GOVERNMENT FUNDING & NEWS

 Automakers urge  Carney to scrap the federal electric vehicle sales mandate while others want Ottawa to lean in on EVs

The head of an organization representing automakers is “cautiously optimistic” after meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney to urge him to repeal the federal government’s electric vehicle sales mandate.

Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association CEO Brian Kingston joined the CEOs of Ford Canada, Stellantis Canada and GM Canada in a meeting with the prime minister last week in Ottawa.

Along with discussing the impact of U.S. tariffs – the primary focus of the meeting – the automakers told Carney there’s no way the industry can meet the targets set out in the EV mandate.

The industry has long argued the mandate is unnecessary since Canada already has other policies to meet its emissions-reduction targets.

The EV sales mandate requires 20 percent of all new light-duty vehicles sold in Canada to be zero-emission as of next year. The target rises annually to 100 percent by 2035.

The most recent data from Statistics Canada shows EVs accounted for 7.53 per cent of all new vehicles sold in Canada in April.

Even when aided by the popular federal Incentives under the Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program, which offered $5,000 off the cost of a new electric vehicle, EV sales peaked at 18.29 percent in December 2024. The iZEV rebate program was suspended in January this year after the funding ran out.

Sales dipped to 11.95 percent in January as the rebate program ended, then to 6.8 percent in February and 6.53 percent in March, before climbing slightly in April.

“If we are going to hit the 2026 mandated target of 20 percent EV sales, you would have to grow ZEV sales by 180,000 units,” Kingston said. “There is simply no way that that can occur on such a short timeline, given all of the current market forces at play.”

While the federal government has indicated it plans to bring back some form of consumer rebate for electric vehicles, Kingston said making such a promise without a firm timeline for implementation promises to undermine EV sales even further. Consumers will just hold off buying EVs until the rebate returns.

Kingston said bringing back the rebate program – something Hyundai CEO Steve Flamand called for in a column in The Globe and Mail – wouldn’t be enough to meet the EV mandate.

The government spent nearly $3 billion over the five-year lifespan of its EV rebates program.

Meanwhile, the Government of Quebec announced last week that it will amend the zero-emission vehicle standard (ZEV standard), which encourages the sale of electric and hybrid vehicles through a quota system.

The new provision increases the value associated with hybrid vehicles in this system. Plug-in hybrids with a range of more than 80 kilometres will be credited with a full point in the credit calculation. Electric vehicles already receive one point.

Hybrids with a range of less than 80 kilometers and non-plug-in hybrids will see their value increase by half a point.

The announcement is a "real step backward," said Andréanne Brazeau, spokesperson for the David Suzuki Foundation.

"It puts plug-in hybrid vehicles with a range of over 80 kilometres and electric vehicles on an equal footing, in the eyes of manufacturers, even though these are two vehicles that perform very differently from an environmental standpoint. One consumes gasoline and the other consumes zero,” Brazeau said.

Clean Energy Canada said the federal government should aim to deliver a selection of affordable VS under the price point of $40,000 to Canadians by 2030. “The federal government has multiple policy tools at its disposal to help achieve this goal.”

In a statement, Clean Energy Canada recommended:

• Retooling the EV Availability Standard to help support consumer choice by attracting models at competitive price points.If the federal government is going to revisit its targets, it should focus on near-term adjustments to help automakers weather this temporary storm while maintaining the longer-term trajectory and market signal that Canada is committed to going electric. Any additional flexibility added in the regulation should be designed to achieve other EV-related goals, such as delivering more affordable EVs and building out Canada’s charging network.
• Reigniting EV demand by recapitalizing the EV incentive program with a focus on affordable EVs, using lower eligibility price caps to help drive down vehicle prices. The rebate should start at $5,000 and decline by $1,000 each year, providing consumers and automakers with a well-communicated phaseout that avoids periods of artificially lowered EV sales as buyers await the return of rebates or at least clarity.
• Reconsidering Canada’s trade approachby lowering the tariff on Chinese-made EVs (72 percent of Canadians support) and allowing in a limited quota of these affordable vehicles while also recognizing EU-approved vehicles (70 percent support). Doing so would open Canada’s vehicle market to fill important market gaps, drive innovation and ultimately make our auto sector more competitive.

Despite dwindling consumer incentives for EVs, Kristian Aquilina, GM Canada’s president and managing director, said GM has experienced double-digit growth in EV sales in Alberta, the Calgary Herald reported.

As of February, the Alberta government began charging $200 per year for battery electric vehicles, a tax billed at the time of registration. The Canadian Press, La Presse

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Proposed federal government spending cuts could lead to “massive cuts” not seen in 30 years

Federal cabinet ministers are being asked to find “ambitious” internal savings this summer ahead of the 2025 budget as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government decides how it will pay for the billions of dollars in new spending that it recently announced, The Globe and Mail reported.

Specifically, ministers must find ways to reduce program spending by 7.5 percent in the fiscal year that begins April 1, 2026, followed by 10 percent in savings the next year and 15 percent in the 2028-29 fiscal year.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne sent two letters to all cabinet ministers on July 7 informing them of plans for a “Comprehensive Expenditure Review” as well as a new pre-budget process related to minister requests for new funding.

The letters are being sent in the context of preparing for the 2025 federal budget, which the government has promised to table in the fall shortly after the House of Commons resumes sitting in September. 

David MacDonald, chief economist for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said “these are massive cuts, and they would definitely be on par with some of the largest cuts we’ve seen in a generation.”

If the Liberal government follows through on its platform commitment of $13 billion in “savings” by the 2028-29 fiscal year, that amounts to a 10-percent cut of the entire federal operating expenses, MacDonald said in a commentary.

This means the $13-billion cut will mostly be in personnel expenditures in non-defence departments. It would amount to a cut of 24 per cent – dramatically worse than Stephen Harper’s 10-percent cuts on some departments and rivaling Paul Martin’s 1995 cuts of 18.9 percent, he said.

Cuts at this level wouldn’t be “capping hiring,” “finding efficiencies using AI,” or “not replacing retiring workers,” as the government has said, MacDonald said.

“For cuts this is deep, it would require across-the-board job losses and major service reductions. In other words, if it proceeded it would represent a major disruption to federal public services and would rival the 18.9 per cent cut in operation expenditures of Paul  Martin’s 1995 budget as the most extreme budget slashing in Canadian history,” he said.

“If the prime minister follows through on his election promise, Canada’s federal public service will undergo the worst spending cuts in modern history. That will inevitably diminish the quality of public services,” MacDonald said. The Globe and Mail, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

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Intergovernmental Affairs announced that as part of the federal government’s efforts to build one Canadian economy, Ottawa will be removing all remaining federal exceptions from the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), eliminating all 53 exceptions in the CFTA since its introduction in 2017. Most of the exceptions being removed focus on procurement, which will provide Canadian businesses with more opportunities to be competitive across the country. For example, as part of this last review, the government is removing procurement exceptions related to financial entities, commercial land development, transportation services and space projects. All provincial and territorial governments have committed to undertaking a review of their respective exceptions under the CFTA. Intergovernmental Affairs

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) announced up to $105 million in federal funding for three high-speed internet projects being delivered by Saskatchewan Telecommunications. These projects will bring high-speed internet access to 6,522 households in 35 rural and remote communities across central and northern Saskatchewan, including over 4,800 Indigenous households. The federal government’s investment is provided through the Universal Broadband Fund, a program designed to ensure that Canadians in rural, remote and Indigenous communities have access to reliable high-speed internet. The government said it remains on track to meet its goal of providing high-speed Internet to 98 percent of Canadian households by 2026 and 100 percent by 2030. ISED

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) announced more than $21.5 million in federal funding for five carbon capture, utilization and storage projects in Alberta. The recipients and projects are:

• $10 million for Bow Valley Carbon Cochrane Limited Partnership (a collaboration between Inter Pipeline Ltd. and Entropy Inc.), for the Bow Valley Carbon – Storage Demonstration Project.

This project will design and install a carbon dioxide (CO₂) compression and conditioning system, transportation pipeline and sequestration well. Together, these components will aim to capture 40,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year of emissions, equivalent to taking approximately 12,255 cars off the road annually, from the Interpipeline Cochrane Natural Gas Extraction Plant. 

• $5 million for Enhance Energy Inc., for Enhance’s Origins CCS Hub: Development and Regulatory Work.

This project will use a wide range of subsurface data to support the Origins CCS Hub. This approach, which targets a pressure-depleted saline aquifer within a Canadian carbonate reservoir, has the potential to support hub development in novel geologies without access to the Basal Cambrian Sandstone.

• $4 million for Enbridge Inc., for the Wabamun Hub CO₂ Storage Optimization Project.

This project will characterize deep saline reservoirs in Central Alberta. It supports Enbridge’s Open Access Wabamun Hub being developed north and west of Edmonton to provide dedicated, utility-scale CO₂ transportation and storage solutions serving CO₂ capture projects including Heidelberg Materials’ Edmonton capture project.

• Just over $2 million for OCCAM’s Technologies Inc., for its Development of Oxy-Fire Combustion for Diesel Generator CO₂.

This project will investigate and test modifications to diesel engines to enable cost-effective, small-scale carbon capture using exhaust gas recirculation. This approach has the potential to develop economically viable capture processes for distributed emission sources in hard-to-decarbonize industries such as locomotive rail transport, marine shipping and heavy-duty trucking.

• $538,000 for OptiSeis Solutions Ltd., for the Geophysical Subsurface Imaging and Analytics Evaluation.

