The Short Report: July 31, 2024

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

Public Services and Procurement Canada announced a site has been selected and contracts awarded for the $1-billion TerraCanada National Capital Area (TerraCanada NCA) project. Also, a preliminary schematic design has been completed for the $500-million Transportation Safety and Technology Science (TSTS) project. Both facilities will be located on the main campus of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) on Montréal Road in Ottawa. The TerraCanada NCA facility will support scientific advancements for sustainable land and resource development, as well as a low-carbon economy. The TSTS facility will assess and reduce transportation safety risks for Canadians. Both projects will provide scientists with leading-edge, multi-purpose, sustainable and collaborative facilities to complement existing government science laboratories and capabilities. Following competitive request for proposals, the contract for architectural and engineering services to design the TerraCanada NCA facility was awarded to AECOM Canada Architects Ltd., AECOM Canada Ltd. and AECOM Technical Services Inc., in a joint venture, for a value of $59.5 million. The base contract for construction management services for the TerraCanada NCA facility was awarded to EBC Inc., for a value of $78.8 million. Design work is scheduled to begin this year, with site preparation and construction starting in 2026. The facility will house approximately 450 employees and scientists from Natural Resources Canada and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The TSTS project will relocate the laboratory and head office of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), and the facility will house over 260 employees and scientists from the TSB and NRC. The architectural and engineering services contract for this project was awarded to A49 and B&H, in a joint venture, in 2022, with a preliminary schematic design completed. The Liberal government originally announced a plan for new, multi-departmental laboratories in the February 2018 budget, allocating $2.8 billion over five years. Budget 2024 invested a further $900 million. The new facilities are part of the government’s Laboratories Canada long-term strategy that includes the development of science hubs across the country. Ottawa said these hubs will bring together science-based departments and agencies to advance research in science priority areas in modern, sustainable and accessible laboratories and collaborative spaces enabled by modern digital information technology. Public Services and Procurement Canada

Natural Resource Canada (NRCan) announced investments totalling more than $192 million for six clean electricity projects in Nova Scotia through NRCan’s Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways program (SREPs) and Electricity Predevelopment Program. This includes:

• $117.6 million to Nova Scotia Power Inc. for the installation of three 50-megawatt / 200-megawatt hour battery energy storage systems in Bridgewater, Spider Lake and White Rock, N.S., as well as other grid modernization upgrades, to support the replacement of coal with wind generation across the province. This funding builds on previous funding announced by the Canada Infrastructure Bank in February 2024.
• $25 million to Benjamin Mill Wind Limited Partnership to deploy a 33.6-MW wind energy project near Windsor, N.S., built in partnership with Natural Forces Developments and Wskijnu’k Mtmo’taqnuow Agency, the corporate body wholly owned by the 13 Mi'kmaq bands in Nova Scotia.
• $25 million to Higgins Mountain Wind Farm Limited Partnership to deploy a 100-MW wind energy project on Higgins Mountain, N.S., built in partnership with Elemental Energy Renewables Inc., Sipekne’katik First Nation and Stevens Wind.
• $25 million to Wedgeport Wind Farm Limited Partnership to deploy an 84-MW wind energy project in the municipality of the District of Argyle, N.S., built in partnership with Elemental Energy Renewables Inc. and Sipekne’katik First Nation and Stevens Wind.

NRCan said these investments support federal and provincial commitments to meet emerging energy needs and the transition to net-zero electricity emissions, while demonstrating the federal government’s commitment to supporting clean energy technologies in partnership with Indigenous groups. Clean electricity is one of six key areas of economic opportunity to pursue in Nova Scotia’s net-zero future, as identified in the newly released The Nova Scotia Regional Energy and Resource Table Framework for Collaboration on the Path to Net Zero. The other five areas are: critical minerals, hydrogen, marine renewables, carbon management and the forest bioeconomy. NRCan

The Federal Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) announced a $5-million investment in what will be Canada’s first Grid Modernization Centre, at Downsview, Ont. Spearheaded by the University of Toronto’s Climate Positive Energy initiative, the Grid Modernization Centre will be used as a collaborative hub where key industry stakeholders, including SMEs, original equipment manufacturers and municipalities, have access to expertise and specialized equipment in one space to advance the development of innovative technology solutions for Canada’s electrical grid. As a result of this investment, up to 120 businesses are expected to be supported as they work toward commercialization and grid integration which, in turn, will help these businesses grow and create new jobs. The announcement was part of a $10-million Government of Canada investment that includes $5 million in support from Natural Resources Canada, provided through NRCan’s Energy Innovation Program, which advances clean energy technologies. FedDev Ontario

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) announced just over $2 million from the Government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba to the Winnipeg-based Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative (EMILI) for Advancing Digital Agriculture Opportunities, under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The funding builds on the launch of EMILI’s Innovation Farms Project, a 5,500-acre full-scale farming operation where they demonstrate and promote new processes and technologies. As a part of the Innovation Farms project, the 8,500-square-foot Innovation Farms Centre officially opened with the funding announcement. Innovation Farms Centre is where EMILI and its partners will be able to analyze farm data, test technology solutions and host educational events year-round. The space includes a workshop space, meeting rooms, offices and control centre where data from over 50 sensors will be displayed. EMILI is an industry-led non-profit created in 2016 with the objective of preparing and empowering Manitoba farmers to leverage digital disruption for success with a specific focus on digital agriculture. AAFC

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) announced 13 semi-finalists, under the Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge, who are working to advance economically viable and scalable practices, processes and technologies designed to reduce enteric methane emissions produced by cattle. The $12-million Challenge, launched in November 2023 in partnership with Impact Canada, uses a staged approach to move innovators through the process of developing and deploying their solutions in the cow-calf, dairy and feedlot sectors. The first stage of the Challenge attracted 86 applications from innovators across Canada and internationally. The 13 semi-finalists’ entries – all from Canada – span a diverse range of areas, including: feed additives and related technologies; production efficiencies and animal management systems; and pasture and grazing management approaches. Each semi-finalist will receive up to $153,846 and move on to the prototype development stage of the Challenge. Over the next eight months, semi-finalists will continue to advance their solution and may be eligible to receive additional funding of up to $230,000. From the 13 semi-finalists, a total of up to 10 finalists will be selected in Spring 2026. Each eligible finalist will receive up to $500,000 to assist with testing their solution’s effectiveness in reducing enteric methane emissions. In the final stage of the Challenge, finalists will compete to win one of two grand prizes of up to $1 million, to be announced at the end of 2028. AAFC

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) invested more than $1 million in M.I.S. Electronics Inc. The women-owned and led company is a leader in the assembly of printed circuit boards manufacturing in the Greater Toronto Area and southern Ontario, serving important sectors including Internet of Things, communications, automotive, and medical devices. FedDev’s investment supported replacing M.I.S.’s manufacturing line with new state-of-the-art technologies to meet growing demands from domestic and international clients, enabling M.I.S to nearly double its electronic components manufacturing per hour. FedDev Ontario

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced eight Canadian organizations that will begin developing solutions to purify Moon water as part of the next stage of the Aqualunar Challenge. Each semi-finalist will receive a grant of $22,500 to develop the key components of their prototypes. In turn, their technology, first intended for space missions, could also help advance water purification on Earth. As with space exploration projects, international collaboration is key to the Aqualunar Challenge. In Canada, the CSA delivers the competition in collaboration with the Privy Council Office's Impact Canada, while the United Kingdom Space Agency and Challenge Works run a similar competition in parallel for U.K. organizations. The Canadian semi-finalists are:

• Canadian Space Mining Corporation (Toronto): LunaPure – A sustainable system to purify lunar water from the lunar polar regions.
• Sixpenny Architectural Fabrication (Toronto): Lunarwell.
• 778 Labs (Vancouver): VDO Lunar Water Purification System.
• University of Calgary (Calgary): Pure Water from Lunar Ice: Advancing Water Purification in Space.
• WaterPuris (Waterloo, Ont.): Extracting and Purifying Water from Lunar Regolith: Innovating with Cold Trap and Vapour Membrane Distillation in an Autonomous Multi-Stage System.
• Cimbus Inc. (Toronto): The Lunar Ice Water and Resource Recovery System.
• Lotic Technologies Inc. (Leduc, Alta.): AlbertaElectro-Catalytic Advanced Oxidation Process for Lunar Water Purification.
• McGill Advanced bio-Regenerative Toolkit for Long Excursion Trips/McGill University (Montreal): Polar Utilization for Future Industry Needs. CSA

Innovation PEI is providing a total of $125,000, through its Ignition Fund, to five P.E.I. startup firms to accelerate the launch of their innovative products and services. The recipient companies are:

• Jenn of Arch: has created an innovative at-home eyebrow system that allows people to achieve professional-looking eyebrows at a fraction of the cost. The process begins with a virtual try-on powered by artificial intelligence, recommending the most flattering eyebrow shape and color for you. After purchase, your personalized eyebrow kit is shipped directly to your door. The eyebrow stencils are skin-safe, reusable, 100-percent biodegradable, and created in Canada. 
• Atlantic Bay Products: will extract three co-products from P.E.I. barley with commercial applications in manufacturing, food production, and animal nutrition. After a successful pilot, they seek to test the extraction process at scale, pursue U.S. Department of Agriculture licensing, and open a commercial processing plant. 
• Happy Bean: a collaboration tool that allows business owners, their bookkeepers and their accountants to stay on the same page to ensure business taxes are filed accurately, efficiently and on time, every time. Happy Bean integrates directly with accounting software, such as QuickBooks, Sage, Xero, Wave, etc., to ensure that your business tax compliance is always up to date. 
• Key Course: is the only gamified language course provider for the Canadian English Language Proficiency Test. The test is essential for anyone seeking to work, study or obtain permanent residency in Canada. Key Course seeks to develop original educational materials, as current market-leading materials are dated, poor quality and expensive. 
• Soltix: is the first ticketing platform to provide secure control over the secondary market by allowing venues and artists to control the resale of tickets and restrict price gouging by using blockchain technology. Soltix gives venues and artists more control while making tickets more accessible for fans and eventgoers. They seek to onboard their first customers and begin iterating their platform.  Govt. of Prince Edward Island

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) issued a letter of interest for a lunar utility vehicle that would support astronaut operations on the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program. Those interested have until October 31, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. EDT to submit their interest. Budget 2023 included a section titled “Supporting Canadian Leadership in Space” which said that Canada was going to contribute a “robotic lunar utility vehicle to perform key activities in support of human lunar exploration.” Budget 2023 proposed $1.2 billion over 13 years, starting this year, for the project. CSA

RESEARCH, TECH NEWS & COLLABORATION

Three Canadian university business schools made it into the top 100 in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Executive MBA Rankings 2024, which ranks executive MBA programs from around the world. The three were: University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management (#31); Western University’s Ivey Business School (#43); and Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business (#62). Also appearing on the QS list were: University of Alberta’s Alberta School of Business (#131-140); University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management (#131-140); McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business (#151-160); Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business (#151-160); University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business (#161-170) and Saint Mary’s University Sobey School of Business (#181+). The top three business schools in the world were: University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School in the U.K.; IESE Business School in Spain, and HEC Paris in France. Each of the QS rankings is compiled using a core methodology that employs a range of vital factors including student experience, university partnerships, research activity and faculty qualifications. QS

York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering announced that IBM Canada has joined the engineering school’s Digital Technologies BASc program as a new partner. IBM Canada’s extensive experience in hybrid cloud, AI, and enterprise solutions will provide students with opportunities to engage with cutting-edge technologies and gain hands-on experience through mentorship programs, exclusive training sessions and collaborative projects. Launched in September 2023, the Digital Technologies BASc program, which combines academic coursework with full-time, paid employment, has seen all employers choose to retain their students for a second year. Employers report high satisfaction and increased productivity, citing the benefits of continuous student involvement compared with traditional short-term student placements, York University said. The program is supported by organizations such as Alstom, BMO, Dayforce, Quanser, and Shopify. York University

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is providing a total of $7.4 million, through its Alliance Advantage grants program, to three projects led by Quebec’s Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and its Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre (EMT) The projects aim to enhance quantum communication, computing and sensing capabilities by integrating photonics and quantum technologies. The projects are:

• “Scalable solid-state semiconductor platform for on-chip quantum communication” project will receive a grant of $1.17 million over four years. Along with colleagues from McGill University and Polytechnique Montréal, the project is led by EMT Research Centre professor and nanophotonics specialist Sharif Sadaf. The team’s goal is to develop a platform of semiconductors called epitaxial quantum dots for efficient quantum light generation. These cutting-edge semiconductors will make it possible to generate and manipulate quantum photon states. Four industrial partners will work closely on the project: Xanadu Quantum Technologies, CMC Microsystems, OptoElectronic Components, and Numana, all of which are already active in quantum sector commercialization. 
• “Advanced QUAntum applications via complex states in integrated and meta optics (AQUA)” project will receive nearly $5 million over five years. EMT Research Centre professor and nonlinear optics specialist Roberto Morandotti heads the project. The AQUA project aims to develop and commercialize quantum communication, imaging and sensing technologies based on integrated photonic processing platforms and techniques. Collaborators include McGill University, University of Toronto, University of Alberta, Université de Sherbrooke, and Swinburne University of Technology. Industrial partners are: CMC Microsystems, COMBS, Enablence, few-cycle Inc., Ki3 Photonics Technologies, OptoElectronic Components, Pasqal, SpectraCann, and Xanadu.
• “High-dimensional photonic systems for quantum information processing” project will receive nearly $1.28 million over four years. This project is also led by Roberto Morandotti, in collaboration with EMT Research Centre Professor José Azaña. The project’s industrial partners are Ki3 Photonics Technologies and OptoElectronic Components. Supported by a complementary grant from PRIMA Québec (the Advanced Materials Research and Innovation hub), the group’s work aims to demonstrate the feasibility of quantum internet. INRS

Calgary-based carbon capture and storage (CCS) company Entropy is partnering with Vancouver-headquartered Methanex Corporation, one of the world’s largest methanol producers, on a $100-million project. The partners agreed to invest in a preliminary front-end engineering design for carbon capture, utilization and storage at Methanex’s facility in Medicine Hat in southern Alberta. The project would utilize a portion of the captured CO₂ to produce additional methanol. Upon final investment decision, Entropy will construct and own the capture equipment adjacent to Methanex's facility and Methanex will supply the utilities, build the tie-ins to its facility and operate the capture equipment once commissioned. The project is expected to capture about 400 tonnes of CO₂  per day, which will be used as feedstock to produce approximately 500,000 tonnes annually of additional methanol, with the remaining CO₂ permanently sequestered underground. This is the first deal Entropy has announced since receiving the backing of the Canada Growth Fund, which has committed $200 million in debt financing and to buy up to $1.3 billion in carbon credits based on the carbon Entropy captures. Entropy

The Government of Quebec, through Investissement Québec, will invest $10 million in Switzerland-headquartered electric aviation company H55, to help fund construction of a factory in the Greater Montreal region in Longueuil. H55 Canada will serve as the primary hub for H55’s North American manufacturing operations, the company said. Equipped with a state-of-the-art facility, initial battery pack production is set to commence in late 2024, with battery packs ready for integration into CS-23 aircraft starting in early 2025. Investissement Québec’s investment will provide financial support to scale up North American production, engineering. and research and development activities, H55 said. H55 also announced closing a Series C financing round at just over Cdn$101 million, including the first phase announced last year. H55

The B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE), an independent, not-for-profit corporation, is investing $7.6 million to fast-track the development, commercialization and adoption of clean energy and climate solutions in British Columbia. These non-dilutive investments are being made through CICE’s first 2024 call for innovation, which attracted close to 200 applications from across the province. CICE’s funding varies between $400,000 and $1.3 million per project. Funded recipients include:

Battery and Energy Storage:

• Brokkr Mineral Resources Corporation is pioneering a first-of-its-kind, nature-based (bio)hydrometallurgical process for clean, low- carbon extraction and purification of battery-grade nickel and cobalt.
• Fuse Power Management Ltd.is accelerating the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) ecosystem by delivering a fully functional and scalable V2G solution that will optimize efficiency to balance the electricity grid with electric buses, reducing carbon and particulate emissions.
• Telescope Innovations Corp.will leverage CICE funding to enable construction of a continuously operating lab-scale pilot for converting crude lithium chloride brines into battery-grade lithium carbonate, utilizing their carbon-negative and low-cost process, called ReCRFT.

