Crescent Enterprises, Alumni Ventures, MCJ, Gaingels, Perpetual VC, and Nucleation Capital, among others. Aalo will use the capital to build its first nuclear power plant, the Aalo-X, which is set to reach net-zero criticality by summer 2026, with a data center built alongside the plant, making it the first of its kind in the U.S. One of Aalo’s co-founders, Yasir Arafat, worked on the eVinci microreactor set to undergo testing in Saskatchewan. The Logic, Aalo

The Government of Ontario is welcoming an investment of over $100 million from Ranovus Inc., a homegrown Canadian technology company, to expand its optical semiconductor manufacturing facility in Ottawa. The investment will create 125 new jobs in the technology sector and further position the province as a North American leader in advanced semiconductor design and manufacturing. Founded in Ottawa in 2012, Ranovus is a leading developer of advanced optical interconnect solutions, a type of semiconductor that enables faster data transfers, reducing delays and power consumption in data centres. The company’s Ontario-designed and made technologies are relied on by global semiconductor technology companies such as AMD, MediaTek, and Cerebras (DARPA). Ranovus’s leadership in hardware production plays an important role in scaling AI infrastructure in the manufacturing, defence, and automotive sectors. Ontario Newsroom

REPORTS & POLICIES

OPINION

Overreliance on AI Chatbots poses social crisis for youth and vulnerable populations

In a post published via his Substack, author and journalist Derek Thompson explores the implications of overreliance on artificial intelligence for social enrichment and mental health tools. [Editor’s Note: this piece has been edited for length.]

Several weeks ago, my wife completed her PhD internship in clinical psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the graduation dinner, I spoke with some of her colleagues about how artificial intelligence was affecting their field. One told me that after playing around with ChatGPT for hours, he found the machine to be surprisingly nimble at delivering therapy. He’s not alone. In an August column in the New York Times entitled "I’m a Therapist. ChatGPT Is Eerily Effective,” the psychologist Harvey Lieberman, 81, wrote that OpenAI’s chatbot often stunned him with its insights.

There is no question that large language models, such as ChatGPT, can be stellar at offering practical advice. As my conversation in Chapel Hill continued, however, we agreed that there is one big hang-up with ChatGPT when it assumes the role of a therapist. The chatbot is a total suck up.

To the AI, the patient typing into the box is always reasonable, always doing their best, and always deserving of a gold star. By contrast, a good therapist knows that their patients are sometimes unreasonable, occasionally not doing anything close to their best.  Reassurance is part of being a good counsellor. But a wise psychologist knows when to tell their patients that they’re wrong or, at least, how to guide them toward their authentic realization of the same fact.

And so this is the thought I can’t get out of my head: What is the social cost of scaling a technology to millions of people who trust it for the most important life questions, if that technology lacks the critical insight to help a user who doesn’t know how to help themselves?

I’d been stewing on the risks of servile chatbots in a clinical setting for months when, suddenly, the topic was all over the news. In the last few weeks, the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have fleshed out the dangers of highly affirming chatbots interacting with users who are vulnerable to psychosis or delusions. The New York Times published a long report on how ChatGPT can serve as a “sycophantic improv machine" that validates the neuroses of sensitive individuals who wind up in a “delusional spiral.”

Groups representing autistic individuals are now speaking out about the risks of overuse of AI chatbots. From the Wall Street Journal:

“’ A lot of folks with autism, including my son, have deep special interests, but there can be an unhealthy limit to that, and AI by design encourages you to dig deeper,’” said Keith Wargo, chief executive of Autism Speaks. “’ The way AI encourages continued interaction and depth can lead to social withdrawal, and isolation is something people with autism already struggle with.’”

It’s hard to know how common these stories are. Maybe the Times and the Journal just found dramatic examples of a vanishingly rare thing, which wouldn’t be the first time an alarming news story has created a misleading impression about the frequency of the underlying phenomenon.

But what I see in these stories are fragments of a larger problem that will be with us for years, and maybe decades. I don’t just think about the vulnerable adults who can be lured into chats that inflate their delusions. I also think about today’s children, including my daughter, who will grow up around friendly AI conversationalists that they’ll turn to for finishing their homework, drafting texts to girls and boys in high school, resolving fights with their parents, working out ethical challenges, and managing the hormonal circus of being a teenager.