This project aims to improve the cost-effectiveness of new and existing subsurface analysis technologies for measurement, monitoring and verification of CO₂ geological storage. NRCan

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) announced a combined Government of Canada and Government of Yukon investment of more than $17 million to reduce wildfire risk in Yukon communities. Funding for Yukon’s Wildland Fire Management branch will decrease fire risk in the communities of Whitehorse, Teslin, and Haines Junction – communities which are part of the northern boreal forest region and prone to aggressive wildfire behaviour. Funding will support different treatment phases, which include both retreatment and new fuel break construction. With new forest regrowth and new FireSmart standards, previous risk reduction efforts may become less effective over time. Retreatment includes increasing spacing between trees and removing live or dead vegetation that could allow fires to climb the landscape or trees from the forest floors. New treatment will include reducing or managing materials that are flammable or combustible in the wildland-urban interface. HICC

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) announced over $13.3 million in federal funding to support five projects in Alberta and the Northwest Territories. These projects are being funded under the Low Carbon Economy Fund, which invests in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, generate clean growth, build resilient communities and create jobs for Canadians through four distinct funding streams. The projects are:

• The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is receiving approximately $4.6 million to supply ground-mounted solar installation kits to Inuvialuit-owned cabins in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the N.W.T.
• Taurus Canada Renewable Natural Gas Corporation is receiving approximately $3.4 million to construct the world’s first small-scale biogenic carbon capture and storage project, using manure anaerobic digestion on the Kasko Cattle Co. Ltd. feedlot site.
• Denendeh Manor GP Ltd. is receiving approximately $2.3 million to improve energy efficiency and low-carbon heating at Denendeh Manor in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

• The Sherritt International Corporation is receiving approximately $1.6 million to increase the efficiency of the natural gas-fired boilers it uses to generate steam for its fertilizer plant in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.

• Cavendish Farms Corporation is receiving nearly $1.4 million to install a heat recovery system and reduce reliance on natural gas at its Lethbridge, Alta. facility. ECCC

The Government of Ontario is investing up to $10 million and launching the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP) for 2025 to support early-stage mineral exploration. This investment will help junior mining companies and licensed prospectors cover early exploration and development costs. As jurisdictions around the world seek stable, responsible sources of the critical minerals needed for electric vehicles, clean energy and advanced manufacturing, Ontario is introducing two features in this intake that will help accelerate critical mineral projects:

• New Prospector Stream: Licensed Ontario prospectors can now apply for up to $50,000 per project, with additional Indigenous participation support bringing the total potential funding to $65,000 per applicant.
• Enhanced Indigenous Participation Funding:To support Indigenous employment and business opportunities, this funding has increased from $10,000 to $15,000 per project on top of core program funding.

The OJEP helps cover up to 50 percent of eligible costs for exploration and development projects. With the addition of the new funding stream and the enhanced Indigenous participation funding, prospectors will now be eligible to receive up to $65,000 per project (including enhanced Indigenous participation support) and junior mining companies will be eligible to receive up to $215,000 per project (including enhanced Indigenous participation support). Govt. of Ontario

The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario are investing up to $4.4 million under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership to help small businesses in the agri-food industry grow their businesses and enhance their food safety and traceability systems. This funding will support 90 projects across the province through Ontario's Food Safety and Growth Initiative, which helps protect workers and businesses by ensuring the industry can continue to thrive, respond to market and consumer demands and keep workers on the job. Under the initiative, eligible food processors, producers and service providers can receive up to $75,000 per project to improve food safety systems, adopt new food safety and traceability equipment, technologies and standards, and provide related training to employees. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) announced more than $2.5 million to support artificial intelligence-related projects at three Halifax businesses. The recipients and projects are:

• Liveable Cities, a division of LED Roadway Lighting Ltd., is receiving $2 million (repayable) over two years to develop an AI-powered streetlight controller and camera. The system will reduce energy use by up to 30 percent and provide real-time data to improve public safety.
• Oberland Agriscience Inc., is receiving $250,000 (repayable) to install AI-driven software and equipment that will boost production, improve efficiency and reduce waste. The technology will enhance product quality, support new product development, and optimize formulations – reducing environmental impact and easing pressure on supply chains.
• Kindred AI Inc.is receiving $206,250 (repayable) and $50,000 (non-repayable) to advance its real-time emotional intelligence software. The funding will support product development, engineering and commercialization, creating high-quality jobs. The company’s tools help users track and grow emotional intelligence and can be embedded into other products. Kindred will expand key features, target new markets – including education and healthcare – and launch a marketing strategy to reach more clients and industries. ACOA

The Government of Alberta, in collaboration with Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, is investing more than $4 million to support small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses through the Alberta Manufacturing Productivity Grant. This two-year pilot program offers businesses access to advice, expertise and up to $30,000 in matching funding for technology upgrades along with new machinery and equipment. The pilot program is expected to support approximately 130 small and medium-sized businesses. As of May 2025, Alberta’s manufacturing sector employed 144,800 people – 5.6 percent of the province’s total workforce. In 2024, Alberta’s manufacturing GDP reached $25 billion and investment in the sector totalled $4.8 billion, marking a 41.9-percent increase over 2023. Govt. of Alberta

Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced an investment of $3.9 million to support five Canadian companies to develop and test innovative solutions that use satellite data to address pressing environmental challenges. This investment focuses on advancing projects that monitor the Arctic, improve wildfire response, and protect marine life and sensitive coastal ecosystems. The recipients and projects are:

• C-CORE (Newfoundland and Labrador): Mitigating Arctic challenges through the use of multi-mission satellite data and artificial intelligence.
• Mission Control (Ontario): Demonstrating a machine learning application for use onboard satellites to deliver wildfire detection products for wildfire managers in near real-time.
• Hatfield Consultants LLP (British Columbia): Developing an eelgrass mapping system to support aquatic biodiversity.
• AltaML (Alberta): Leveraging generative artificial intelligence to improve systems that detect and protect North Atlantic right whales.
• Fluvial Systems Research (British Columbia): Detecting and monitoring North Atlantic right whales through satellite data to inform and strengthen protection measures. CSA

The Government of Ontario announced a new plan to prioritize electricity for data centres that support the province’s economic interests, including those that create high-quality jobs, assist in domestic data hosting and strengthen Ontario’s position in the digital economy. This plan will prioritize and accelerate approvals for data centres that deliver measurable benefits to both local communities and to the province’s long-term competitiveness. The Ontario government said the new plan will:

• Ensure that data centres that support the province’s economic interests, including those that create high-quality jobs, strengthen Ontario’s digital economy and support domestic data housing are quickly approved for connection to the grid.
• Ensure Canadian data stays in Canada and is protected from misuse and weaker foreign privacy regimes.
• Explicitly require approval before certain data centres can connect to Ontario's electricity grid, ending automatic approval for large energy-intensive loads so that the province can prioritize data centres that support its plan to protect Ontario.

The current electrical load that data centres requesting to be connected to Ontario’s grid represents approximately 30 percent of Ontario’s peak demand in 2024, or the output of a nuclear plant the size of Bruce Power Nuclear Generating Station. With over 6,500 megawatts of data centres requesting to be connected to the grid, demand for electricity from the data centre industry, which includes artificial intelligence and cloud computing, is growing and expected to represent 13 percent of new electricity demand in Ontario by 2035. Govt. of Ontario

The Government of Manitoba launched a new clinical trials office to fast-track health research and announced the new Research Improvements Through Harmonization in Manitoba (RITHIM) project to grow Manitoba’s bioscience sector. Led by Research Manitoba, RITHIM will bring industry partners together to streamline the review system so research projects can be approved faster and more efficiently. The new electronic system will also create a single coordinated application process. Manitoba’s post-secondary institutions are participating in RITHIM and will be able to add capacity and efficiency to their research abilities. Manitoba’s new clinical trial office builds on the province’s strength as Canada’s second-largest pharmaceutical exporter and a hub for biotech innovation. The life sciences sector contributes over $5 billion annually to Manitoba’s GDP. Govt. of Manitoba

Ahead of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment meetings in Yellowknife from July 2 to 4, the Government of Alberta and the Government of Ontario wrote to the federal government, seeking an urgent discussion around scrapping all federal policies and legislation “that undermine competitiveness, delay project development, and disproportionately harm specific provinces and territories without any quantifiable benefits to Canada’s natural environment.” This includes discussions around specific timelines and next steps for repealing the Impact Assessment Act and the Physical Activities Regulations, Clean Electricity Regulations, and Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and associated regulations. The two provinces also hope to discuss amending the Species at Risk Act to respect Canada’s constitutional jurisdictions, suspending the proposed oil and gas industry emissions cap and a commitment that Ottawa will not reintroduce Bill C-61: An Act respecting water, source water, drinking water, wastewater and related infrastructure on First Nation lands. Govt. of Alberta

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford signed two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) during Ford’s visit to the Calgary Stampede, outlining their commitment to strengthen interprovincial trade, drive major infrastructure development, and grow Canada's global competitiveness by building new pipelines, rail lines and other energy and trade infrastructure. The two provinces agree on the need for the federal government to address the underlying conditions “that have harmed the energy industry in Canada.” This includes significantly amending or repealing the Impact Assessment Act, as well as repealing the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, Clean Electricity Regulations, the Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap, and all other federal initiatives “that discriminately impact the energy sector, as well as sectors such as mining and manufacturing.” The first MOU focuses on developing strategic trade corridors and energy infrastructure to connect Alberta and Ontario’s oil, gas and critical minerals to global markets. This includes support for new oil and gas pipeline projects, enhanced rail and port infrastructure at sites in James Bay and southern Ontario, as well as end-to-end supply chain development for refining and processing of Alberta’s energy exports. The two provinces will also collaborate on nuclear energy development to help meet growing electricity demands while ensuring reliable and affordable power. The second MOU outlines Alberta’s commitment to look at prioritizing made-in-Canada vehicle purchases for its government fleet. It also includes a joint commitment to reduce barriers and improve the interprovincial trade of liquor products. Govt. of Alberta

