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Results: 46 - 60 of 206
View Ziad Aboultaif Profile
CPC (AB)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thanks to the witnesses. We have four companies in front of us. It seems they're mostly net exporters.
I believe that, if you can sell your product domestically, you should be able to sell it internationally, and it takes both the private sector and the government to be able to set the competitive benchmark, as Mr. Subramaniam has mentioned.
I'm interested in knowing what the government can do to help on a scale-up, first of all. On start-ups we could probably do okay, but a scale-up is a different game altogether.
Second, it is common knowledge that to become competitive, on the government side, you need less red tape. You need a better taxation policy. You need better programs in order to be able to upgrade when you need it for your equipment and your ability, so, Mr. Subramaniam, what are we lacking in order to be able to set the competitive benchmark?
Hari Suthan Subramaniam
View Hari Suthan Subramaniam Profile
Hari Suthan Subramaniam
2021-05-10 12:06
First would be a competitive benchmark from government, policy to policy. I know it's ever-evolving, but especially if we look at post-COVID, apart from stimulus, what are each of the countries doing to help their companies in the sector grow? That's one benchmark.
The second benchmark is around financing. I know there's a rebirth of the Canadian Commercial Corporation, which looks at how to get our companies very close to governments that are spending. That should be benchmarked in terms of federal government instruments, whether it be through their own bank, like EDC-BDC, or leveraged companies. How do we benchmark that against other competitors, the export development bank type of competitors?
I'm looking at both of them.
The third thing that is really hard to benchmark, which you're alluding to, is around our own culture of innovation as a nation. We are, if I may say so, a nation of cruise control. We like what we have, so why disturb it when things are going so well? Unfortunately, with the global energy transition, some of us have been in this sector for a couple of decades waiting for what we have seen happen today. I'll be honest. It's actually moving at a much faster pace than I thought, whether it be big companies or small companies, but also with the amount of capital that is being unleashed in terms of energy transition and decarbonization.
Therefore, this is the question for a nation like Canada and members of Parliament like yourselves: If the wave is already here, how do we ensure that we build the right surfboard for our companies and our people and then actually ride that wave all the way through? It's not going to be a blip. We think it's going to be at least the next 25 years.
Competitive benchmarks are one thing. Working together is another thing. What I would say to you as members of Parliament is that Germany has employed this through multiple government transitions. All the parties have always agreed on what the core thing is for economic development and have stuck to it. That would be one of my asks. On the key fundamentals, if it is going to be greenhouse gases and climate change, can we all align to ensure that there's a consistent wave forward so that we can crest this from a company perspective, but also a people perspective?
View Randeep Sarai Profile
Lib. (BC)
Thank you.
Mr. Subramanian, you have said that EDC and BDC have helped foster growth in clean tech, and scaling up is a big challenge.
Can you give us some suggestions? How have EDC and BDC helped, and how can they help further to scale up Canadian businesses in the context of—
Hari Suthan Subramaniam
View Hari Suthan Subramaniam Profile
Hari Suthan Subramaniam
2021-05-10 12:15
Yes, I think it's twofold. One would be that I think there is extra financing available, but ultimately they are a bank. I think, moving forward, what would be a great discourse is the flexibility that BDC and EDC should offer that other traditional commercial banks wouldn't. I think that's one way.
Second is venture capital. They are both still looking at a small start-up style seed funding. I think there is a little bit of hesitation in terms of betting on, let's say, Canadian companies that are x percentage and above, so I think they should be bold. They should bet on our companies that are going to hit $100 million.
View Paul Lefebvre Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Paul Lefebvre Profile
2021-05-07 14:33
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My thanks to all the witnesses for joining us today.
Again we have another really good panel of witnesses, just to show us the ingenuity in Canada, as we are tackling climate change and looking at economic opportunities, which this represents. I really want to thank all of the witnesses who are here today for the work you do.
Actually, I'll ask Bob a question.
How are you?
It's good to see you.
We've heard a lot about food versus fuel, which I find very interesting. At the same time, though, we talk about supply and demand, because that obviously drives the economy. As I say, we're looking at this as an economic opportunity. It's a necessity. At the same time we're looking at how we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
Your members are obviously among some of the largest fuel producers in Canada. How do they see this economic opportunity and their role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the same time?