Carbon Management:

• Arca Climate Technologies Inc. a leader in carbon mineralization technology and a XPRIZE finalist, leverages historical mine waste to remove CO₂ safely and permanently. And because the technology operates on the existing footprints of large-scale industrial operations, it has gigatonne-scale potential, with an ultralight footprint.
• CO280 Solutions Inc. is developing large-scale carbon dioxide removal projects to permanently scale and increase affordability of carbon removal in the pulp and paper industry.

Low Carbon Bio and Synthetic Fuels:

• Hydron Energy Inc. is commercializing a disruptive solution that converts raw gases into clean refined fuel. CICE’s funding will deploy Hydron’s technology at the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Prince George, lowering emissions by upgrading biogas into renewable natural gas instead of flaring it.
• Salish Environmental Group is developing a co-generation technology that utilizes construction, demolition and forestry wood waste to produce heat and electricity to power greenhouses to help create year-round food security, turning a previously underutilized bio-resource into an emissions-reducing fuel.

Low Carbon Hydrogen:

• pH7 Technologies is commercializing an electrolyzer-enabled extraction process  to get more copper out of low grade ores to keep up with growing market demand, while also producing clean hydrogen to lower mine emissions.
• HPDI Technology is advancing a project, through a new joint venture between Westport Fuel Systems and Volvo Group, that aims to nearly double the range of hydrogen-HPDI equipped heavy duty trucks. CICE

The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF) will invest $996,000 over three years in the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology's (SAIT) Alternative Construction Technologies (ACT) Hub, to accelerate the development of new construction and manufacturing materials and processes. As part of the Centre for Innovation and Research in Advanced Manufacturing and Materials – one of four specialized centres of SAIT's Applied Research and Innovation Services – the ACT Hub is expected to support 36 Calgary companies and train 24 individuals from 2024 to 2027. The support from OCIF's investment will foster opportunities for local SMEs to present their challenges to researchers and students who develop, test and validate new solutions that can be directly applied in the industry. The ACT hub will fuel innovations such as robotic technologies in the prefabrication of houses, automated modular construction, 3D printing of structures. and the development of carbon-negative building products. Additionally, the ACT Hub will focus on upcycling construction materials and creating new green composite materials for various construction applications. OCIF joins Prairies Economic Development Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Alberta Innovates as key funders of the ACT Hub. OCIF

Invest Nova Scotia transferred approximately $573,000 to a bank account falsely portrayed as belonging to Sandpiper Ventures, after a hack into Invest Nova Scotia employee Ferdinand Makani’s email. Makani is the controller at Investment Nova Scotia. Invest Nova Scotia is now asking for a court order to require the Royal Bank of Canada to return the money to Invest Nova Scotia. Halifax-based Sandpiper Venturers is a privately held venture capital fund that invests in women-led businesses. In 2021, the provincial government contributed $5 million to Sandpiper Ventures. Since then, Sandpiper has funded some Atlantic Canadian firms, along with companies across the country. The $5 million for Sandpiper was first delivered to Nova Scotia Business Inc., Invest Nova Scotia’s predecessor organization, and what is left of the money is now held by Invest Nova Scotia. This arrangement allows for the government agency to hold the funds and earn interest on them. When Sandpiper finds a company it wants to fund, it requests a transfer of the money from Invest Nova Scotia. The hack involved unauthorized users logging in to Makini’s Microsoft email account via a virtual private network (VPN) located in Moscow, Russia and another VPN in Kansas City, Missouri. The hacker posed as Sandpiper's chief financial officer. Peter MacAskill, CEO of Invest Nova Scotia, said the agency learned of the scam two weeks later, after Sandpiper inquired about the money it had requested but not received. MacAskill said Invest Nova Scotia’s systems have been overhauled, passwords changed, the multi-factor authentications strengthened, and other security improvements made. Sandpiper has since received the $573,000 it requested. Halifax Examiner

Umicore delaying construction of $2.76-billion battery manufacturing plant in Ontario

Umicore Rechargeable Battery Materials Inc. announced it’s delaying construction of a $2.76-billion battery components manufacturing plant near Kingston, Ont.

The company said its project in Loyalist Townships is impacted by the “significant worsening of the EV market context and the impacts this has on the entire supply chain.”

The project was projected in 2023 to create 600 jobs in the region. According to a news release at the time from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, the federal government planned to invest up to $551.3 million. 

The Ontario government was to invest up to $424.6 million, but a source familiar with the project said that no provincial money has flowed yet to Umicore. No federal funds have been disbursed.

Umicore cited a situation on June 12 when it announced that a contract with a Chinese manufacturer would not materialize. The company said its legacy contracts were tailing off faster than anticipated and it encountered a delay in the "ramp-up of new contracts" in Europe as customers scaled back their electrification ramp-up plans.

"For Umicore, customers' demand projections for our battery materials have steeply declined recently," the company said in a statement provided to CBC.

The company said it's realigning its operations "to the new market reality," adding that a part of accomplishing this involves a "thorough review" of its battery materials business. Umicore is planning to present the conclusion of that review on its capital markets day during the first quarter of 2025.

Greig Mordue, an associate engineering professor at McMaster University, said the federal and provincial governments have spent or committed tens of billions of dollars to EV and EV battery manufacturers, but in his view the industry is simply not there yet.

Mordue said Umicore is not the only company taking a pause to evaluate its standing and wait for the market to catch up, pointing to Ford which also recently scaled back its EV production.

Last week, luxury car maker Porsche backed away from its sales target for EVs because of a lack of demand from customers. The company has previously said EVs would comprise up to 80 percent of its new sales targets by 2030. “The transition to electric vehicles will take longer than we assumed five years ago,” Porsche said. CBC News

VC, PRIVATE INVESTMENT & ACQUISITIONS

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is investing US$75 million in Denver, Colorado-based Vantage Data Centers to support the expansion of its Québec City Data Center Campus, QC2. This new investment will finance construction of the third facility on the four-building campus and will deliver an additional 16 megawatts of IT capacity to serve increasing demand for cloud services across Québec and Eastern Canada. Strategically located in Québec's National Capital region, the hyperscale data center is currently under construction by Pomerleau Inc. Once fully developed, the 925,000-square-foot Québec City Data Center Campus will generate 86 megawatts of total combined IT capacity, and deliver reliable and efficient high-computing power to Vantage's global customers. CDPQ

TELUS’s venture arm joined as a new investor in San Francisco-based Q Bio, which raised US$27 million from existing investors including Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and Founders Fund. Q Bio is developing a full-body scanner to compete with current MRI machines. Mike Snyder, a Stanford University genetics professor who leads a lab focused on genomics, personalized medicine and early disease detection, is a founder of the company, with Q Bio CEO and founder Jeff Kaditz. The funding will go toward manufacturing of Q Bio’s full-body scanner, Mark I, which is intended to be more comfortable, open, quick and comprehensive compared with a traditional MRI scanner. STAT+

Rechie Valdez, , Minister of Small Business, announced the Government of Canada’s second $25-million investment in five more venture capital fund managers as part of the inclusive growth stream of the renewed Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI). The five VC funds managers are:

• Amplify Capital (Toronto)
• Pender Ventures (Vancouver)
• Raven Indigenous Capital Partners (Vancouver)
• StandUp Ventures (Toronto)
• TandemLaunch Ventures (Montreal)