The Government of Saskatchewan is intervening in support of the Government of Alberta’s legal action to challenge the federal Impact Assessment Act before the Alberta Court of Appeal, which has not yet set a date for the hearing. On October 13, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in a 5-2 decision that the Impact Assessment Act was a clear example of federal government overreach into provincial jurisdiction. In response to the decision, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government passed amendments to the Impact Assessment Act in June 2024. The Constitution Act, 1867 provides the provinces with exclusive jurisdiction over the development of natural resources. Amendments to the Impact Assessment Act made in 2024 do not go far enough to protect Saskatchewan from federal government overreach into provincial jurisdiction, the Saskatchewan government said. The government recently released the "Strong Saskatchewan, Strong Canada Plan," which outlines 10 key policy changes the federal government can make to start a new, more positive relationship with Saskatchewan. Under the plan, Saskatchewan called for the fundamental reform of the Impact Assessment Act, outlining the need for streamlined processes to avoid duplication and infringement into provincial jurisdiction. Govt. of Saskatchewan

The Government of Alberta reached a settlement with Evolve Power Ltd. and Atrum Coal Ltd. over lawsuits filed by the companies. Evolve Power Ltd. said it had reached an agreement-in-principle with the government to resolve its claim over the Chinook Project. Two days earlier, Atrum Coal Ltd. said it had signed a definitive agreement to settle its lawsuit concerning the Elan Coal Project. Both companies alleged the government's decision to open up the Rocky Mountains and Foothills to more mining in 2020 but later reversing course on those plans amounted to a constructive taking, or "de facto expropriation," of their coal assets. The dollar figures of the agreements were not disclosed, with both companies saying terms were confidential and subject to settlement privilege. Other companies in a joint case were Cabin Ridge Holdings Ltd. and Cabin Ridge Project Ltd. along with its subsidiary, Elan Coal Ltd., and Black Eagle Mining Corp. Northback Holdings also launched a damages claim in June 2024 to be heard separately. CBC News

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC), U.K.-based Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult, and Quebec-based MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre announced a memorandum of understanding to deepen connections and grow a strong and resilient semiconductor supply chain for Canada, the U.K., and other G7 countries. By leveraging shared interest in fostering growth and innovation, Canada and the U.K. will continue to be leaders in the semiconductor ecosystem, the partners said. Over the next three years, the agreement will align each partner’s capabilities in designing, fabricating and packaging semiconductors. This collaboration is about creating a strong value chain between Canada and the U.K. and sets the stage for technological leadership, ensuring a smooth path from development to production, the NRC said. NRC

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) is seeking innovative artificial intelligence-powered solutions utilizing large language models and big data analytics to enhance open-source intelligence due diligence. The goal is to proactively identify and analyze publicly available information, supporting decision-making to mitigate risks to research security. The NRC is focused on boosting its capabilities in processing large volumes of diverse, unstructured and multilingual data. By embracing new technologies, the NRC seeks to leverage powerful analytics to uncover hidden or complex connections. Applications are due by August 14, 2025. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

U.S. News published its 2025-26 Best Global Universities ranking, as well as its Top Global Universities by Subject Area. The rankings included 2,250 universities in more than 100 countries, ranked on 13 indicators that measure their academic research performance and their global and regional reputations. A total of 43 Canadian postsecondary institutions appeared in the global rankings, three of which appeared in the top 100: University of Toronto (tied for #16), University of British Columbia (tied for #41), and McGill University (#62). Several institutions appeared among the top institutions for various subject area rankings. Some of the highest rankings included University of Toronto (#3 for Endocrinology and Metabolism), University of British Columbia (#12 for Ecology), Dalhousie University (#16 for Marine and Freshwater Biology), and McGill University (#16 for Neuroscience and Behaviour). U.S. News

China's commerce ministry urged Canada to "immediately correct its wrongdoings" after the federal government ordered the Hangzhou-based surveillance equipment firm Hikvision to cease operation in Canada, citing national security concerns. In a statement published on its website, the Chinese ministry vowed to take the "necessary measures" to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses. "The government has determined that Hikvision Canada Inc.'s continued operations in Canada would be injurious to Canada's national security," Industry Minister Melanie Joly said on X, adding the decision was taken after a multi-step review of information provided by Canada's security and intelligence community. Hikvision said in a statement on July 7 that it’s seeking a judicial review of the government’s decision. Following an agreement with the Attorney General of Canada, Hikvision Canada has resumed normal operations until its motion for a stay is decided by the court, the company said. Hikvision,  whose Canadian operations include an R&D centre in Montreal, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of security cameras and other surveillance products, but it has faced scrutiny abroad for its role in Beijing’s alleged rights abuses against the Muslim minority Uighur population. The United States included Hikvision in a 2019 blacklist of Chinese entities it said were implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. Aljazeera

LNG Canada announced that a tanker carrying Canada’s first export of liquified natural gas departed from the LNG Canada export facility in Kitimat, B.C. The GasLog Glasgow, an LNG vessel chartered by Shell, was expected to reach Incheon, South Korea, on July 20, according to VesselFinder. The new LNG Canada facility, located in the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation, will initially export LNG from two processing units, or “trains,” with a total capacity of 14 million tonnes per year. LNG Canada said the cumulative value of its contracts and subcontracts to local, Indigenous and other businesses in B.C. to date has exceeded $5.8 billion; this includes more than $4.9 billion to Indigenous-owned and local area businesses. It includes a $500-million contract with HaiSea Marine, a joint venture between the Haisla Nation and North Vancouver-based Seaspan providing harbour and escort tugboat services to LNG Canada with its innovative fleet of battery-powered and low-emissions vessels. LNG Canada

Toronto-headquartered AI startup Cohere opened its second Canadian office, a 20-person office at Mila – Quebec AI Institute in Montreal. The new office will strengthen Cohere’s capabilities in developing large language models (LLMs) and other artificial intelligence tools tailored to the needs of Canadian businesses and the public sector, with a focus on security and privacy matters. Montreal already hosts AI labs for major tech companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft and ServiceNow. Cohere currently has over 400 staff in total and offices in San Francisco, New York and London. Cohere is also the recipient of $240 million in federal funding through the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy to help build an AI data centre to train LLMs in Canada. U.S.-based CoreWeave plans to open a data centre in Cambridge, Ont., next month with Cohere as one of its customers, The Globe and Mail reported. Montréal International

Big Tech’s spiking electricity use as it trains artificial intelligence must be reined in by governments in order to maintain stable power supplies, the head of the world’s largest transformer maker has warned. Andreas Schierenbeck, chief executive of Hitachi Energy, told the Financial Times in an interview that no other industry would be allowed as volatile a use of power as the AI sector. Huge surges in power demand at data centres training AI models, along with a bumpy renewable energy supply, meant “volatility on top of volatility” was making it challenging to keep the lights on, he said. “AI data centres are very, very different from these office data centres because they really spike up,” he said. “If you start your AI algorithm to learn and give them data to digest, they’re peaking in seconds and going up to 10 times what they have normally used.” The International Energy Agency predicts data centre electricity consumption will double to 945 terawatt-hours by 2030 – more than the current power used by an entire country such as Japan. Ireland and the Netherlands have already restricted the development of new data centres due to concerns about their impact on the electricity network. Financial Times

Google’s data centres more than doubled their electricity use in just four years, according to Google’s most recent sustainability report. In 2024, Google data centres used 30.8 million megawatt-hours of electricity. That’s up from 14.4 million megawatt-hours in 2020, the earliest year Google broke out data centre consumption. Google has pledged to use only carbon-free sources of electricity to power its operations, a task made more challenging by its breakneck pace of data centre growth. In 2024, data centres accounted for 95.8 percent of the entire company’s electricity budget. In May, the company bought 600 megawatts of solar capacity in South Carolina, and in January, it announced a deal for 700 megawatts of solar in Oklahoma. Google said in 2024 it was working with Intersect Power and TPG Rise Climate to build several gigawatts’ worth of carbon-free power plants, a $20-billion investment. TechCrunch

Economic Development Lethbridge, in partnership with Vancouver-based SuperQ Quantum,
announced the launch of Canada’s first Quantum Super Hub at the Tecconnect innovation
facility in Lethbridge. The hub will give businesses, researchers and entrepreneurs across Southern Alberta access to cutting-edge hybrid quantum and supercomputing capabilities.
The Super Hub, powered by SuperQ Quantum’s “Super” platform, seamlessly integrates classical computing and quantum optimization. Users can upload complex problem statements – like supply chain bottlenecks or manufacturing inefficiencies – and the system automatically routes the workload to the most effective computing resource. The platform is designed for accessibility, making advanced computing available through intuitive interfaces. Economic Development Lethbridge

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) selected Nuclear Laboratory Partners of Canada Inc. (NLPC) as the preferred bidder to manage Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). AECL said the six-year contract is worth about $1.2 billion annually and can be extended by an additional 14 years. Nuclear Laboratory Partners of Canada Inc. is a partnership with three primary joint venture partners, Virginia-based BWXT Government Group, Inc., BWXT’s recently acquired subsidiary Kinectrics Inc., Virginia-based Amentum Environment & Energy, Inc., with Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute included as key subcontractor. The consortium will assume responsibility of CNL, with Dennis Carr as president and CEO, on September 13, 2025, following a transition period that will commence in the coming weeks. Carr has over 40 years of experience in managing nuclear operations, including decommissioning, decontamination and waste management. The scope of work includes the management of all AECL’s sites and assets, including the Chalk River Laboratories and environmental remediation projects in Port Hope, Ont. at the Whiteshell Laboratories site in Pinawa, Man., and at other AECL sites in Canada. The scope of work, a copy of which is available on AECL’s website, was developed following a public and Indigenous engagement phase where members of the public, local communities, and Indigenous Nations and communities were invited to provide comments. AECL’s liabilities rose from $3.1 billion to nearly $6.5 billion between 2009 and 2015, The Globe and Mail reported. AECL