Bob Larocque
View Bob Larocque Profile
Bob Larocque
2021-05-07 14:34
Thank you very much, Paul.
To put it in perspective, for the clean fuel regulation, that's B10, if you wish, or bio-based 10% and ethanol at 15%, we need billions of litres in Canada by 2030—anywhere from six billion to 10 billion. We will send a brief to the committee about those numbers of litres versus percentage and cost that we talked about. We are taking this very seriously. We're looking at every single option.
Hydrogen is also an option for us. Electrification is another one, with charging stations in our sites. We're also looking at coprocessing, which is actually putting crude right into a refinery. That's something that we haven't talked about yet, but there's a facility in Burnaby, B.C., right now doing this. They want to double it. Tidewater is also talking about that in their investments.
This is significant, and billions of dollars are going to be invested. We already saw $1 billion go into two facilities in the last three months, and we'll see a lot more.
View Paul Lefebvre Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Paul Lefebvre Profile
2021-05-07 14:35
That means that the businesses are seeing a big opportunity to do this.
View Jeremy Patzer Profile
CPC (SK)
With the coal phase-out that's happening because of this government, it's obviously good to see the jobs that you're going to be making here and producing here. What's the opportunity to expand in this and to make this an even larger-scale operation than what you have right now?
Josh Gustafson
View Josh Gustafson Profile
Josh Gustafson
2021-05-07 14:43
We would be foolish not to take into consideration the ability to increase and to move alongside the market as it grows. Obviously it's a little bit more risky since it is just coming in. The CFS hasn't even been fully rolled out yet. We have plans to look at increasing in size to adapt to different feedstocks and to look at production and marketability for everything from Canadian fuel producers and suppliers to a home for it in the U.S. right down to the export market.
We haven't even talked about the spinoff effects for all the other industries that are going to be affected, like the processors, the logistics and shipping industry, and farmers. There are going to be widespread impacts.
Lynne Manuel
View Lynne Manuel Profile
Lynne Manuel
2021-04-29 11:22
Good morning, Madam Chair, ladies and gentlemen.
We are pleased to appear before you on behalf of GreenCentre Canada. We're grateful for the opportunity to provide our perspectives on economic recovery for the clean-tech sector. We've had the pleasure of meeting several committee members. For those unfamiliar with GreenCentre, we're a unique, not-for-profit organization that provides specialized technical and commercial services to companies developing sustainable chemistry-based technologies.
GreenCentre's past clean-tech projects have benefited a range of Canadian industries, from forestry and agriculture to energy, automotive, consumer products and resource recovery.
GreenCentre is here to request the creation of a program directed specifically at the needs of early-stage clean-tech companies. Our experience proves that a single lab-scale validation project valued at $100,000 can unlock public and private investment of $1 million or more to finance the more costly stages of scale-up and demonstration. A program that funds such projects has the potential to maximize short-term impact and accelerate economic recovery with the added benefit of reducing long-term dependency on government grants and subsidies.
Established companies and innovators with proven technologies are eligible for generous support from FedDev, SDTC, SIF and the net zero accelerator. Private sector investors also provide financial support to scale up and commercialize new technologies after and only after they've been substantiated.
We're concerned that government programs overlook early-stage clean-tech companies needing assistance to reach the point where blended financing is possible. These companies are an important part of the pipeline for both federal programs and private investors, but they face significant barriers to accessing the talent and resources needed to help them qualify.
Earlier this year we discussed this gap with 28 MPs, parliamentary secretaries, committee members, ministry staff and a senator, who expressed unanimous support for our concept. We were pleased to see a recommendation supporting GreenCentre's initiative included in the report from the Standing Committee on Finance released in February.
COVID-19 has disproportionately affected early-stage clean-tech companies. Unlike larger businesses, they operate on a narrow margin of survival. They face delays due to facility closures and occupancy limits, being forced to shift cash earmarked for technology development to cover operating expenses. Hiring has been frozen. Personnel have been laid off. Discussions with partners, investors and customers have slowed or stopped altogether and are only now beginning to resume.