One reason to worry about this shift is that it will pull young people away from each other. Face-to-face socializing for teenagers has declined more than 40 percent in this century alone. 

A second reason to worry about digital technology changing young people’s personality in the future is that . . . this is exactly what seems to be happening right now. John Burn-Murdoch, of the Financial Times, recently calculated that among young Americans, the personality trait of “conscientiousness” is in a “free fall,” with neuroticism surging, and agreeableness and extroversion sliding. 

Third, I’m not just worried that AI chatbots will continue to reduce the quantity of time that young people spend with each other. I’m worried about how the personality of these chatbots – most importantly, sycophancy-by-design – will change the quality of our social interactions. Good friends tell you when you’re nuts. AI so often just tells you, “You’re so right. Wow. That sounds so hard.” To raise a generation of young people on a nimble machine of eternal affirmation is to encode in our youth the expectation that they are always right, always wowing, and always living the hardest kind of life.

Large language models have, in many cases, been engineered and tailored through human feedback to tell users that they’re always right. Fixing this problem could mean degrading the product and making it “worse” in the eyes of many customers. The study “Towards Understanding Sycophancy in Language Models” (published 2023; updated 2025) found that both human evaluators and preference models can “prefer convincingly-written sycophantic responses over correct ones.” In other words, the more chatbots are designed to appeal to people, the more they specialize in telling people exactly what they want to hear.

Here’s a news event that might not initially seem like a smooth transition from the subject we’ve been discussing: Last month, Grok, the AI that's hosted on X, went on several antisemitic screeds and took to calling itself “MechaHitler” in several exchanges with users. In May, the chatbot started making random references to "white genocide" because, according to the company, someone at xAI made an "unauthorized modification" to its system prompt in the dead of night. Assume that I’m willing to believe that someone at xAI just made an innocent mistake: Even so, the mistake was deeply revealing. People all over the world suddenly found themselves in conversation with a crazy racist interlocutor. With a few wrong keystrokes, Grok accidentally scaled white nationalism to the whole planet.

When we build talking machines like ChatGPT and Grok, we cannot help but bake personalities and ideologies into them. These machines are an echo of human knowledge and human writing, and humans have personalities and ideologies encoded in everything we produce. But these talking machines go on to interact with hundreds of millions of users in a way that no other individual ever will

AI companies are starting to reckon with this social dilemma. In a statement last week, OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that people are surprisingly attached to certain LLMs’ personalities, even as some of them used the technology “in self-destructive ways.” He added, “If a user is in a mentally fragile state and prone to delusion, we do not want the AI to reinforce that.” Then he said this:

“A lot of people effectively use ChatGPT as a sort of therapist or life coach, even if they wouldn’t describe it that way. This can be really good! A lot of people are getting value from it already today . . . I can imagine a future where a lot of people really trust ChatGPT’s advice for their most important decisions. Although that could be great, it makes me uneasy. But I expect that it is coming to some degree, and soon, billions of people may be talking to an AI in this way. So we (we as in society, but also we as in OpenAI) have to figure out how to make it a big net positive.”

No matter what AI becomes, it is already a globally scaled virtual interlocutor that can offer morsels of life advice wrapped in a mode of flattery that we have good reason to believe may increase narcissism and delusions among young and vulnerable users, respectively. I think this is something worth worrying about. Derek Thompson’s Substack

[Editor’s Note: A recent CTV news report details Alice Carrier’s final conversation with an AI Chatbot before ending her life. Alice’s mother echoes Thompson’s concerns relating to the chatbot, reinforcing unhealthy beliefs in her daughter. In the article, Dr. Shimi Kang, a psychiatrist at Future Ready Minds and the author of The Tech Solution: Creating Healthy Habits for the Digital World, affirms the increasing reliance on ChatGPT for therapy and companionship in both youth and adults. A study led by the Center for Countering Digital Hate flagged the lack of guardrails for how AI disseminates advice to teens and young adults, with the goal being to train ChatGPT to direct its users to trained mental health professionals instead of offering its own “advice.” OpenAI has stated that it has programmed the recently launched Chat GPT 5 to reduce its sycophantic replies from 14.5 percent to less than six percent, with the removal of a prior update that had made the GPT-4 model overly flattering to users.]