Toronto-based online car retailer Clutch surpassed $1 billion worth of total vehicles purchased. Stephen Seibel, Clutch co-founder and chief operating officer, announced the news in a LinkedIn post. It took Clutch nearly a decade to get to this $1-billion milestone. Clutch buys used vehicles directly from Canadians before reconditioning and selling them for a profit through its managed marketplace. While Clutch has seen its share of challenges over the past few years, it has shifted into a new gear in the first half of 2025, growing 70 percent since January for its fastest-ever year-to-date growth. BetaKit

Calgary-based robotics and automation startup Attabotics closed down, terminated employees and filed a notice of intention for bankruptcy protection. The company filed a notice of intention with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada, dated July 2. Montreal law firm Richter is representing Attabotics in the proceedings. According to filings posted on Richter’s website, Attabotics posted a net loss in three consecutive years, culminating in a nearly $50 million net loss in 2024. The losses are attributed to the company’s inability to generate enough revenue due to macroeconomic factors, like higher interest rates and constrained consumer spending, as well as company-specific factors like delayed projects. The filings state that Attabotics’ assets represent almost $32 million while its liabilities are approximately $73.5 million. Its single largest creditor is crown corporation and investor Export Development Canada, which is owed just over $46 million. Another crown corporation, the Business Development Bank of Canada, is owed $2.8 million through a credit facility. The company, founded in 2016 by CEO Scott Gravelle, designs and manufactures an automated storage and retrieval system, using robotics. Over the years, Attabotics amassed hundreds of millions in investment, $4.5 million of which was awarded through the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund in 2018. From 2019 to 2022, Attabotics raised around US$165 million from various sources, including a US$71.7-million Series C-1 fundraising round. In 2020, the company also received $34 million through the federal government’s Strategic Innovation Fund. Calgary Herald, BetaKit

Amazon has deployed its 1 millionth robot after 13 years of deploying robots in its warehouses.  The robot was recently delivered to a fulfillment center in Japan, joining Amazon’s global network that now spans more than 300 facilities worldwide. Amazon is also introducing a new generative AI foundation model the company has designed to make its entire fleet of robots smarter and more efficient. Called DeepFleet, this AI technology will coordinate the movement of robots across Amazon’s fulfillment network, improving the travel time of the company’s robotic fleet by 10 percent and enabling Amazon to deliver packages to customers faster and at lower costs. Amazon’s Hercules robots can lift and move up to 1,250 pounds of inventory. The Pegasus robots use precision conveyor belts to handle individual packages. Proteus, Amazon’s first fully autonomous mobile robot, can safely navigate around employees in open and unrestricted areas of company sites while moving heavy carts filled with customer orders. Amazon

Funding for the Lunar Gateway and other elements of NASA’s Artemis program was restored by Congress as both the House and Senate passed H.R.1, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The Senate passed the One Big Beautiful Bill on Canada Day and when it sent the bill back to the House it included an item of not less than $750 million for Gateway for fiscal years 2026 through 2028. The Gateway includes the Canadarm3 project being developed by MDA Space. The Artemis II crew includes Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen as mission specialist. The bill also included, for the Artemis mission, not less than $1.025 billion for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029, for the procurement, transportation, integration, operation and other necessary expenses of the Space Launch System for Artemis Missions IV and V. Another $20 million was committed “for expenses related to the continued procurement of the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle for use with the Space Launch System on the Artemis IV Mission and reuse in subsequent Artemis missions." Also included was $1.25 billion for the International Space Station, for fiscal years 2025 through 2029. SpaceQ

The European Commission announced a new strategy aimed at making the EU a global leader in life sciences by 2030. The Commission estimates life sciences add almost €1 trillion in value to the EU economy and support 29 million jobs across all 27 member states. The Commission will be putting up €10 billion every year for the following actions:  

• Around €250 million will be mobilized under the Horizon 2026-2027 work programme to support the development of new products and methods. 
• Enabling rapid market access for life science innovations through a new EU Biotech Act. 
• €300 will be mobilized to support procurement of life science innovations in certain areas. A life science coordination group will be set up to align policies and funding across sectors. 

“Our new strategy is a commitment to placing Europe at the forefront of life sciences innovation that delivers cutting-edge therapies quicker to European patients,” said Olivér Várhelyi, EU commissioner for health. Read the full strategy here. Science|Business

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European Commission announces new quantum strategy

The European Commission put forward the Quantum Strategy to make Europe a global leader in quantum by 2030.

The strategy will foster a resilient, sovereign quantum ecosystem that fuels startup growth and transforms breakthrough science into market-ready applications, while maintaining Europe's scientific leadership, the Commission said.

Quantum technologies will revolutionize addressing complex challenges, from pharmaceutical breakthroughs to securing critical infrastructure.

The technologies will open new opportunities for the EU's industrial competitiveness and tech sovereignty, with strong dual-use potential for defence and security.

By 2040, the sector is expected to create thousands of highly skilled jobs across the EU and exceed a global value of €155 billion.

The strategy targets five areas: research and innovation; quantum infrastructures; ecosystem strengthening; space and dual-use technologies; and quantum skills. It includes the following actions:

• Launching the Quantum Europe Research and Innovation Initiative, a joint EU and Member States' effort to support foundational research and develop applications in key public and industrial sectors. 
• Establishing a quantum design facility and six quantum chips pilot lines, backed by up to €50 million in public funding, to transform scientific prototypes into manufacturable products.
• Launching a pilot facility for the European Quantum Internet.
• Expanding the network of Quantum Competence Clusters across the EU and establishing the European Quantum Skills Academy in 2026.
• Developing a Quantum Technology Roadmap in Space with the European Space Agency and contributing to the European Armament Technological Roadmap.

This strategy aims to boost the share of global private funding that European quantum companies receive, currently at around five percent, to stimulate the growth of European startups and scaleups and promote the uptake of European quantum solutions by European industries.

The Commission will work closely with the Member States and the European quantum community including academia, startups, industrial actors and innovation stakeholders and their representatives to turn the Strategy's objectives into reality.

A High-Level Advisory Board will bring together leading European quantum scientists and technology experts, including European Nobel Prize Laureates in quantum. It will provide independent strategic guidance on the implementation of the Quantum Europe Strategy.

The strategy will be followed by a Quantum Act proposal, expected in 2026, which will further strengthen the quantum ecosystem and the industrialization efforts by incentivizing Member States and companies, investors and researchers to invest in (pilot) production facilities, under the umbrella of large-scale EU-wide national or regional initiatives. European Commission

VC, PRIVATE INVESTMENT & ACQUISITION

Vancouver-founded D-Wave Quantum Inc., now headquartered in California, announced it completed sales of $400 million in gross proceeds of its common stock. The $400 million “at-the-market” (ATM) equity offering program, which started on June 11 and ended on June 27, was completed at an average price per share of $15.18. This average price represents a $9.08 or 149-percent premium to the $6.10 average price per share of the most recent $150-million ATM program completed in January of this year. D-Wave, which calls itself the world’s first supplier of quantum computers, said it intends to use the proceeds for strategic acquisitions and general corporate purposes, including additional working capital and capital expenditures. D-Wave

Vancouver-based medtech company Kardium raised $340 million to fuel the commercialization of its innovative atrial fibrillation treatment device, the Globe Pulsed Field System. The financing, led by new investors including Janus Henderson Investors and Qatar Investment Authority, included MMCAP, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital, Eventide Asset Management, and Eckuity Capital. Existing investors also participated, including funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, T. Rowe Price Investment Management, and Durable Capital Partners. The financing will support Kardium in securing regulatory approval and expanding its manufacturing capabilities. The Globe System, which uses pulsed field ablation technology, aims to provide a novel solution for treating the common and serious heart disorder affecting millions worldwide. The company plans to launch commercially later this year, with expectations of obtaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval as a Class 3 medical device. Startup Ecosystem Canada

La Caisse and Fondaction invested $250 million in Montreal-based renewable power producer Boralex Inc. by way of an unsecured subordinated loan with an eight-year term. La Caisse provided $200 million while Fondaction contributed $50 million. Boralex, which has renewable power generating facilities in Canada, the U.S., France and the U.K., has set a target to more than double its installed capacity to seven gigawatts by 2030. La Caisse

Stock sales and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity both soared in the second quarter of 2025, despite the U.S. tariffs, according to data from LSEG Data & Analytics. Borrowing activity appeared to be the sole casualty of the continental trade war, with corporate debt issuance from early April to late June totalling $22.6 billion, one-third below the same period in 2024, though still roughly in line with the most recent 10-year average for the second quarter. Stock sales and M&A did not appear to suffer at all during the second quarter. In fact, the long-stagnant market for equity issuance jumped more than 33 percent on a year-over-year basis, with companies selling a combined $6.85 billion worth of stock, well above the $5.14 billion sold during the second quarter of 2024. While the latest total remains 25.8 percent below the most recent 10-year average for second-quarter stock sales – $9.24-billion – Jackie Nixon, head of Canadian equity capital markets at RBC Capital Markets, said there is evidence of growing upward momentum. M&A deals involving Canadian companies totalled nearly US$82 billion from early April to late June, up more than 84 percent from the same period in 2024. The Globe and Mail

Burnaby, B.C.-based cloud software company Clio announced an agreement to acquire Barcelona-based vLex, an AI-powered global legal research platform, for US$1 billion in a combination of cash and stock. Clio said the two companies platforms establish a new category of intelligent legal technology at the intersection of the business and practice of law, empowering legal professionals to seamlessly manage, research and execute legal work within a unified system. This is the most significant transaction in Clio’s history. Clio

The new owners of Lion Electric only had to put $6 million on the table to buy the electric school bus manufacturer, according to a report. La Presse reports that the Quebec-based manufacturer of electric buses, headquartered in St-Jérôme, bought by a consortium of Quebec investors, received a good deal in the transaction. The price paid is a far cry from Lion’s market value at the beginning of June 2021, which briefly approached $4.7 billion. Paying $6 million for the company means there is nothing left for the creditors – a list that also includes Quebec taxpayers. The Quebec government has already sunk approximately $143 million from its existing investments in Lion Electric. The deal comes after months of financial instability, mounting debt and unsuccessful acquisition talks, which culminated in the company seeking creditor protection in Dec. 2024 in Canada and bankruptcy in the U.S. The deal ensures that Lion Electric will continue operations with a focus on electric school buses, specifically at its St-Jérôme plant, while also going ahead with workforce reductions and the closure of other facilities. Montreal City News

REPORTS & POLICIES

Canada is a global leader in AI research and talent growth but needs more AI adoption and deployment by industries

Canada leads the G7 in artificial intelligence talent growth and research output per capita, supported by strong public investment and a globally competitive startup ecosystem, according to a report by the Conference Board of Canada (CBoC).