This second round of new funding completes the $50 million in inclusive growth investments included in the renewed VCCI. The inclusive growth stream will help advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the Canadian VC ecosystem by increasing access to capital for diverse fund managers and entrepreneurs so they can continue to transform new ideas into innovative business solutions for Canadians. Each recipient will be required to report their progress on enhancing diversity and gender equality across the VC ecosystem. The government has contributed $820 million through VCCI – now in its third vintage – since the initiative launched in 2013. As part of a combined $450-million investment in venture capital funds and funds of funds, the renewed VCCI is expected to inject at least $1.6 billion into Canada’s innovation capital market when leveraged with other public and private investments, Ottawa said. These investments are expected to generate returns for the government. Budget 2024 also committed an additional $200 million to support venture capital for equity-deserving entrepreneurs and to invest in underserved start-up ecosystems outside key metropolitan areas. Innovation, Science and Economic Development

Toronto-based medical AI company RetiSpec Inc. raised $13.8 million in Series A financing. The round was led by iGan Partners and included new strategic investors Eli Lilly and Company and Topcon Healthcare, Inc., along with existing investors, Gentex Corporation, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation's Diagnostics Accelerator, Verge HealthTech Fund, University of Minnesota's Discovery Capital, Ontario Brain Institute, Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation, and private investors. The funding will enable RetiSpec to accelerate the commercialization of its technology for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, using retinal imaging. RetiSpec's clinically validated test aims to help health care providers predict amyloid burden, a core biomarker of Alzheimer's disease. RetiSpec

Toronto-based cybersecurity company Protexxa raised $10 million in a Series A all-equity round. Protexxa said the new investments and a previous $5-million round set a record for Canada’s largest venture capital raise by a sole Black female founder. Investors in the Series A include Bell Ventures, the venture arm of Bell Canada, and Sandpiper Ventures, a fund for women-led innovations. The round also saw strong support from existing shareholders, Export Development Canada, BKR Capital, The Firehood Angels, and Graphite Ventures. Other investors include Global Risk Institute president and CEO Sonia Baxendale; Tricon and Cidel co-founder Geoffrey Matus; NRStor CEO Annette Verschuren; and business lawyer Ralph Lean. Founded by global information technology and cybersecurity executive Claudette McGowan, the company's AI-powered platform, Protexxa Defender, rapidly identifies, evaluates and resolves cyber issues. Protexxa said the new capital will fuel engineering and data science innovations on the platform, and grow its sales and marketing teams as it expands into the U.S. market. Protexxa

Vancouver-based Gumloop, an AI workflows automation platform, raised $3.1 million in seed funding. The round was  led by First Round Capital with participation from Y Combinator, Theory Forge Ventures, Ludlow Ventures, and a variety of angels including Max Mullen, Arash Ferdowsi, Andrew Ofstad, Immad Akhund, and Kulveer Taggar. Gumloop offers an automation platform that lets users drag and drop to automate AI workflows that integrate directly with their data, with no coding experience needed. Gumloop recently rebranded from AgentHub after going through Silicon Valley tech startup accelerator Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 cohort. Techcouver

Montreal-based Workstaff, a workforce management company, raised $1.6 million in seed financing. The round included investments from Impulsion PME, a Quebec government program managed by Investissement Québec, and Anges Québec. Workstaff said the new investment will enable it to expand into the U.S. market and enhance its product offering that helps companies easily find, schedule and manage temporary and flexible staff. Workstaff

Prince Edward Island-based BIOVECTRA Inc. has agreed to be acquired from Florida-based HIG Capital by California-based pharma conglomerate Agilent for US$925 million (Cdn$1.27 billion). BIOVECTRA, a contract research and production company for pharmaceutical companies, produces biologics, highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients, and other molecules for targeted therapeutics. The company has operations in Charlottetown, P.E.I. and in Windsor, N.S. Agilent said BIOVECTRA will become part of Agilent’s diagnostics and genomics group. BIOVECTRA is a 1970 spinout from the University of Prince Edward Island. The federal and P.E.I. governments gave BIOVECTRA nearly $40 million in 2021 to boost its capacity to make mRNA vaccines. The federal government invested $5 million in BioVectra in 2018 to help the company expand its operations to Nova Scotia. In 2022, Kitchener-Waterloo tech hub Communitech, in its annual True North list, named Biovectra as one of 35 privately held Canadian tech startups that are on the path to reach $1 billion in annual revenue. Agilent

Miami-based enterprise blockchain platform Crossmint acquired Toronto-based AI user-research startup Cycle, less than six months after Cycle’s launch. Financial details of the all-cash deal weren’t disclosed. Crossmint said the acquisition of Cycle’s technology and team will enhance Crossmint’s platform with AI capabilities, to better serve clients building crypto-based AI applications. Crossmint offers a suite of asset tokenization, wallet, identity and payment tools designed to make it cheaper and easier for developers and companies to build blockchain-based products for a variety of use cases. Cycle co-founder and CEO Conor Plunkett will be joining Crossmint as a product manager. Crossmint

Canada’s private venture capital fund industry is heavily reliant on government investment: report

Canadian venture capital (VC) totalled $3.87 billion in first half of 2024, driven by strong second quarter in which $2.47 billion was raised by Canadian companies, according to a report by CEP Media & Data Company.

Q2 2024 VC investments totaled $2.47 billion, up by 76 percent from the $1.4 billion registered in Q1 2024.

“The Q2 figure is noteworthy as it directly counters all the purveyors of doom and gloom who had been predicting that tech investments in Canada would crater following the April 16 federal Budget's measures with respect to the treatment of the capital gains inclusion rate. In fact, just the reverse appears to have occurred,” the report says.

The report’s findings include:

• Ontario's share of VC investment surpassed 50 percent for the first time since 2017. Companies from Ontario attracted $2.10 billion (54 percent) and, for the first time since 2017, accounted for more than half of the total disbursements.
• Toronto VC Investments are greater than those of all other cities combined, cementing Toronto's leadership in the financial services overall and in VC in particular.

Just as Silicon Valley venture capital has dominated the U.S. scene, the increasing concentration of venture capital investing activity in Toronto also appears to have reached the critical mass required to be self-sustaining and self-reinforcing, thereby heralding a new development in the Canadian venture capital, the report says.

Companies from 52 Canadian municipal cities attracted capital in the first half of 2024. Led by Toronto, the top 10 cities collectively raised $3.58 billion, accounting for 92 percent of the total amount raised by all Canadian companies.

The top 10 cities for VC capital raised were, in order: Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, Quebec City, Burnaby, B.C., Ottawa, Richmond, B.C., Waterloo, and Surrey, B.C.

• The top three investors were all from the United States. Together they invested $1.96 billion or 51 percent of the total disbursements. U.S. investors including U.S. private investors and U.S. family offices collectively invested $2.15 billion, accounting for 55 percent of the total amount.
• 22 private VC funds raised $1.58 billionin the first half of 2024, almost unchanged from $1.59 billion and $1.57 billion for the same period in 2022 and 2023 respectively, but up significantly from $613 million for first half of 2023.

Canadian governments continue to the backbone of many of these funds, the report notes. Without government investment, most of funds wouldn’t be able to close.

“A life science fund in Montreal and an IoT (Internet of Things) fund in Toronto could literally be classified as "government" funds as more than half of the committed capital came from federal and provincial governments, not counting quasi-government funding.”

• Canadian governments invested $458 million more than the $324 million invested by Canadian private VCs. The outpacing of government investments over Canadian private VCs has been the case since 2023.

"The data point to the ongoing small investment market share of private Canadian VCs which has fluctuated between seven and 10 percent since 2021,” the report says.

The market penetration by the Canadian private VC fund segment would likely be even smaller without the huge contribution of federal and provincial government backing of most recent funds, according to the report.

“To all intents and purposes the private VC fund industry in Canada could be regarded as a quasi-government entity in all but name,” Richard Rémillard, president of Rémillard Consulting Group, said in a statement.