See also: AI chatbots being used as friends, confidants and therapists are causing harm to individuals and families 

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European researchers increase demand for public science communication support 

Communicating science to the public has become a vital part of scientists’ work amid the rise of social media and growing misinformation. Despite this, European Union programmes are struggling to meet demand for support.

“Expecting scientists to excel in both research and public engagement without adequate resources or recognition is unrealistic,” said Lidia Borrell-Damián, secretary general of Science Europe. “Institutions must provide dedicated training and incentives to address this communications gap and cultivate an institutional culture where science communication is strategically integrated into research processes and programmes.”

One organization taking up the challenge is France’s National Centre for Scientific Research, which has just published a guide to public speaking for its own scientists, aiming to teach them to disseminate research-driven knowledge and make it accessible to non-technical audiences. 

“It is crucial for scientists to speak out in the media, as their expertise is essential to informing debates, particularly in combatting misinformation,” a spokesperson for the organization said. “Their voice helps share knowledge, the scientific approach and the state-of-the-art in a given field with a wide audience.”

 The issue arises when scientists are not provided with the necessary supports to do this. 

“As an academic with little free time to do public engagement, I think it is a big ask,” said Clare Birchall, professor of contemporary culture at King’s College London. “But if we want to combat the anti-intellectual, anti-science stance of much conspiracist populism today, it’s imperative that scientists do not retreat into the shadows.”

A European commission official speaking on behalf of the programme described the high demand for training in science communications, but which has yet to be met with any meaningful outreach. A shortage of opportunities to address lay audiences, despite continuously high interest in doing so, further widens the communication gap. 

Other observers think the communications gap in science should be addressed by rethinking the way in which knowledge is generated. 

For Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, a professor in environmental science and policy at the Central European University, science communication should be a bidirectional process in which all stakeholders can express what they believe would be relevant and useful to them. 

“More knowledge co-generation is critical . . . rather than just this one way of us, scientists, communicating to you from our ivory towers,” she said. “It’s in the interest of all scientific institutions that their results don’t just stay on the shelves and in journal articles.”

Yet all scientists cannot be expected to become excellent communicators, Ürge-Vorsatz added, especially when they are forced to compete with “influencers” who are sometimes undermining the relevance of science. Science|Business

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AI, semiconductors and quantum lead emerging technology trends for 2025: McKinsey & Company

As the global technological landscape continues to evolve, there is an increasing need for compute power and experimentation as companies seek to produce and apply emerging technologies to their business processes. McKinsey’s Technology Trends Outlook 2025 identifies 13 technologies with the potential to transform global industry. 

This outlook highlights transformative trends that are driving innovation and addressing critical challenges across sectors. Artificial intelligence remains a standout while accelerating the development of intersecting technologies to power more technological innovations. 

Agentic AI – AI systems capable of completing tasks and making their own decisions without human involvement – is a new domain of artificial intelligence that offers even more opportunities for experimentation in enterprise and consumer technology. Investment in this subset of AI remains slow, but agentic artificial intelligence remains one of the fastest-growing trends of 2025. 

Unlike technologies like artificial intelligence, which offer widely applicable use cases across every industry, quantum computing offers a transformative impact on certain critical domains like cryptography and material science. Quantum has sparked increasing interest and discussion this year, but further technological advancements are needed to make quantum computing a practical reality. 

Application-specific semiconductors have been another emerging technology trend in 2025. Innovations in semiconductors have risen alongside the number of patents in response to demands for computing capacity, memory and networking for AI training and inference, as well as a need to manage cost, heat and electricity consumption. 

The report identifies overarching themes underpinning the technological innovations making headway in 2025: 

• The rise of autonomous systems. Autonomous systems, including physical robots and digital agents, are moving from pilot projects to practical applications. These systems aren’t just executing tasks; they’re starting to learn, adapt, and collaborate. Autonomy is moving toward broad deployment, whether through coordinating last-mile logistics, navigating dynamic environments, or acting as virtual coworkers, among other skills.