AI integration across sectors is projected to boost labour productivity by 17.1 percent and generate up to $185 billion in economic value over the next two decades, said the report, Canada’s AI Economy.

Strategic investments, including a $2.4-billion federal commitment, are strengthening Canada’s AI infrastructure, but wider industry participation is needed to scale adoption across sectors, the report said.

“Gaps in infrastructure readiness and challenges in retaining top AI talent continue to limit Canada’s ability to translate research strength into economic impact at scale.”

When it comes to ecosystem competitiveness, Canada leads all G7 countries in AI research output per capita, according to the report.

Canada’s research papers published per capita, net migration of workers with AI skills, and most promising startups rank in the top three globally.

In AI-related R&D, Canada trails only the U.S. in foundational models, data sets and applications.

Canada had 23 AI patent applications per million population in 2020, ranking third behind the U.S. (with 37 applications per million population) and Japan (34).

As for the AI talent pipeline, Canada leads all G7 countries in the growth rate of AI talent. Canada’s prevalence of workers reporting AI skills was ranked third among G7 nations from 2016 to 2023.

Canada has seen substantial growth in its AI labour force in the last five years, with growth of over 30 percent in 2023.

Canada is home to over 1,500 AI startups and is the third-largest recipient of global VC investments in 2024 among G7 nations at over US$3 billion, behind only the U.S. and the U.K. the report said.

Canada lags only the U.S. in average investment size per firm globally at an average of US$25 million per firm.

However, AI adoption is lower in priority industries than the economic average. Almost two percent of businesses in agriculture and three percent of businesses in manufacturing use AI technologies, compared to 4.5 percent of all businesses in all industries.

Canada’s firm adoption rates are comparable to its peer G7 nations but still lag those of Germany, the U.K. and the U.S.

Canada’s industrial adoption of AI trails in key sectors such as healthcare, construction, agriculture, forestry, and mining – sectors that are particularly affected by declining labour productivity growth and could benefit from AI adoption.

“Canada faces difficulties in scaling its AI startups, which struggle to survive and expand due to limited domestic demand largely caused by intense competition from big tech companies,” the report said.

The gap in scaling AI solutions locally may also be attributable to Canadian investors’ being slower and more risk-averse than their American counterparts, the report noted.

“Canada can leverage its strengths in research, IP and talent to become a global AI leader. To reach its true potential, Canadian businesses and policy leaders must actively drive AI adoption and deployment across all industries.”
The report’s recommendations include:

• Strengthen AI infrastructure to transition research excellence into economic impact.

Canada’s $2.4-billion investment in computing capabilities and technological infrastructure is an important commitment.

Canada must continue to invest in AI infrastructure and advocate for industry-specific AI adoption to increase access and lower risk to achieve a top ranking among G7 countries.

Success will be measured by AI adoption across industries, AI compute per capita and average venture capital investment in AI by 2030.

Businesses can contribute by co-investing in private AI infrastructure, scaling custom AI systems and ensuring that foundational AI capabilities are translated into competitive business applications.

• Develop and retain top talent to sustain AI growth momentum.

Post-secondary institutions are generating top AI talent. Expanding internship and work-integrated learning programs – such as those facilitated by the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (Mila), the Vector Institute, and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute – will help build a sustainable AI talent pipeline with real-world, applied experience.

National talent and upskilling programs are the next steps in the right direction and the establishment of a national AI talent retention program, building on the $50-million Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program, would help stem AI talent drain.

Businesses can focus on talent growth and retention through two key strategies. First, they can upskill employees whose roles face automation risks from AI advancements. Second, they can establish partnerships with post-secondary institutions to align training programs with their operational needs.

Companies can support talent development by creating specialized training for AI professionals in key industries such as agriculture, mining, health care, and manufacturing.

• Focus on AI adoption and risk-reduction strategies to drive innovation.

Fostering industry-specific AI programs, grants and tax credits for technology adoption, workforce training and infrastructure expansion will accelerate adoption in priority industries (such as advanced manufacturing, agri-food, clean technologies, digital industries, life sciences, public administration and resource-based industries).

Current examples include the $100-million investment in the AI Assist program from the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program.

Businesses can drive adoption by piloting AI within operational processes, providing real-world use cases across industries and promoting cross-disciplinary talent that blends technical and sector-specific expertise.

• Build trust through AI governance.

Targeted public education campaigns and transparent reporting on AI deployments across public services can supplement existing federal AI governance initiatives and directly address the trust deficit.

Some 60 percent of Canadians still remain skeptical about AI, viewing AI products and services as more harmful than beneficial.

A challenging near-term objective would be to share the benefits of AI more inclusively across the economy, demonstrating benefits with more than half of Canadians within the next two years.

Businesses can strengthen public confidence by having C-suite executives and boards actively lead AI trust-building initiatives – through open communication, responsible AI deployment practices, and strong engagement with employees, customers and the public.

“To turn our current advantage into a lasting economic impact, we need to build better domestic infrastructure, develop AI talent and IP [intellectual property] retention strategies, and make business investments in industries in which adoption will lead to greater productivity and competitive advantage,” the report said. Conference Board of Canada

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Canada’s foreign affairs department no longer has the stature and influence it once enjoyed

Global Affairs Canada, as it is currently known, no longer has the stature it once enjoyed, according to a commentary by author John Ibbitson, Fraser Media Fellow at the Fraser Institute.

This is in part because foreign policy is directed more and more from the Prime Minister’s Office, he says.

Also, “Canada's standing in the world has slipped,” as Marc Garneau, who was foreign minister for nine months in 2021, wrote in his memoir: "We are losing credibility."

The minister of foreign affairs was once seen almost as a Canadian equivalent of an American vice-president. Louis St. Laurent, Lester Pearson and Jean Chrétien all served in foreign affairs before later becoming prime ministers. Joe Clark served as foreign affairs minister after having been prime minister.

“And Canadian foreign policy once mattered in world affairs,” Ibbitson says. Pearson played a key role in the negotiations that led to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. He was the only Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, after he helped broker a ceasefire during the 1956 Suez Crisis that led to the first peacekeeping mission.

During her brief tenure as foreign affairs minister in 1979, Flora MacDonald promoted the idea of bringing Vietnamese refugees to Canada through private sponsorships by citizens and groups. The United Nations awarded Canada the Nansen Refugee Award for accepting more than 60,000 “boat people,” as they were known, from Indochina.

Joe Clark, as external affairs minister in the 1980s, put Canada in the forefront of opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa.

At the turn of this century, foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy led the movement that brought about the United Nations doctrine of Responsibility to Protect – a global commitment to prevent genocide and other atrocities.

And following the attacks on 9/11, foreign affairs minister John Manley worked closely with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to secure the Canada-U.S. border, while continuing to promote free trade across it.

“Since then, the stature of foreign affairs ministers has declined,” Ibbitson argues. Bill Graham was deeply disappointed when Paul Martin replaced him as minister with Pierre Pettigrew, whom Martin kept on a very short leash.

Stephen Harper cycled through a plethora of foreign affairs ministers: Peter MacKay, Maxime Bernier, David Emerson, Lawrence Cannon, John Baird and, in the final months, Rob Nicholson.

Justin Trudeau did the same, replacing Stéphane Dion with Chrystia Freeland, then François-Philippe Champagne, then Garneau and finally Melanie Joly.

“Part of this is the way of the world. In foreign affairs ministries everywhere, from Foggy Bottom to Whitehall to the Quai d’Orsay, diplomats lament that the office of the head of government effectively runs foreign affairs, shunting them aside.”

But the declining stature of Canada’s minister of foreign affairs coincides with the declining stature of Canada within the Western alliance and beyond, which itself is the result of the decline in Canda’s defence capability, Ibbitson argues.

In the 1950s, during the Korean War, Canada’s defence spending reached 7.4 percent of GDP. On John Diefenbaker’s watch it sat above four percent; on Pearson’s, around three percent.

Pierre Trudeau reduced the size and role of Canada’s military, while seeking to make Canada less closely aligned with the United States. He took defence spending down to two percent of GDP, where Brian Mulroney kept it.

With the end of the Cold War and with the need to balance the federal budget, defence spending under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin fell to about one per cent of GDP, where it largely remained under Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau.

Other members of NATO are investing heavily in their military in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But Canada continues to lag behind.

Prime Minister Mark Carney promises to increase Canada’s defence commitments while pursuing a more robust foreign and trade policy, Ibbitson says.

“We shall see. In any case, [Anita] Anand should not get too comfortable in her office at the Pearson building. If past is precedent, she may not be there long.” Fraser Institute

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Ottawa’s proposed cap on oil and gas industry emissions has high economic and security costs

The federal government’s proposed cap on the oil and natural gas industry’s emissions has high economic and energy security costs, according to an analysis from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

“There are far better ways to reduce emissions while maintaining North America’s security of energy supply,” says report author Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Canada is the world’s third-largest exporter of oil, fourth-largest producer, and the top source of imports to the U.S., she says.

Much of Canada’s oil wealth is concentrated in the oilsands in northern Alberta, which hosts 99 percent of the country’s enormous oil endowment: about 160 billion barrels of proven reserves, of a total resource of approximately 1.8 trillion barrels.