Further, many clean-tech companies are led by young entrepreneurs and recent graduates. They are energetic and resilient but they struggle to finance the validation of their technologies even without the challenges of the past year.
Young Canadians must be at the heart of our recovery not only to help them rebound today, but also to ensure their future success.
GreenCentre has an established track record of invigorating Canada's clean-tech ecosystem. Since 2014, we've leveraged government funding to assist over 100 Canadian start-ups and SMEs which have raised over $250 million and created hundreds of jobs. The impact is irrefutable. These companies have industrial partners and investors. Some have domestic and export sales. Others have support from SDTC and are well on their way to commercial operation.
Li-Cycle, a previous GreenCentre program participant, has made the global clean tech 100 list for two years and has commercial operations in Ontario and New York as well as a project planned in Arizona. They are only getting started.
The federal budget proposes to make $1 billion available over five years to attract private sector investment in large-scale clean-tech projects. A mechanism is needed to advance innovative companies to the point where they actually qualify for these programs. GreenCentre has demonstrated the expertise, resources and reach to accomplish this. A GreenCentre program of $50 million over five years would accelerate up to 150 early-stage clean-tech companies to the point where blended financing could work.
The future health of Canada's clean-tech sector depends upon the success of the innovators developing new products today. Accelerating the time to market is critical not only for their survival, but also to ensure Canada's success in meeting ambitious climate goals and becoming a leading global supplier of sustainable products and processes.
To become a clean-tech leader, Canada must do more to bridge the gap between the research and commercialization. Early-stage clean-tech companies now more than ever need access to expertise and resources to aid in their recovery. A program that meets these needs will attract private sector investment and help fuel the growth of Canadian companies, create jobs for highly skilled workers and bring sustainable environmental benefits to the world.
Madam Chair, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention. We look forward to your questions.
View Tony Baldinelli Profile
CPC (ON)
Is there a gap, in a sense, in those small and medium-sized enterprises knowing that your services and others like ERA exist out there to assist? When those small businesses need help, how can they find it?
Lynne Manuel
View Lynne Manuel Profile
Lynne Manuel
2021-04-29 12:21
You're right. That can be a gap. At times we've run several programs. We're quite well networked across Canada because we run some NRC IRAP-sponsored programs, so we get in touch with a lot of different companies. With the IRAP program, it's SMEs that are more at the revenue-generating end of things. We've worked with a lot of start-ups through several programs that we've had in the past few years.
Our most recent program ended in March 2020, just 13 months ago. We canvassed all across Canada very quickly to find seven projects in that year. We completed those projects. Those companies have since gone on to raise $45 million and hire 60 people in Canada.
If we can put the word out that these programs are available, there's very good uptake. Certainly, creating more of a national ecosystem and network with regional offices set up to really look in the various regions to find the best opportunities would be even better.
View Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thanks, Chair.
I want to start with Lynne.
You have spoken about the gap in existing federal supports as it relates to early stage start-ups and the necessary research and development that needs to happen for those companies to succeed. There was a lot of money in the budget for a SIF renewal, and specifically a net zero accelerator, and there seems to be a continued and increased focus on clean tech going forward and on growing clean tech in Canada.
Walk me through how those proposed supports continue to miss early stage start-ups.
Lynne Manuel
View Lynne Manuel Profile
Lynne Manuel
2021-04-29 12:52
Thank you for the question.
The issue is that those programs require industrial participation up front in terms of dollars. They require private investment before the programs can even begin.
The issue with this is there's so much technology that is created.... We have a great research community in Canada, we really do, but in order to get to the stage where investors are willing to put out money—industry, private investment or even the federal government programs—companies are required to prove that they have something, that they have something investable.
It's a kind of catch-22. In order to get money, they have to show that they're investable, but they can't show they're investable because they don't have money to prove it. It's a really difficult situation.
What that tends to do is really elongate the time frame it takes for these new technologies to get to market, because they struggle to raise the money to get there, and some of them don't make it. Some of them leave and go to another jurisdiction. They go to a different country or—
Results: 46 - 60 of 206 | Page: 4 of 14

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