• New human-machine collaboration models. Human-machine interaction is entering a new phase defined by more natural interfaces, multimodal inputs and adaptive intelligence. From immersive training environments and haptic robotics to voice-driven copilots and sensor-enabled wearables, technology is becoming more responsive to human intent and behaviour.
• Scaling challenges. The surging demand for compute-intensive workloads, especially from gen AI, robotics and immersive environments, is creating new demands on global infrastructure. Data centre power constraints, physical network vulnerabilities and rising compute demands have exposed cracks in global infrastructure. But the challenge isn’t just technical: Supply chain delays, labour shortages and regulatory friction around grid access and permitting are slowing deployments.
• Regional and national competition. Global competition over critical technologies has intensified. Countries and corporations have doubled down on sovereign infrastructure, localized chip fabrication and funding technology initiatives such as quantum labs.
• Scale and specialization are growing simultaneously. Growth on these vectors is enabled by innovation in cloud services and advanced connectivity. This is creating ecosystems that deliver massive large language models with staggering parameter counts, as well as a growing range of domain-specific AI tools that can run almost anywhere. 
• Responsible innovation imperatives. As technologies become more powerful and more personal, trust is increasingly the gatekeeper to adoption. Companies face growing pressure to demonstrate transparency, fairness and accountability, whether in AI models, gene-editing pipelines, or immersive platforms. Ethics are no longer just the right thing to do but rather strategic levers in deployment that can accelerate –or stall– scaling, investment and long-term impact.

The 13 technology trends outlined in the report were grouped into three broader categories:

1. The AI Revolution.
2. Compute and connectivity frontiers.
3. Cutting-edge engineering.

Each of the trends and their respective categories is presented as follows: 

1. The AI revolution.

• Agentic AI: Artificial intelligence systems capable of independently planning and executing multi-step tasks. Agents can perform actions, communicate with each other and adapt to new information autonomously, with advancements including general agent platforms to specialized agents designed for deep research.
• Artificial Intelligence: AI refers to computer systems performing tasks typically requiring human intelligence by leveraging algorithms, data and computational power to recognize patterns, make decisions, and learn from experiences.

1. Compute and connectivity frontiers.

• Application-specific semiconductors: Application-specific semiconductors are purpose-built chips optimized to perform specialized tasks and engineered to handle specific workloads while optimizing performance characteristics like energy efficiency and speed.
• Advanced connectivity: A suite of evolving technologies to enhance and expand digital communication networks, including low-power networks, 5G and emerging 6G cellular systems, Wi-Fi 6 and 7 standards and low-Earth orbit satellites. 
• Cloud and edge computing: Cloud and edge computing involve distributing workloads across locations, from hyperscale remote data centers to regional hubs and local nodes. This approach optimizes performance by addressing factors such as latency, data transfer costs, data sovereignty and data security.
• Immersive-reality technologies: Technologies encompassing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality, including AR smart glasses, advanced haptic feedback, and AI-powered advancements to improve rendering, tracking and processing
• Digital trust and cybersecurity: Technologies and practices designed to ensure secure, transparent and trustworthy digital interactions. Examples include identity verification, data protection, encryption, threat detection and blockchain-based trust systems. 
• Quantum technologies: Quantum-based technologies make use of the unique properties of quantum mechanics to execute certain complex calculations exponentially faster than classical computers, secure communication networksand produce sensors with higher sensitivity levels than their classical counterparts.

1. Cutting-edge engineering.

• Future of robotics: The advancement of robotics capable of performing semi- or fully autonomous tasks, adapting to real-life inputs with increasing degrees of dexterity and autonomy, such as mobile and humanoid robots.
• Future of mobility: Technologies including autonomous vehicles; electric vehicles; drones; urban air mobility solutions, such as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft; and micromobility, such as e-scooters and e-bikes. These technologies have the goal of improving the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of transportation systems.
• Future of bioengineering: The application of engineering principles to biology using technological advancements – gene editing, synthetic biology – to improve human health, transform food value chains and create innovations. 
• Future of space technologies: Space technologies include satellite systems, launch vehicles, habitation modules and exploration missions, including low-Earth orbit satellite constellations, direct-to-device connectivity between space and Earth, and Earth observation.
• Future of energy and sustainability technologies: Technologies encompassing a broad spectrum of innovations to increase sustainability and resilience. This includes technologies transforming the global energy value chain with a focus on clean electrons, electrification and clean molecules. McKinsey & Company