“This is the major source of oil to the United States refinery complex, a large part of which is optimized for the oilsands’ heavy oil,” Exner-Pirot says.

The Canadian government, as part of its efforts to meet its climate goals under the Paris Accord, proposed a regulatory framework for an emissions cap on the oil and gas sector in December 2023.

This framework set a legally binding limit on greenhouse gas emissions, targeting a 35-percent to 38-percent reduction from 2019 levels by 2030 for upstream oil and gas operations, through regulations to be made under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.

The federal government has not yet finalized its proposed regulations. However, Exner-Pirot pointed out that industry experts and economists have criticized the current iteration as logistically unworkable, overly expensive, and likely to be challenged as unconstitutional.

“In effect, this policy layers a cap-and-trade system for just one sector (oil and gas) on top of a competing carbon pricing mechanism (the large-emitter trading systems, often referred to as the industrial carbon price), a discriminatory practice that also undermines the entire economic rationale of a carbon pricing system,” she says.

While the Canadian government has maintained that it is focused on reducing emissions rather than production – the latter of which would put it at odds with provincial jurisdiction over non-renewable resources – a series of third- party analyses as well as the Parliamentary Budget Office’s own impact assessment find it would indeed constrain Canadian oil and gas production, Exner-Pirot notes.

“The economic cost of the emissions cap far exceeds any corresponding benefit in reduced emissions,” she says.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) found that the required reduction in upstream oil and gas sector production levels under an emissions cap would lower real GDP in Canada by 0.33 percent in 2030 and 0.39 percent in 2032, and reduce nominal GDP by $20.5 billion by 2032. The PBO further estimated that achieving the legal upper bound would reduce economy-wide employment in Canada by 40,300 jobs and full-time equivalents by 54,400 jobs in 2032.

“Based on PBO assumptions that the emissions cap will reduce emissions by 7.1 megatonnes and reduce GDP by $20.5 billion in 2032, the implied carbon price is $2,887/tonne,” Exner-Pirot says.

The emissions cap, if applied just to oilsands production, would only displace global emissions of 71,000  to 213,000 tonnes (one to three percent of 7.1 Mt.). At a cost of $20.5 billion for those global emissions reductions, the price of carbon is equivalent to $96,000 to $289,000 per tonne, she says.

“Because Canadian conventional oil and natural gas have a lower emissions intensity [emissions per barrel produced] than global averages, global product substitutions resulting from the emissions cap would actually serve to increase global emissions, resulting in an infinite price per tonne of carbon.”

“It is hard to conceive of a more expensive and divisive way to reduce emissions from the sector and from the Canadian economy than the proposed emissions cap,” Exner-Pirot said.

She pointed out that other expensive programs, such as Norway’s electric vehicle subsidies, the U.K.’s offshore wind contracts-for-difference, Germany’s Energiewende feed-in-tariffs and surcharges, and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act investment tax credits, “don’t come close to the high costs of the emissions cap on a price-per-tonne of carbon abated basis.”

Since 2014, Alberta’s oilsands have dramatically increased production by over a million barrels per day, but at the same time have reduced the emissions per barrel every year, leaving the absolute emissions of the oil and gas sector relatively flat, Exner-Pirot says.

The oilsands are performing well vis-à-vis their international peers, seeing their emissions per barrel decline by 30 percent since 2013, compared to 21 percent for global majors and 34 percent for U.S. exploration and production companies, she notes.

Exner-Pirot says that as emissions improvements from methane reductions plateau, the oilsands are likely to outperform their conventional peers in emissions-per-barrel reductions going forward.

The oilsands sector is working on strategies such as solvent extraction and carbon capture and storage that, if implemented, would reduce the life cycle emissions per barrel of oilsands to levels at or below the global crude average, she says.

The emissions cap, as currently proposed, will make Canada’s oil and gas sector significantly less competitive, harm investment and undermine Canada’s vision to be an energy superpower, Exner-Pirot argues.

“This policy will also reduce the oil and gas sector’s capacity to invest in technologies that drive additional emission reductions, such as solvents and carbon capture, especially in our current lower price environment. As such it is more likely to undermine climate action than support it.” Macdonald-Laurier Institute

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Being a modern “energy superpower” doesn’t mean building new fossil fuel infrastructure

Canada’s ambition to be an “energy superpower” shouldn’t entail investing taxpayer dollars or slackening regulatory guardrails to build new fossil fuel infrastructure, according to a commentary from the Pembina Institute.

The oil and natural gas sector faces a sustained decline, with global demand for oil set to peak in the 2030s, if not sooner, says author Janetta McKenzie, program director, oil and gas, at the Pembina Institute, a Calgary-based clean energy think tank.

“Even demand for LNG [liquified natural gas] is looking increasingly uncertain, with the majority of B.C.’s proposed LNG terminals set to come online in an oversaturated market full of low-cost competitors,” she says.

When oil and gas profits skyrocketed as the pandemic subsided, new investment and jobs didn’t, she pointed out. “Instead, companies increased the returns to shareholders.”

In 2025, global investment in clean energy is set to double that of fossil fuels once again, $2.2-trillion versus $1.1-trillion, McKenzie notes.

In 2024, investment in low-carbon solutions – such as electrified transport and renewables – grew by 11 percent, hitting a record $2.1 trillion. All of these trends are driven by dramatic declines in the costs of new power generation and electrification technology.

“The global transition to clean energy is accelerating,” she says. “Becoming an ‘energy superpower’ means equipping ourselves to lead in that world.”

Building out a clean, modernized electricity grid – removing barriers to interprovincial electricity transmission, and implementing a predictable regulatory system that favours sustainable development – would enhance Canada’s domestic energy security, allowing provinces like Ontario and Quebec to generate more of their own power, McKenzie says.

“That abundance of low-emitting power would also show the world that Canada is ready for business.”

As the U.S. pauses its offshore wind approvals, for example, Canada could be ready to provide the clean power that emerging and existing sectors need.

Alberta, whose oil and gas sector is vulnerable to trade disruptions with the U.S., could benefit from removing provincial government barriers currently throttling investment in local renewable power, too, she says.

Some fossil fuel projects, such as cross-country pipelines, would cost tens of billions and take a decade to build, McKenzie says. “No private-sector company has put their hand up to take on this type of infrastructure.”

This doesn’t mean Canada stops oil and gas production, she adds. “But it does mean addressing the elephant in the room: Oil and gas producers are responsible for about one-third of Canada’s national emissions for five per cent of GDP.”

“Oilsands production is incredibly emissions-intensive and those emissions continue to grow. In 2023, the oilsands alone emitted 80 percent more emissions than Canada’s entire electricity system.”

Despite years of announcements, oil and gas companies have not meaningfully invested in decarbonization absent policy requiring them to do so – despite millions of taxpayer dollars on the table for carbon-capture projects, McKenzie says. “We clearly need an efficient and effective industrial regulatory regime, despite calls from industry to deregulate.”

In fast-tracking select industrial projects – as the federal government intends, and as British Columbia is doing with 18 energy and mining projects – there’s an opportunity to improve our regulatory effectiveness, McKenzie says.

“But red-tape reduction for its own sake would lead to new fossil fuel infrastructure built with lax environmental standards and inadequate constraints on pollution, and at high risk of becoming stranded assets in a declining global marketplace.” Pembina Institute

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Federal government subsides for private businesses have skyrocketed during the past decade and are no longer tenable

Federal government subsidies, incentives and supports for private businesses – including foreign companies – have exploded in magnitude during the past decade, according to an article in The Walrus.

Former Department of Finance official John Lester, in a 2018 paper, totalled federal and provincial subsidies as they existed in 2014/15, says author Laurent Carbonneau, director of policy and research at the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI).

[Editor’s note: Carbonneau’s article is presented as his perspective as a policy professional working on innovation, science and technology issues, not as representing the views of the CCI].

Lester defined business subsidies as all support to business with an economic outcome in mind, excluding supports that have social welfare, promotion of culture, or other goals as their primary objective.

Totalling up program spending, implicit subsidies through Crown corporations, and tax credits and deductions, Lester found that in 2014/15 – the last full year of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government – the federal government doled out $14 billion in subsidies to businesses, Carbonneau says. “That works out to $390 for every person in Canada.”

From 2015 to 2018, the Liberals added $3.3 billion to federal business subsidies. They more than matched that over the course of the next year, with $3.6 billion more in new money.

In 2019/20, subsidies grew again by $2.5 billion, followed by another increase of $2.5 billion in 2020/21 and another of $1.8 billion in 2021/22. More recent estimates are even higher.

“The long story short is that in nine years, over the lifetime of the [Justin] Trudeau government, federal subsidies to business more than doubled through the introduction of over 100 new programs.”

“Every Canadian went from paying just over $310 to businesses large and small to over $800 per year in 2023/24.”

This does not include two important families of subsidies: measures intended to reduce businesses’ carbon emissions or those that were intended to support businesses through the pandemic, Carbonneau notes.

Adding numbers from climate-related business policies to the annual tally “makes them bulge noticeably,” up to $40 billion in 2023/24, or $1,007 for each Canadian.

And as more announced measures of all kinds come online, subsidies will reach $50 billion every year by 2027/28, he says. “Assuming no more get announced between now and then is, of course, a fairly unlikely scenario.”

The COVID-19 support programs take the business subsidy/support numbers right off the charts, Carbonneau says.

 The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy alone doled out $100 billion from March 2020 to October 2021, or $20 billion more than the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

The other flagship business support through the pandemic, the Canada Emergency Business Account, approved $49 billion in interest-free loans, of which about 75 percent was paid back as of the final deadline in January 2024.

“Of course, it’s hard to begrudge the pandemic measures,” Carbonneau acknowledges. “The circumstances were unprecedented, these programs were one-offs, and avoiding a massive wave of bankruptcies and layoffs has so far kept Canada out of a bruising post-pandemic depression.”

Despite all the government support for businesses, Canada’s productivity, or the amount of output for every hour worked, has actually declined since 2018.