“This begs the question of how much longer Ottawa, and its provincial counterparts, will continue to provide this support in the forthcoming era of government retrenchment and re-prioritization that is now on the near-term horizon." CPE Media & Data Company

REPORTS & POLICIES

SDTC’s board chair breached Canada’s Conflict of Interest Act: Ethics Commissioner

Annette Verschuren, former board chair of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), contravened the federal Conflict of Interest Act and was in a conflict of interest when she participated in SDTC funding decisions, says report by Canada’s Ethics Commissioner.

Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein’s report found that Verschuren improperly furthered the interests of the beneficiaries of SDTC funding to companies associated with two accelerators on whose boards she sits: the Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment (which she founded) and the MaRS Discovery District, of which she remains board chair.

To be eligible for SDTC funding, applicant companies had to be nominated by one of SDTC’s approved accelerator partners, and accelerators had to have a working relationship with companies they wished to nominate.

The SDTC invited both the SDTC-approved Verschuren Centre and MaRS to nominate companies’ projects for SDTC’s first round of seed funding in 2020.

Between May 2020 and June 2023, 12 projects were nominated for SDTC’s seed funding by MaRS, and nine projects were nominated by the Verschuren Centre.

“Ms. Verschuren followed a practice to abstain from the [SDTC board] vote instead of recusing herself, a practice that regrettably deviated from SDTC's Conflict of Interest Policy and fell short of the [Conflict of Interest Act's] requirements,” the Ethics Commissioner’s report says.

The minutes of the various SDTC Board meetings show some inconsistencies in the practices that Verschuren adopted in situations where a potential conflict of interest had been identified, according to the report.

In most cases involving seed funding to companies nominated by MaRS or the Verschuren Centre, Verschuren abstained from votes for which she declared a potential conflict.

“However, at two meetings, Ms. Verschuren did not appear to have abstained from the vote, despite having declared potential conflicts. And at two other meetings, no declaration or abstention was noted in the minutes despite the existence of potential conflicts.”

The required compliance measure of section 21 of the Conflict of Interest Act is for public office holders to recuse themselves from any discussion, decision, debate or vote on any matter in respect of which they would be in a conflict of interest, the report notes.

Recuse means requiring the public office holder to physically remove themselves from the location where the matter is being decided, the report adds. Merely abstaining from a vote isn’t sufficient.

The distinction between recusal and abstaining from a vote was clearly set out on the SDTC’s Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy, the Ethics Commissioner points out.

“In reality, the entire approval process for Seed funding was flawed,” his report says. The evidence shows that decisions regarding seed funding had essentially already been made at earlier stages and the SDTC board's final approval was automatic since decisions were made by consensus and seed funding, in any event, was included in the consent agenda.  

Verschuren also contravened the Conflict of Interest Act by participating in two SDTC decisions on COVID-19 emergency relief funding for SDTC companies in March 2020 and 2021, the Ethics Commissioner’s report says.

Given the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SDTC board's policy on conflict of interest was overlooked in the context of the 2020 and 2021 decisions on COVID-19 emergency relief payments, the report says.

Directors did not declare their conflicts prior to the meetings and no recusals were made. This oversight was compounded when the board was presented with incorrect legal advice justifying this course of action, according to the report.

A recipient of that SDTC emergency relief funding was NRStor, a company of which Verschuren is chair and CEO and its majority shareholder.

“I determined that Ms. Verschuren's financial interest in NRStor in relation to those funding decisions was indeed a private interest for the purposes of the Act,” the report says.

“She participated in those decisions knowing that NRStor would benefit from the funding. They furthered her private interests, and she should have recused herself.”

However, the Ethics Commissioner found that it wasn’t Verschuren's idea to award COVID-19 emergency relief payments to existing  SDTC-qualified projects, and she wasn’t involved in determining the eligibility criteria or the proportion of funds to be disbursed.

“Beyond participating in the discussions on SDTC management's proposals and moving the motions at the meetings, there was no evidence that she attempted to influence the decision of her colleagues.”

Inconsistencies in the SDTC board's decision-making processes were a factor in these contraventions of the Conflict of Interest Act, the report notes.

SDTC’s board did not always follow its standard practice of reviewing and approving funding applications individually. “That practice would have allowed directors who had a conflict of interest to recuse themselves from certain parts of meetings, as Verschuren did in other cases, in accordance with both SDTC's Conflict of Interest Policy and the Act.​"

Verschuren was appointed by the Governor in Council to SDTC’s board of directors on June 19, 2019.

The Ethics Commissioner wrote to Verschuren on November 16, 2023, to inform her that he’d started an investigation to determine whether she had contravened the Conflict of Interest Act.

On November 22, 2023, Verschuren resigned from her position as chair of the board of SDTC. Less than two weeks earlier, Leah Lawrence had resigned as SDTC’s CEO. Both Verschuren and Lawrence have denied any wrongdoing at SDTC.

SDTC, the federal government’s largest clean tech funding agency, became embroiled in controversy last year after a whistleblower group of former and current SDTC employees alleged conflict of interest and financial mismanagement at the organization.

Canada’s Auditor General Karen Hogan, in a report released last month, found “significant lapses” in SDTC’s management of public funds.

Hogan found that SDTC violated its conflict of interest policies in 90 cases, awarded $51 million to 10 projects that didn’t meet eligibility criteria, and frequently overstated the environmental benefits of the projects it supported.

Upon the release of Hogan’s report, François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced that SDTC in its current form would be closed and its programming and funding transferred to the National Research Council of Canada.

Champagne said the move “will help rebuild public trust while increasing accountability, transparency and integrity.”

From March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2023, SDTC under its various programs approved $836 million of funding to 420 projects.

Hogan reported that based on minutes of SDTC meetings, there were 90 cases of funding for projects that were approved by SDTC’s board of directors when conflict of interest policies were not followed. These approvals represented nearly $76 million in project funding.

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Canada approving international student study permits at a faster pace than last year

Canada is approving international student study permits at a faster pace than last year, despite the federal government’s pledge to cap the annual number of permits.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Canada approved 216,620 international study permits in the first five months of 2024, according to numbers curated online by IRCC.

During the same period in 2023, 200,205 study permits were approved. By the end of 2023, 682,420 study permits had been granted to foreign students.

Canada has been granting the vast majority of permits to India, with 278,335 going to students from that country in 2023. That is nearly five times more than to students from China, the second-highest country of origin, who were granted 58,230 permits in 2023.

During the first five months of 2024, Indian students were granted 91,510 permits, more than the 85,805 granted over the same period last year.

Chinese students received 21,240 permits in the first five months of this year, compared with 15,565 granted between January and May 2023.

In January this year, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced he was putting an intake cap on international student permit applications that he expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits in 2024, a decrease of 35 percent from 2023. 

The federal government has been under pressure over rising numbers of temporary residents amid a housing shortage and the ongoing affordability crisis.

In 2023, Canada let in a record 800,000 additional non-permanent residents, such as temporary workers and foreign students, bringing to 2.6 million the number of non-permanent residents in the country as of January 1, 2024, Statistics Canada reported.

“Given the changes to the international student program have not yet seen the traditionally busiest season for study permit processing – summer and early fall – it may be too early to fully assess the data and analyze the impacts, including the intake cap on study permit applications,” IRCC spokesperson Rémi Larivière told the National Post. National Post

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Canada Student Financial Aid program needs major overhaul to better serve all students

The Canada Student Financial Aid program needs significant reform, because certain student demographic groups face barriers to student aid funding, says a new report commissioned by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA).

Students with disabilities, mature students, and students with dependents are all disproportionately affected by barriers to obtaining student aid funding, says the report, “Need Not Apply.”

“Student aid funding concerns have been intensified by ongoing cost of living pressures, especially for low and middle-income students,” Nelson Chukwuma, chair of CASA, said in a statement.

With one in two Canadian students relying on either Canada Student Grants or Loans to help fund their education each year, he said, “CASA calls on Employment and Social Development Canada to address concerns with the program’s assessment criteria to better ensure it is fully accessible to all students.”