THE GRAPEVINE – News about people, institutions and communities

The Board of Directors of Protein Industries Canada announced that Robert Hunter is no longer with the organization. Hunter served as CEO since January 2025. The board has initiated an expedited search for a new CEO to ensure a smooth transition and to continue advancing the organization’s mandate. “The Board of Directors’ priority is the long-term sustainability and operational success of the organization,” Tyler Groeneveld, Chair of the Board of Directors, said. “Protein Industries Canada will continue to advance our strategic plan, The Road to $25 Billion. We remain committed to strengthening Canada’s plant-based ingredient and food processing sector.” As one of Canada’s five global innovation clusters, Protein Industries Canada will keep delivering on its mission of growing the country’s plant-based food, feed and ingredient sector, Groeneveld said. The organization’s projects, partnerships and ecosystem support remain firmly in place as it helps Canada build a stronger, more sustainable agri-food sector. Protein Industries Canada

Dr. Warren Brodey, who used his background as a psychiatrist to develop wide-ranging ideas about the liberating possibilities of technology at the dawn of the information age – ideas that helped lay the groundwork for revolutionary fields like artificial intelligence – died on Aug. 10 at his home in Oslo. He was 101. Brodey led a life of unexpected turns, which included stints working on CIA-funded studies on extrasensory perception, living in a New England nudist colony and embracing Maoism in a Scandinavian ironworks. Although he formally trained as a physician, his thinking sprawled across topics as disparate as architecture, toy design, acoustics and network computing. From his base at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he swapped ideas with other unconventional thinkers like Marshall McLuhan, Nicholas Negroponte and Marvin Minsky, one of the intellectual forefathers of artificial intelligence. The New York Times

SOVRA board member and govtech expert Tom Spengler was appointed CEO, effective immediately. Luc Filiatreault, who has served as CEO for six years, will transition to the SOVRA board and an advisory role. Spengler is a seasoned technology entrepreneur, advisor and investor with over two decades of experience in the government software space. Through his work with software-as-a-solution companies, AI-powered platforms and civic engagement tools, he has helped drive modernization across local, state and federal agencies. His expertise as a govtech operator and advisor spans strategic planning, product-market fit, go-to-market execution, capital raising, and long-term scalability for startups and growth-stage ventures. His appointment as CEO comes as SOVRA sharpens the company’s strategic focus on the public sector through the acquisition of Ontopical, an AI-driven government intelligence platform that helps suppliers identify early-stage opportunities before requests-for-proposals (RFP) are issued. Headquartered in Calgary, Ontopical’s proprietary AI, “Oliver,” analyzes more than 65,000 public data sources to deliver pre-RFP insights. Pre-RFP intelligence is a natural extension of SOVRA’s supplier platform, giving vendors more time to identify, prepare for and win government contracts. SOVRA

Former chief scientist Cathy Foley was appointed the next president of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ASTE), replacing outgoing president Katherine Woodthorpe. Dr. Foley, PhD, a renowned physicist and science leader, will take up the role at the non-profit organization representing more than 900 of the country’s engineers, technologists and applied scientists for a three-year term in January 2026. It is Foley’s third board appointment since wrapping up her four-year tenure as chief scientist in December 2024, having also been named on the CSIRO and Australia’s Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Hub boards in recent months. As the ninth chief scientist, Foley was responsible for providing independent advice to the government on science, technology and innovation, including through the National Science and Technology Council. Her crowning achievements included developing a National Quantum Strategy, refreshing the National Science and Research priorities and spearheading a proposal to make research papers open access to all Australians. Foley also comes to the new role with 17 years of experience as an ATSE Fellow, and sat on the board before she was appointed chief scientist in 2020. She is also a former president of Science and Technology Australia. InnovationAus.com