“Worse, while we’ve been shovelling money at corporations, our social services have declined,” he says.

There are 2 million more Canadians living without a family doctor than there were in 2019. Housing has become wildly unaffordable, with the Bank of Canada’s Housing Affordability Index reaching heights unseen since the excruciating double-digit interest rates of the early 1990s.

Also, “that marquee Liberal social program, universal access to subsidized child care spaces, is hitting bumps with staff shortages and long-term funding gaps that leave its future in doubt.”

Italy is rightly regarded as a governance basket case, wracked by instability and sclerotic institutions, Carbonneau says. Yet, to take one indicator often seen as an important sign of economic dynamism, Italy recently passed Canada in the rankings of business investment in research and development.

“The question is obvious. How has Canada spent so much public money to achieve so little for so long?”

Canada’s reality is that as a small, open economy in a global capitalist system that prizes relatively free flows of investment across national borders, governments have to be smart in ensuring that capital flows end up benefiting the country, by raising productivity and building up wealth to allow for a generous and democratic social state, Carbonneau says.

The long-run result of stagnation is to be a source of cheap labour and learning to live with the highly unequal political economy that comes with that, he says.

“The corporate welfare state – that policy apparatus of business subsidies Ottawa has built since Confederation – has not delivered on its stated objectives of promoting economic growth and social welfare,” he says.

“Nevertheless, it keeps growing, and, in fact, Canada recently passed an important threshold. Since 2019/20, Canadians have been giving away more than 50 cents of every dollar collected in corporate income taxes right back to businesses.”

Canadians are facing serious crises in critical public services like health care and child care and social goods like housing, Carbonneau notes.
“Does it really make sense for us to give Canadian businesses back more than half of what they pay in taxes when so many people can’t find a family doctor or afford a home?”

At the end of the day, any progressive government should see steady improvement in the quality of life of working people as its lodestar of legitimacy and political strength, he says.

“Redistribution is part of that, but so is organizing for growth. Leaving Canada’s coddled corporate class to steer our economy in partnership with a government unable to resist giving it virtually everything it wants is no longer tenable.”

To paraphrase David Lewis, Carbonneau concludes, the question is no longer whether we shall pursue industrial strategy or not. The question is whether we shall have it for monopoly by monopoly or build a state capable of planning by the people for the people.

“A richer country and a more capable state able to take on the big challenges of our time are possible.” The Walrus

Excerpted from At the Trough: The Rise and Rise of Canada’s Corporate Welfare Bums, by Laurent Carbonneau.

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EU countries and European Commission are lagging in experimenting with and adopting new approaches to research funding

EU countries and the European Commission aren’t experimenting enough with new ways to fund research, according to a member of the expert group advising the Commission on how to design the next Framework Programme.

“EU countries are lagging behind somewhat in adopting or understanding or applying novel approaches to science funding,” said Sylvia Schwaag Serger, president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science, at a conference in London on the study of science, known as metascience. 

The conference attracted close to 1,000 delegates from 62 countries to discuss various ways of reforming research, from experimenting with lotteries to distribute funding, to entirely new types of research organization.

Serger, part of the team assembled by former Portuguese science minister Manuel Heitor to advise the Commission, told delegates that EU interest in these kinds of ideas was relatively weak. 

As part of the Heitor report, Serger and her colleagues drew up a list of the most interesting funding experiments worldwide. But “almost none of them” involved national EU funding agencies or the Commission, she told the conference. 

To be sure, there is some EU interest in the metascience agenda, with delegates from Germany and the Netherlands particularly well represented at the conference, according to figures from the organizers. 

Germany’s private Volkswagen Foundation, for example, has also taken the lead in experimenting with funding lotteries and distributed peer review, where grant applicants review each other’s proposals, and presented its findings to the conference. 

The conference also heard from Maria Leptin, president of the European Research Council, which alongside the European Innovation Council can be counted as EU attempts to fund research and innovation differently.

Serger thinks weaker EU interest in metascience might be due to the greater preponderance of state research funding, which makes it harder to experiment with new methods of funding. 

EU governments put lots of effort into identifying “lofty goals” for research and innovation and then “just throwing money at it,” but were strangely “non-curious” about how research was actually funded and incentivized, Serger said.

To spur more EU experimentation with research funding, the Heitor report told the Commission to “immediately” establish a new “experiment unit” to try “new programmes, evaluation procedures and instruments.” 

So far, the Commission hasn’t done so, although its proposal for FP10, due out later this month, will confirm whether such a unit might be a part of the next Framework Programme. 

At the conference, the U.K. marked one year of its own Metascience Unit, which has so far funded 23 projects, looking at everything from the effectiveness of scientific prizes to whether academics are making their data openly available. It’s this kind of unit Serger would like to see the Commission establish. 

“It's the first unit in the world set up inside government to scrutinize, prod, experiment [and] challenge our own research and development efforts,” Patrick Vallance, the U.K.’s science minister, told the conference. David Matthews in Science|Business

See also: Canada’s research and innovation ecosystem needs to embrace failure and experiment with new ways of funding

THE GRAPEVINE

Pierre Bilodeau stepped down as vice-president, standardization services, at the Standards Council of Canada after joining the organization four years ago. Bilodeau said that after a “well-deserved summer break,” he’ll be embarking on a new journey that he will share more about soon. Along with the Standards Council of Canada, Bilodeau has held various prominent roles in organizations such as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and more. Pierre Bilodeau’s LinkedIn Post

The Canada CIFAR AI Chairs program welcomed new and returning chairs to the program. Joining the CIFAR community through the Vector Institute are:

• Kelsey Allen, University of British Columbia.
• Evan Shelhamer, University of British Columbia.

Renewed through the Vector Institute are: 

• Sheila McIlraith, University of Toronto. 
• Nicolas Papernot, University of Toronto.
• Gennady Pekhimenko, University of Toronto.
• Yaoliang Yu, University of Waterloo. CIFAR

Calgary-headquartered Oncolytics Biotech Inc., a clinical-stage company specializing in immunology for oncology, announced the appointment of Andrew Aromando as chief business officer. Aromando most recently served as chief operating officer at Ambrx Biopharma, where his contributions were instrumental in the $2-billion acquisition of the San Diego-based biotech by Johnson & Johnson. In his role at Oncolytics, Aromando will be responsible for leading global business development. He will also be directly involved with developing corporate, clinical and regulatory strategies. Among his key priorities will be optimizing the value of the company's expansive suite of promising clinical data for pelareorep (a non-pathogenic, naturally occurring virus being investigated as a cancer immunotherapy) in multiple tumour types, including pancreatic, breast and anal cancers. Oncolytics Biotech

Waterloo, Ont.-based Axonify, a frontline enablement and operations platform, announced the appointment of Melissa Burghardt as CEO. Axonify said Burghardt brings an exceptional track record of scaling innovation at the intersection of technology and the frontline. From building digital advertising platforms to growing a $1-billion software-as-a-service business for small businesses to evolving the operating model of a major fast-casual restaurant brand, she has substantial experience navigating complexity and driving results at companies like Sweetgreen, YP and Yahoo. Axonify

Phil De Luna said in a LinkedIn post that he was moving on from Montreal-based direct air capture company Deep Sky, cofounded by Hopper CEO Frederic Lalonde. De Luna, who joined Deep Sky in 2023, served as its chief commercial officer. De Luna said in his post that he has “outgrown my current role, and it’s time to stretch again – to build something new I own, from the ground up.” De Luna is the second executive to depart the company since May, when CEO Damien Steel said he was stepping down for personal reasons. Phil De Luna’s LinkedIn post

Ilya Sutskever said in an X post that he has become CEO of Safe Superintelligence while Daniel Levy is president. Sutskever succeeds Daniel Gross, who left the company as of June 29. The three men launched the startup a little over a year ago, after Sutskever and Levy quit OpenAI. Gross, a tech investor, is reportedly set to join the team that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is assembling to pursue artificial general intelligence. Ilya Sutskever’s X post

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada released its updated list of eligible fields of study for post-graduation work permits (PGWPs). The list has been updated to reflect the Government of Canada’s 2025 Express Entry priorities: 119 new fields of study have been added while 178 have been removed. The added fields are largely those in key sectors like education, health care, social services and the skilled trades. Students who applied for a study permit before June 25, 2025, will still be eligible for a PGWP if their field of study was on the list when they applied for their study permit even if it has since been removed, IRCC said. IRCC

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) updated its proof of financial support requirement for study permit applications, with the change taking effect for students who apply on or after September 1, 2025. CIC News reported that the minimum funds required for a family of one will be increased from $20.6K to $22.9K. Also, as part of its broader efforts to support those affected by wildfires, Canada has announced that international students will be able to replace their status documents, apply to restore or extend their status in Canada, or renew their study permit free of charge. IRCC

The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) submitted a response to the Government of Ontario’s proposed Bill 33, warning the proposed legislation could undermine university autonomy and fail to address urgent financial and enrolment challenges. COU projects over 80,000 new student spaces will be needed by 2030 and says the bill does not provide the funding required to meet this demand. Additionally, COU raised concerns about changes to ancillary fees and admissions policies. In response, the Star reported that Nolan Quinn, minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security, emphasized the bill’s focus on student success, transparency and research protection, and assured that no regulations will be finalized without consultation. Quinn noted the province has invested over $2 billion in postsecondary education in the past 14 months. COU

The Ontario Universities and Colleges Coalition (OUCC) released a statement expressing deep concern about the Government of Ontario’s Bill 33. OUCC says that the bill “represents an existential threat to the autonomy of our world-class publicly-funded higher education system.” The authors expressed disappointment with Ontario’s reliance on ministerial directives, which they say is not subject to the same scrutiny as other legal instruments. They also highlighted how the “ongoing attacks on equity-based initiatives and the focus on rigid and restrictive admissions policies” will impact student services and destabilize postsecondary communities. The authors conclude by calling for Ontario to “recognize the value of our postsecondary education sector . . . rather than continuing to undermine it.” Globe Newswire