CASA is a non-partisan, not-for-profit national student organization comprised of 25 student associations across the country, representing 365,000 post-secondary students across Canada.

            CASA’s report’s findings include:

• Students with children automatically lose – on average – $1,858 in Canada Student Grants once their child turns 12.
• Parental income represents 33 percent of a post-secondary student’s income used to pay for post-secondary education.
• If a dependent student were to lose access to parental financial support, the student would need to work an additional 560 hours (or 11.7 hours per week) to make up for the lost income.
• One in three post-secondary students in Canada report having a disability, of which two-thirds have a mental health disability.
• Two-thirds of Canadians awaiting a mental health diagnosis wait over a year before receiving their diagnosis, 30 percent receive a diagnosis within one to five years, and a further third (31.6 percent) wait more than five years.

CASA’s report makes numerous recommendations, including:

Parental Contributions [Beyond the two recommendations highlighted here under this category, the report makes several detailed recommendations on changing how students and their resources and sources of support should be assessed within the Canada Student Funding Aid [CSFA] program]:

• ESDC should update the CSFA program to either provide a way for students to access the financial resources from their parents, similar to government-facilitated child support, or consider the refusal of parents to provide support as sufficient reason to waive an assessed parental contribution.
• The federal government should create a way for students who have parents who have been ordered to pay child support during their post-secondary studies to receive that child support directly.

Spousal Contributions:

• ESDC should update the CSFA needs assessment evaluation to enable students who begin their studies assessed as an independent student to retain the status of independent student for the duration of their program, regardless of whether they move in with a roommate or romantic partner.

Students with Dependents:

• ESDC should ensure that all of a students’ children who are under the age of majority are considered dependents for the purposes of accessing need and eligibility for the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students with Dependents and other student financial assistance programs.

Trades Students:

• The federal government should increase the maximum amount for the Tradesperson’s Tools Deduction from $500 to $1000 to help apprentices afford the cost of their equipment.
• The federal government should extend the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant into the journeyman year, therefore running for all years of study.
• The federal government should eliminate the lifetime total for the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant.

Students With Disabilities:

• The federal government should transition the funding for psychological assessments from a reimbursement model to a needs-based grant, which – if a student’s application is approved – would allow psychologists to directly bill the program to increase access for low- and middle-income students.
• ESDC should undertake a comprehensive review of access to student disability supports within the CSFA program, taking into account the specific experiences of students with invisible, cognitive and mental health disabilities.

Students Experiencing Abuse:

• ESDC should develop and publish a trauma-informed resource guide for post-secondary students experiencing abuse who are accessing student aid, outlining what types of abuse the CSFA program considers. [Several other detailed recommendations under this category are aimed at making it easier for students to report abuse, including intimate partner violence, in applying to the CSFA program].
• ESDC should publicly publish guidelines for all provinces in determining eligibility of federal aid for students experiencing abuse, so that all Canadians have equitable access to student financial aid.

Canada needs its federal student aid program to be consistently applied from province to province, especially for students in crisis, the report says.

“Additionally, Canada must update the requirements for assessing need for students who are parents, and how we access resources so that our needs-based assessment adequately evaluates the resources and needs of today’s and tomorrow’s students.” CASA

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Canadian universities’ revenue increased in 2022/2023 but expenditures also higher

Revenue at Canadian universities rose by $2.2 billion from one year earlier to $47.5 billion in 2022/2023, while expenditures increased $1.4 billion to $45.1 billion, according to a Statistics Canada report.

All COVID-19 pandemic-related public health restrictions were lifted by the beginning of the 2022/2023 academic year, allowing for the full resumption of on-campus activities. This contributed to an increase in ancillary revenue, including that from residence halls, food services and parking.

However, travel and utility costs increased. The inflation rate of 4.3 percent in 2022/2023 resulted in higher operating costs for Canadian universities in terms of materials and supplies, maintenance, travel, furniture and equipment, and it followed a 6.7-percent increase in 2021/2022.

The provinces accounted for just over one-third (34 percent) of university revenue in 2022/2023, down 1.4 percentage points from one year earlier and 4.6 percentage points lower than in 2013/2014, when they accounted for 38.6 percent of university revenue.

Nevertheless, provincial funding rose for the first time in three years, edging up 0.4 percent year over year to $16.1 billion in 2022/2023.

Nova Scotia (+19.6 percent) reported the largest increase in provincial funding, driven by capital and special projects. Other provinces and territories that saw an increase included Yukon (+9.5 percent), Quebec (+2.1 percent), New Brunswick (+1.4 percent) and British Columbia (+0.5 percent).

Conversely, provincial funding decreased in seven provinces in 2022/2023, ranging from a 1.1-percent decline in Ontario to a 7.4-percent drop in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Federal funding for universities increased 1.4 percent to $4.8 billion in 2022/2023, following an 18.8-percent decrease in 2021/2022 due to the ending of federal research funding to support universities during the pandemic.

Federal funding increased at the fastest pace in Yukon (+172.8 percent) and Manitoba (+37.2 percent) in 2022/2023 as a result of new research grants. Federal funding was also up in Ontario (+7.3 percent), but declined in every other province.

Tuition accounted for 31.2 percent of total university revenue in 2022/2023, down 1.3 percentage points from one year earlier. “This decrease is out of step with the historical trend of tuition's increasing share of total revenue,” StatsCan noted.

Tuition revenue rose 0.6 percent year-over- year to $14.8 billion in 2022/2023. Despite higher tuition fees for both Canadian and international students, the growth rate for tuition revenue in 2022/2023 remained well below the pre-pandemic five-year (2014/2015 to 2019/2020) average of 5.1 percent.

Tuition revenue in 2022/2023 rose at the fastest pace in Newfoundland and Labrador (+12.9 percent) and Alberta (+6.3 percent), while Yukon (-11.7 percent), Manitoba (-1.9 percent) and Ontario (-0.3 percent) saw the largest decreases.

In 2022/2023, tuition was the largest source of revenue for universities in Ontario (41 percent) and Nova Scotia (33.3 percent), and the lowest in Yukon (6.9 percent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (15.6 percent).

Conversely, among provinces and territories where tuition accounted for the smallest share of revenue in 2022/2023, provincial/territorial funding as a share of total revenue was highest. This was the case in Yukon (62.6 percent), Newfoundland and Labrador (52.6 percent) and Quebec (51.7 percent).

Interest revenue from investments rose by $1.2 billion year-over-year to $2.1 billion in 2022/2023. Ontario (+$1.1 billion) accounted for over 90 percent of this increase.

Conversely, Manitoba (-46.9 percent), Nova Scotia (-30.3 percent), Alberta (-22.2 percent), Newfoundland and Labrador (-16.4 percent) and British Columbia (-11.3 percent) reported a decrease in interest revenue in 2022/2023.

Investment returns accounted for over half (54.3 percent) of the $2.2 billion increase in total university revenue in 2022/2023.

Investment revenue accounted for 4.4 percent of university revenue in 2022/2023, down from the record high of 11.7 percent in 2020/2021.

Ancillary revenue rose from six percent of total revenue in 2021/2022 to 6.9 percent in 2022/2023, reaching $3.3 billion.

Ancillary revenue was up across Canada, with increases ranging from 9.4 percent in Alberta to 28.6 percent in Nova Scotia. The complete resumption of on-campus activities undoubtedly contributed to higher ancillary revenue.

The re-opening of campuses and the lifting of all travel restrictions post-pandemic contributed to an increase in ancillary expenditures in 2022/2023. Travel expenses (+193.4 percent to $689.6 million) more than doubled, while product- and service-based costs increased 16.8 percent to $411.1 million.

Utility costs rose 11.8 percent to $784 million, mostly due to increased activity on campus and higher energy prices. Universities in Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Yukon saw the largest increases in utility expenses. Statistics Canada

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Canadians’ concerns about generative artificial intelligence outweigh their excitement for AI tools

Canadians’ concerns about generative artificial intelligence and the spread of misinformation significantly outweigh their excitement for AI tools, according to a survey by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA).