The Canada West Foundation announced Shareen Ayoub as its new Director of Strategic Partnerships & Fund Development. Ayoub brings extensive experience building cross-sector relationships, securing support for impactful initiatives, and bringing people together to make things happen. She has worked with organizations across Canada to drive innovation, support community change and strengthen public policy outcomes. At Canada West Foundation, Ayoub will lead efforts to grow the partnerships and resources that support the company’s mission of delivering public policy solutions for a stronger Canada. Canada West Foundation via email

Following decades of serving companies across Canada, including many of Quebec’s most influential businesses and investors, global management consulting firm Bain opened an office in Montreal. Their team serves leading Canadian and multinational corporations in Quebec and across Canada, with a client portfolio including a wide range of investment and private capital funds. Bain has long recruited at Quebec’s esteemed universities, and the company is focused on expanding these efforts. BAIN & COMPANY

The Government of Québec has released two documents to guide the province’s postsecondary institutions in the responsible use of AI. The first is a reference framework outlining the guiding principles, directions and common vision developed by l’Instance de concertation nationale sur l’intelligence artificielle to help postsecondary institutions shape their own policies on AI use. The second, a practical guide prepared with the Institut de valorisation des données, in collaboration with the Québec ministre de l’Enseignement supérieur, offers concrete examples and best practices from Quebec and abroad to support institutional AI governance. While institutional adoption is not mandatory, the ministry indicated that the tools are intended to promote consistent and secure integration across the network. Additional Quebec government initiatives– including a toolbox of case studies and a directory of AI training programs– are expected this fall. Gouv. du Québec 

The Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) announced the purchase of 720 Bathurst by an anonymous social purpose entity committed to preserving the building and land in service to humanity. This marks a milestone in CSI’s journey, with 720 Bathurst having been the home to thousands of members, meetings and connections. CSI Annex operations will cease within the following months, with exact dates to be shared as they are finalized. CSI Spadina will be the sole Centre for Social Innovation, with all communities housed under one roof. CSI’s innovators have been hard at work over the past year developing a community-driven poly-solution to the poly-crisis. This move marks CSI’s continued growth in creating a positive impact for people and the planet. CSI email via Tonya Surman

The University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business has entered into a three-year partnership with the Chartered Business Valuators (CBV) Institute. The first university partnership of its kind in Western Canada sees successful students exempt from CBV Level 1 certification courses, and ready to provide objective, accurate and defensible financial valuations to local businesses. The collaboration marks a significant step in preparing students for careers in high-demand financial sectors, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, litigation support and private equity. The partnership also supports the school's focus on career-ready education. Beginning in the winter semester, eligible students at Haskayne will be able to enroll in this new course as part of their undergraduate studies. Successful completion will count toward the CBV program of studies, allowing students to accelerate their progress toward the designation while completing their degree. UCalgary 

A new University of British Columbia (UBC) study finds that clear-cutting– a practice involving clearing trees from a specific forested area– could make catastrophic floods 18 times more frequent, with the effects lasting over 40 years. In one of the watersheds studied, extreme flooding became twice as large, increasing the frequency of flooding events from once every 70 years to every nine years. The study, published in the Journal of Hydrology, draws on one of the world’s longest-running forestry experiments from the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina.. When analyzing two adjacent watersheds that were clear-cut in the 1950s, first author Henry Pham, a doctoral student in the faculty of forestry, says the team “found seemingly minor landscape factors– like the direction a slope faces– can make or break a watershed’s response to treatment.” The study found that conventional flood models failed to factor in extreme and erratic flood patterns emerging from landscape disturbances. The study’s findings are especially relevant for forest management in B.C., which uses similar forestry operations and terrain types. Dr. Younes Alila, a hydrologist in UBC’s faculty of forestry, notes that the model used in the study can help predict flood-risk areas in B.C., as well as better understand how climate shifts impact forestry and water management. UBC