The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) published the findings of its study on the impacts of the Government of Ontario’s part-time funding model on colleges and students – about which concerns have been raised for more than 30 years. Using a mixed-methods approach, HEQCO researchers found that the part-time funding model has had several negative consequences for colleges and learners. These include disincentivizing part-time program development and enrolment, introducing challenges and barriers for students, and creating inconsistent supports across the Ontario college system. In their concluding notes, the researchers encourage Ontario to implement an alternate funding model that provides cost-based funding for part-time programming and enrolments to better serve students and institutions alike. HEQCO

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) released a new policy paper calling for urgent reform to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). The paper notes that students seeking OSAP face unclear eligibility rules, inconsistent disbursements and limited access to appeals or financial aid information. The authors say that these issues have persisted since policy changes in 2019 and a $400-million funding reduction in 2020. To address these challenges, OUSA’s recommendations include restoring low-income tuition guarantees, improving loan repayment and transparency, and expanding supports for underrepresented groups. OUSA

Several cégep community members are speaking out about the impact that the Government of Quebec’s $150-million funding cut has had on their institutions. The leaders of Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Cégep de Sherbrooke, and Cégep de Victoriaville spoke to the media about how these cuts have resulted in significant reductions and budget deficits at their institutions. Each institution has reduced its workforce in response, noting that salaries make up most of their expenses. At Cégep de Victoriaville, La Nouvelle Union reports that the cuts have harmed staff morale. Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf student Ikram El Abied wrote a letter to Le Devoir arguing that reducing cégep resources at a time when many students are struggling with food insecurity exacerbates social inequities. Cégep de Sherbrooke, Le Devoir, La Nouvelle Union

A Business in Vancouver (BIV) article examines how Canada’s student cap and long visa processing times are preventing post-secondary institutions in British Columbia from responding to the surge in interest from international applicants. Dilson Rassier, provost and vice-president, academic, at Simon Fraser University, and Zena Mitchell, vice-president of students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, both said they had seen an increase in international applicants due to conditions in the U.S. However, issues such as the increased number of study permit denials, limited provincial attestation letters, and long processing times are barriers to applicants. This challenge is one of several factors creating a difficult financial situation for B.C.’s post-secondary sector, according to BIV, and B.C. institutions are drawing on hiring freezes, budget reductions, and program reviews to balance their budgets. Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs at the University of British Columbia, said changes to international student policies have influenced Canada’s reputation as a welcoming destination for students. Business in Vancouver

Dalhousie University will be using a $2.2-million investment from the Government of Nova Scotia to expand its Doctor of Medicine program. This fall, five additional seats for students from Nova Scotia will be added to the program; another five first-year seats will be added in 2026-27. As a result of this investment, 2025-26 will see 114 seats reserved for students from Nova Scotia, six reserved for students from Prince Edward Island, and nine reserved for students from outside the Maritimes. Govt. of Nova Scotia

A flight school in Gimli, Manitoba that lost its ability to host international students in early 2024 has also had its flight training certification revoked due to safety concerns, CBC reported. LS Airways Flight Academy’s designated learning institution status was revoked by the Government of Manitoba in March 2024 following an unreported change in ownership, while Transport Canada cancelled its certification in November, citing repeated regulatory violations. At least four lawsuits and whistleblower reports – including one from former LS Airways instructor Wayne Liu – allege the school falsified flight logs, instructed students to take unsafe actions like flying with jerry cans of fuel, and exploited international learners. LS Airways’ owner denies all allegations. The allegations have not been tested in court. CBC

Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne in Montreal partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch a Cloud Solutions Specialist program that will train workers to design, deploy and manage cloud solutions. This 12-month Attestation d’études collégiales program is geared towards women, unemployed individuals, Indigenous people and immigrants. The initiative benefits from the collaboration of Services Québec de Montréal and a planned financial contribution from the Government of Quebec totaling nearly $585,000 for the first two cohorts of the program. According to forecasts by MarketsandMarkets, the global cloud services market is expected to exceed US$800 billion by 2025. Also, the AWS Global Digital Skills Report estimated that 6.5 million Canadian workers needed to be trained by 2024 to keep pace with technological advancements and succeed in their careers. Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne

The Université du Québec developed a statement of principles to guide the responsible use of generative AI in training and research. Recently adopted by UQuébec’s Conseil des études, the statement emphasizes transparency, academic integrity, informed use and data security. It also provides a common framework for UQuébec institutions as they integrate generative AI tools – such as ChatGPT, Copilot and others – into academic and research practices. UQuébec noted that the initiative aligns with provincial efforts, including Quebec’s 2024 guidelines for AI use in public administration and postsecondary education. UQuébec

The University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Arts has launched an initiative called “Human Intelligence for Human Futures.” The initiative introduces a suite of online humanities courses for 2026 that emphasize the importance of experiential learning, critical thinking and human agency in an AI-driven world. These courses will explore topics such as ethics and digital culture as students learn how to navigate and challenge algorithmic influence. As part of this effort, uOttawa has also launched a video series called “Futures Foretold,” which features uOttawa students speculating on what their futures could look like. University of Ottawa

Calgary-based MacEwan University’s General Faculties Council approved the establishment of three research groups to foster collaboration on core societal issues. The Black Community Research and Innovation Group will address health and socioeconomic disparities in Black communities, the Indigenous Research Group will support research grounded in Indigenous Knowledge systems and reconciliation goals, and the Research Group for Inclusive Experiential Learning will develop strategies to reduce barriers in experiential learning environments. The groups are designed to bring together diverse expertise and strengthen partnerships across disciplines and communities. MacEwan University

Microsoft released its 2025 AI in Education report exploring how students and educators around the world are using AI. Drawing on a global survey of over 1,800 students, faculty and staff from K-12 and postsecondary settings, the report describes how students are using tools like generative AI to brainstorm, study and get feedback. On the institutional side, administrators reported using AI to streamline operations and support student success. The report includes several recommendations for educational administrators, including involving students in planning and embedding AI literacy and human skills into curricula. Microsoft

Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), the University of Alberta, and Flexible Machines Corporation partnered to advance environmental efficiencies and urban planning. The partners will work together to record and study real-time wind data across RDP’s campus. The findings of the initiative will enable RDP to take advantage of wind energy opportunities on campus, help UAlberta reduce heating, ventilation and air conditioning usage on its main campus, and inform energy efficiency efforts across Alberta. The partnership will reportedly create up to 100 skilled jobs and offer students the opportunity to engage in applied research. The initiative is supported by a combined $730,000 in goods, services, cash funding and grants – including a $230,000 grant from Alberta Innovates. Red Deer Polytechnic

Memorial University officially launched the Fairlead Social Impact Fund, which Memorial describes as Canada’s first university-housed, student-managed social impact fund, and the first social impact fund in Newfoundland and Labrador. This fund will serve two purposes: supporting socially responsible investment in local social enterprises and providing Memorial’s students with a unique learning opportunity. Fairlead is an integral component of the Centre for Social Enterprise’s Impact Investing Fellowship Program, in partnership with Propel Impact, a national non-profit that runs programs focused on impact investing and social innovation. Last summer marked the program’s launch at Memorial, making it the first time Propel offered the program in Atlantic Canada. Memorial University Gazette

Dalhousie University released its 2025–26 operating budget, which projects a $20.6-million deficit and outlines funding cuts and tuition adjustments. CBC reported that departments will face a one-percent budget cut and must absorb compensation increases, amounting to an effective five-percent reduction. David Westwood, president of the Dalhousie Faculty Association, warned of job losses and course cuts, while Maren Mealey, president of the Dalhousie Student Union, raised concerns about student supports. International undergraduates not covered by tuition guarantees will see a 6.7-percent tuition fee increase, with some graduate students facing hikes of up to 7.2 percent. Wanda Costen, provost of Dalhousie University, cited the pressures of declining international enrolment and rising costs as key drivers. Dalhousie University

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Innovative, non-toxic molecules developed by Quebec researchers open the door to new safe and effective antiviral therapies

Innovative, non-toxic molecules developed by a research team at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) could pave the way for new safe and effective antiviral therapies for prevention and treatment purposes.

For example, betulinic acid has long been recognized in medical and scientific communities for its antiviral potential. This molecule, found in various plants, is especially abundant in the bark of white birch trees – a common byproduct of the forestry industry.

However, the use of betulinic acid and some of its derivatives in medicine has been limited by a major drawback: the molecules are poorly soluble in water. This limits their absorption by the body and complicates their use in medicine.

A discovery by INRS professor Charles Gauthier's team, part of the INRS-UQAC Joint Research Unit in Sustainable Health, could significantly unlock the potential of this molecule.

Their findings were recently published in Chemistry Europe, a journal from European Chemical Societies Publishing.

In their research, Gauthier's team studied two natural molecules: betulinic acid and echinocystic acid. Both belong to a family of compounds known as triterpenes and share a similar chemical structure.

The researchers chemically modified these molecules using a novel, controlled method by attaching a specific sugar called Lewis X. This sugar is structurally similar to those that define human blood groups.

The modification resulted in new chimeric compounds known as "saponins."

These saponins had never been described in scientific literature before. They offer several advantages for potential antiviral use: they are significantly more water-soluble than triterpenes, they dissolve well in biological environments, and unlike similar substances that can be toxic, they are safe for human cells and mice.

Most importantly, they effectively block HIV activity. The team observed that saponins prevent the virus from using certain carbohydrate-specific proteins, known as Lewis-binding proteins, found on immune cells called DC-SIGN and L-SIGN, to spread to CD4+ cells, the main targets of HIV. 

"Our results show that these are among the most potent monovalent inhibitors ever identified for blocking this HIV transfer mechanism, even when used at very low concentrations," said Gauthier, a member of the Pasteur Network who specializes in the chemistry of carbohydrates and natural products. INRS

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