Half of the 2,000 survey respondents (51 percent) said they’re concerned about the technology, while only one-in-five (17 percent) said they’re excited about the development of AI.

Among those concerned, most cite AI’s contribution to the spread of fake images or videos (69 percent), mis/disinformation (67 percent) and insufficient regulations/controls on its use (65 percent). 

Ottawa-based CIRA is the national not-for-profit best known for managing the .CA domain on behalf of all Canadians. The survey results were presented in CIRA’s annual “Canada Internet Factbook 2024.”

“We’re at a pivotal moment in technology, and it’s clear that Canadians are feeling uneasy about the future of AI,” Bryon Holland, CIRA president and CEO, said in a statement.

“AI advancements are unfolding as Canadians lead up to a national election next fall. Over the next year, it will be crucial for Canadians to practice extra vigilance when interacting with content, to identify AI-generated misinformation and discern fact from fiction online.”  

The spread of fake images and videos is also making an impact on Canadians’ online experiences. Two in 10 Canadians say they have encountered deepfakes online in the past year and one-quarter don’t know whether they have.

More than half of Canadians expressed concern about the impact the spread of misinformation and disinformation, especially in the form of deepfakes on social media, could have on elections.

Only half (51 per cent) of Canadians are confident in their ability to detect fraud and scams online – down from 67 percent from 2023. Half (51 percent) of Canadians believe that deepfakes are a threat to elections in Canada and other democratic countries.  

As Canadians continue to navigate a messy information ecosystem, visiting specific news media sites online remains the top method for accessing news online (35 percent), followed by Google searches about news events (33 percent).

Notably, since Meta’s decision to remove news content from its Canadian services, only 15 percent of Canadians report accessing news online via Facebook, a decrease from 34 percent in 2023.  

Still, 61 percent of Canadians said they use Facebook. But they said Facebook is still more likely than any of its competitors to be labelled as “toxic” (28 percent), “addictive” (25 percent), and “unsafe for children’ (28 percent). Only 14 percent described Facebook as “helpful.”

X ranked highest among the social platforms for promoting polarizing content (18 percent) and misinformation and disinformation (18 percent).

Other key findings of the survey include:

• About one in six Canadians (16 percent) say they have used a generative AI tool or platform in the past year. 
• For Canadians who’ve steered clear of generative AI tools so far, the most common reasons given are lack of interest (41 percent) and lack of need (40 percent), and about one-third of Canadians said they don’t trust it enough to use it.
• 16 percent of Canadians have used ChatGPT and other generative AI tools, including 68 percent in the workplace.
• The top three benefits cited by those using generative AI tools in the workplace are: speeding up a task they’re working on (33 percent); brainstorming ideas (29 per cent); and creating written content (27 percent).
• Among those who haven’t used generative AI for work, 47 percent cite lack of need, 21 percent are unsure how it could help their job, and 10 percent are not permitted to use it by their employer.
• Most Canadians (76 percent) believe that posting or sharing deepfakes should not be allowed on social media.  
• Half (53 per cent) of Canadians believe that having a website makes businesses look more credible.  
• About half of Canadians spend more than five hours online each day, whether working, studying, shopping, entertaining ourselves or staying connected with friends and family.
• Twenty percent of Canadians reported experiencing a major internet disruption, down from 27 percent in 2023. CIRA

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Competition Bureau launches public consultation on greenwashing provisions in Canada’s Competition Act

Competition Bureau Canada launched a public consultation to gather input from Canadians on specific questions related to the new greenwashing provisions of the Competition Act.

This consultation will inform the Bureau’s development of enforcement guidance about environmental claims, including related to the new provisions.

The greenwashing provisions triggered negative responses from the Pathways Alliance of six oilsands companies, the Calgary-based Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, and the Government of Alberta.

The Pathways Alliance removed all content about environmental goals from its website and social media pages, citing “significant uncertainty” over the federal government’s anti-greenwashing legislation. (See “Federal anti-greenwashing legislation prompts removal of oilsands consortium’s website and social media,” under Reports & Policies section in the June 26 Short Report).

The new provisions about greenwashing were added to the law following a series of amendments that took place on June 20, 2024. Simply stated, businesses are now required to have testing or substantiation to support certain environmental claims, the Competition Bureau said.

The Bureau invites interested parties to provide feedback on the consultation questions  by September 27, 2024, by emailing greenwashingconsultationecoblanchiment@cb-bc.gc.ca.

The Bureau also released a new edition of the Deceptive Marketing Practices Digest that addresses environmental claims. This edition aims to provide a foundation to understand the issues around environmental claims in general and how businesses can comply with the provisions of the Competition Act already in place prior to the amendments.

One of the bigger trends in complaints involves claims about environmental improvements that the business will accomplish in the future, such as claims about being carbon neutral by a certain date, the Bureau said. Complainants often allege that some advertisers make bold claims about the future, but lack a credible plan to deliver on the claim.

            The Bureau said that before making these kinds of claims, businesses should:

• Have a clear understanding of what needs to be done to achieve what is being claimed.
• Make sure to have a concrete, realistic and verifiable plan in place to accomplish the objective, with interim targets.
• Be sure there are meaningful steps underway to accomplish the plan.

If businesses haven’t considered all these elements, “they should either implement changes before making the claim, or change the claim itself.” Competition Bureau Canada

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SMRs aren’t ready for deployment yet in Australia and would be too late to help with achieving net zero by 2050

Small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) aren’t ready for deployment yet and the earliest they could be built in Australia would be in the 2040s – too late to help with achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

That’s the conclusion of a report by experts from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, who examined the state of SMR technology and market considerations.

“As an emerging technology, in 2024 the cost and operational performance of this technology has not yet been demonstrated,” the report says.

It says the “least risky option” for Australia would be to buy SMRs after several designs have been commercialized and successfully operated in other OECD countries. Once the technology is proven, SMRs could be used for specific circumstances, such as powering energy-intensive manufacturing and refining.

SMRs are currently at the design stage in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and South Korea, with no models yet operating in OECD countries.

Because SMRs are still at the design state, the Australian experts said they had no operating data to assess the cost of the electricity they’d produce.

Given renewables and battery technologies get cheaper every year, expensive new sources of power may struggle to break in, they noted.

“The earlier a country enters the SMR development market, the greater the costs and technology risks,” the report says.

The latest GenCost report from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, an Australian government agency responsible for scientific research, illustrates the scale of the challenge, the Australian experts said.

In 2030, the agency forecasts the cost of power from solar and wind, complemented by battery storage to firm capacity, to be A$89 to A$125 per megawatt-hour.

In contrast, GenCost estimates large-scale nuclear would cost A$141 to A$233 per megawatt-hour – and A$230 to A$382 per megawatt-hour for SMRs.

“Renewables remain the lowest cost range of new-build electricity technology,” the GenCost report says.

SMRs could conceivably contribute to the energy grid in the future, providing some steady power to energy-intensive industries, the experts said. “But they won’t replace our need for a major expansion of renewable energy, and not in the next 20 years.”

It would also be financially and technically risky for Australia to pursue SMRs before a mature global market for the technology emerges, the report says.

SMR developers have indicated it could take 10 years to build a full-scale working SMR prototype. Developers would have to convert the knowledge gained from full-scale prototypes into an accepted commercial package, which could take another three to five years after prototyping.

“There are many questions still to be answered for SMRs to be seriously considered as part of the power mix of the future: cost, construction time, waste disposal, water use, integration with the grid, First Nations sovereignty, skills and workforce and more.”

Despite the challenges and risks noted by the Australian experts, Canada has made building SMRs a focus of the country’s energy transition and push to achieve net zero by 2050.

Unlike Australia, Canada has a national nuclear regulator and a well-established nuclear workforce that has built conventional, large nuclear power plants that use Canada’s CANDU technology.