The first cohort of startups supported by QAI Ventures Accelerator (powered by Quantum City), a global VC firm and the leading Quantum AI ecosystem builder, has graduated from the program at the University of Calgary’s quantum solutions hub.  “The QAI Ventures Accelerator equips startups with the mentorship, investor connections and strategic support they need to scale rapidly and bring quantum innovation to market– proving that quantum solutions are ready to deliver real value to industry today,” said Megan Lee, Managing Director of Quantum City. Inaugural graduates of the program include: Bosonic, QuantaSense, Qubic, Synth Bits, SQK INC., and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The startups have demonstrated progress in growing Alberta’s quantum ecosystem as they prepare to secure additional funding and scale up their quantum solutions globally. Quantum City’s upcoming qConnect 2025 will offer this year’s cohort an opportunity to connect with businesses, tech creators, other startups, government and investors. Applications for the next cohort of the QAI Ventures Accelerator are now open. Details on how to apply are available at the QAI Ventures Accelerator website. UCalgary 

A team of student researchers from Dalhousie University – supported by Dalhousie’s MINDI hub and the Transforming Climate Action research program through the Ocean Frontier Institute –recently won a prestigious global ocean engineering challenge tackling one of the fundamental issues in polar research: collecting vital ocean data from sensors deployed beneath huge ice sheets. The IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society Ocean Challenge, designed to "develop groundbreaking technologies and approaches that contribute to ocean health and sustainability," attracted student teams from around the world, with the Dalhousie team emerging as champions and presenting their work at the IEEE Oceans conference in Brest, France, in June. The winning project – a wireless communication system capable of transmitting critical data across ice-covered oceans – could revolutionize how scientists continue to monitor polar regions under a warming climate.  As climate change continues to accelerate polar ice melting, understanding these environments becomes critical in predicting global climate patterns, sea level rise and ecosystem changes.  "What drove us was understanding the real-world impact of receding ice sheets on Inuit hunting territories," said Hunter Alloway, the project's student lead and MASc candidate. Climate change increasingly demands adaptation actions, and solutions like the sea ice communication array offer hope in technology helping experts better understand and protect the planet’s vulnerable ecosystems. Dal News

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University of Toronto researchers develop AI tool to predict real-world applications for newly discovered materials

University of Toronto (U of T) engineering researchers have developed an AI tool that predicts real-world applications for newly discovered materials, helping to solve a longstanding challenge in which thousands of new materials fail to reach their full potential due to obscure use cases. 

In a study published in Nature Communications, a team led by Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering researcher Seyed Mohamad Moosavi introduced an AI tool that can predict how well a new material might perform in real-world scenarios – right from the moment it’s synthesized.

The system focuses on a class of porous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which have tunable properties and a wide range of potential applications.“In materials discovery, the typical question is, ‘What is the best material for this application?’” said Moosavi, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry. “We flipped the question and asked, ‘What’s the best application for this new material?’ With so many materials made every day, we want to shift the focus from ‘What material do we make next?’ to ‘What evaluation should we do next?’”

MOFs can be used in the separation of carbon dioxide from other gases in waste streams, preventing the carbon from contributing to climate change. Other use cases for MOFs include delivering drugs to specific areas of the body and enhancing the functionality of electronic devices. 

The new AI-powered approach aims to reduce the time lag between discovery and deployment of MOFs. To achieve this, PhD student Sartaaj Khan developed a multimodal machine learning system trained on various types of data typically available immediately after synthesis – specifically, the precursor chemicals used to make the material and its powder X-ray diffraction pattern.

“Multimodality matters,” Khan said. “Just as humans use different senses – such as vision and language – to understand the world, combining different types of material data gives our model a more complete picture.” 

The AI system uses a multimodal pretraining strategy to gain insights into a material’s geometry and chemical environment, enabling it to make accurate property predictions without requiring post-synthesis structural characterization. This can accelerate the discovery process and help researchers identify promising materials before they’re overlooked or shelved.

To test the model, the team conducted a “time-travel” experiment: they trained the AI on material data available before 2017 and asked it to evaluate materials synthesized afterward. The system successfully flagged several materials – originally developed for other purposes – as strong candidates for carbon capture. Some of those are now undergoing experimental validation in collaboration with the National Research Council Canada. 

Looking ahead, Moosavi plans to integrate the AI into the self-driving laboratories at U of T’s Acceleration Consortium, a global hub for automated materials discovery and one of several U of T institutional strategic initiatives. U of T Engineering News

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