Site preparation is ongoing for the first of a planned total of four SMRs at the Darlington new nuclear site in Ontario. Total output of the four SMRs would be 1,200 megawatts.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has applied to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for a license to construct its first SMR unit – the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 – at the Darlington site. A regulatory hearing is expected in the fall.

Pending CNSC regulatory approval, the project will be ready for nuclear construction work to begin in early 2025, OPG said. The first unit is expected to be in commercial operation by 2029, with the rest of the units coming online by the mid-2030s.

“A fleet of SMRs at this site would be a first in the Western world,” OPG said. InnovationAus.com

THE GRAPEVINE – News about people, institutions and communities

Frank Hart will become interim CEO of the Regina-based Protein Industries Canada global innovation cluster while the search for a permanent CEO takes place. Inaugural CEO Bill Greuel is stepping down on July 31 to become deputy minister of agriculture at the Government of Saskatchewan. Hart has served as a board member at Protein Industries Canada since 2019, including as board chair from 2018 to 2023. In being named Interim CEO, Hart has resigned from the board of directors effective immediately and also ceased all external consulting work. Senior staff, not including the interim CEO, will represent Protein Industries Canada on all Project Selection Committee meetings. Protein Industries Canada

Plant-Based Foods of Canada (PBFC) announced the appointment of Jeremy Oxley as its new advisory board chair. Oxley, who has been on PBFC’s board since 2020, is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience in marketing, sales and general management among some of Canada’s largest consumer packaged goods and quick service restaurant companies. Currently, he serves as the senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce at Danone Canada, where he leads the development of its food and beverage categories, including industry-leading brands such as Activia, Oikos, SILK, International Delight, and Evian. Oxley succeeds Michael Lines, president and CEO of Simply Protein (Wellness Natural Inc.) as board chair; Lines will continue to serve on the board. Plant-Based Foods of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada has hired Frances Donald as senior vice-president and chief economist, starting August 26. She’ll move from Manulife Investment Management, where she spent the last eight years, mostly recently as senior managing director, chief economist and strategist. Donald is a notable industry veteran and economist, and a recipient of a Women’s Executive Network’s Most Powerful Women Award in 2019. At RBC, Donald will report to John Stackhouse, senior vice-president, office of the CEO. Stackhouse said Donald will use her skills to help the bank leverage data, technology and AI, with a focus on uncovering widespread, long-term themes tied to economic developments across North America. Advisor.ca

Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, was elected president of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for a one-year term. As one of the UN’s six main bodies, ECOSOC is responsible for coordinating the work of the UN international development system. It serves as the central forum for engaging with civil society, advancing work on international economic and social issues and formulating policy recommendations. Rae’s new role significantly enhances Canada’s capacity for bilateral engagements with UN leadership, member states and other stakeholders and will enable Canada to champion the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, Ottawa said. Under Rae’s leadership, Canada’s presidency of ECOSOC will focus on ethically harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to drive progress on sustainable development, addressing the challenges and opportunities of global migration and promoting innovative and sustainable financing solutions for international development. Global Affairs Canada

Quebec-based Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), École de technologie supérieure (ETS) in Montreal, and McGill University will partner on an interdisciplinary project focused on creating solutions to the climate crisis. The project involves Daniel Guay, Mohamed Mohamedi, and Ana Tavares from INRS; Omur E. Dagdeviren and Lucas Hof from ÉTS; and Peter Grutter from McGill. They’ll collaborate to build a new type of scanning electrochemical microscope suitable for studies on photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide, and to optimize this process using a copper oxide catalyst and solar rays. A by-product of this photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ will be hydrogen, which can be used for energy production without direct greenhouse gas emissions. Every tonne of CO₂ destroyed would produce 500 litres of hydrogen, corresponding to the amount of energy that allows a car to drive for nearly 15,000 kilometres. INRS

The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo) has partnered with the Waterloo-based Accelerator Centre (AC) to launch the Global Impact Creator Program. This pilot program supports innovators looking to transform their research and ideas into solutions that benefit human, animal and planetary health. The program provides participants with one-to-one mentorship, networking opportunities with peers, leaders and investors, and a $12,000 stipend. The Global Impact Creator program is in partnership with Waterloo Ventures, the central unit at the university for all matters related to innovation, commercialization, entrepreneurship and associated thought leadership and social impact activities. Starting in September, the pilot program will leverage the AC’s structured entrepreneurship program methodology to guide five to seven participants in exploring and addressing challenges faced by rural Canadian and global communities. UWaterloo

Portage College and the City of Cold Lake in Alberta are advancing their efforts to develop an aircraft maintenance engineering school in the region. As part of an ongoing collaboration, the City has purchased a hangar at the Cold Lake regional airport, with the intention of turning it into an instructional space for the school. The City has also set aside land and developed plans for a larger facility that will eventually house the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering - Structures, and Aircraft Maintenance Engineering - Maintenance programs, as well as a pilot school. The City of Cold Lake began the project in 2020 as a means to help diversify the local economy with a focus on both post-secondary education, as well as the aerospace and defence industry. Portage College

Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and Brampton, Ont.-based Altitude Accelerator signed a memorandum of understanding to bolster their joint support for student entrepreneurs. This collaboration will enhance experiential learning opportunities for students in Algoma University’s Faculty of Business and Economics and the School of Computer Science and Technology, through cooperative education, internships, work-integrated learning and placements. Programming will include guest lectures on research and innovation, as well as new opportunities to work with Altitude Accelerator practitioners on thesis, capstone and project courses. Specialized topic courses will include the Investor Readiness Program with Altitude Accelerator, integrating business startups into experiential learning projects. Algoma University

Research led by the University of Toronto’s Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing is shedding light on the scale of pharmaceutical industry-sponsored events that target health professionals responsible for prescribing medications. In an effort to increase transparency on industry-prescriber interactions, a research team led by assistant professor Quinn Grundy examined data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments, a public database of payments made by drug and medical device companies to medical professionals. The team’s study, published in JAMA Health Forum, found that there were more than 1.1 million industry-sponsored events in the U.S., one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical markets, in 2022 alone. The top 10 products – based on number of sponsored dinner events – were the focus of more than 16,000 dinners sponsored by seven companies. “Identifying over one million of these events in one year alone – and their tendency to be for specific products – should give us pause and indicate that we need to understand the prevalence of these events from a systems perspective, considering their impact on prescribing practices,” said Grundy, who is also the director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre in Governance, Accountability, and Transparency in the Pharmaceutical Sector. She is also the author of Infiltrating Healthcare: How Marketing Works Underground to Influence Nurses (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018), which details the first in-depth study of the ways that registered nurses interact with pharmaceutical and medical device company representatives. There is already a large body of evidence on the relationship between payments and physician prescribing outcomes, Grundy noted. Receipt of industry payments, including low-value payments for food and beverage, is often associated with physicians prescribing higher quantities of promoted and higher-cost drugs, such as brand name drugs over generics. In Canada, there is currently no data or mechanism that requires pharmaceutical or device companies to report payments to physicians or nurse practitioners. U of T

Calgary-based cement truck driver Travis Umphrey is the first patient with atrial fibrillation (AF) in Western Canada to be treated using a new ablation technology: pulsed field ablation (PFA). Cardiac ablation, a common treatment for AF, typically involves strategically scarring the heart tissue via a catheter inserted into a vein, usually at the groin. Historically, AF ablation in Calgary involved heating the tissue around the pulmonary veins with radiofrequency energy to interrupt the electrical pathways that trigger the condition. PFA replaces this technology, using high-amplitude pulsed electrical fields delivered via a catheter, rather than heat, to damage the problematic tissue. Dr. Russell Quinn, a cardiologist and clinical associate professor in the Department of Cardiac Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine, led the team during Umphrey’s ablation. Quinn said PFA has been used for tens of thousands of patients in Europe and is now approved in Canada and the U.S. “This new technology is a lot more efficient,” he said. “Ultimately, it may allow us to complete an AF ablation in around an hour, rather than the three hours it takes when using the current radiofrequency ablation technology.” Umphrey was able to return home the same day as his procedure and is doing well. University of Calgary

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