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Results: 1 - 15 of 36
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—
View Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Profile
Lib. (ON)
Should we be looking to say, then, in our recommendations, that some fraction of the proposed SIF funding and the renewal of SIF should be devoted to early stage start-ups?
Lynne Manuel
View Lynne Manuel Profile
Lynne Manuel
2021-04-29 12:54
I've been talking about this for quite a while now, and I think that's really a necessary part of what the government needs to be supporting, and I will say that there's so much leverage on those dollars. We're talking about doing lab-scale work where people can take that data forward and convince other investors that they have a working technology.
Working at that scale is very economical for everyone concerned. We don't want people to reach that investable stage before they've done their homework, because it costs so much more to do the work at that point. I think it's really a good deal for everyone.
View Earl Dreeshen Profile
CPC (AB)
Thank you so very much.
But then, there are decisions that are made by government: let's stop moving our energy to the east; let's not allow northern gateway to proceed; let's put other barriers in place. In Bill C-69, there are additional regulations that, as far as they are concerned, seem to be barriers to the general industry, but they're barriers to your people as well.
Mr. Ross, you mentioned that there are concerns involving Chevron. They have thrown up their hands in despair and essentially walked away from this large job and wealth-creating projects, rather than take what we need to sell to the world to help where greenhouse gases are concerned and to sell our technology.
Can you explain how much the regulatory processes we put in place are damaging that opportunity?
You mentioned before, in talking about the U.S., how our stopping what we do is going to help supplement their markets. Yes, we know who it is that benefits from all of the eco-activists who stop investment in Canada.
Could you quickly comment on that?
Ellis Ross
View Ellis Ross Profile
Ellis Ross
2021-04-15 12:51
Yes, that's all out there.
By the way, I was never a fan of self-governance for first nations. I was a fan of basically being involved in the economy. My band is not suffering under the Indian Act anymore. Back in 2003, we were. We have enough resources now, within the current system, that we're making our own decisions and developing our own program, without self-governance. We're actually buying private land.
In term of how we're actually—
View Bernard Généreux Profile
CPC (QC)
It's music to my ears.
Mr. Kotak, you talked a lot about the new technologies and big data. For small businesses, it's really costly to have those tools. What do you suggest we should do to improve the new economy for young businesses and even start-up businesses?
Ritesh Kotak
View Ritesh Kotak Profile
Ritesh Kotak
2021-04-15 13:18
Absolutely. Thank you for your question.
First of all, connectivity is going to be absolutely essential. If you're not connected and if you don't have access to high-speed Internet, there's not much you can do to participate in the new digital economy or the hybrid economy, for that matter.
The second thing that would really be beneficial when you speak about data or big data in general is that it doesn't need to be super expensive. With technology now—with software as a service—there are a lot of ways that technology can become accessible to the masses. For example, if we ensure that platforms, if they want to operate in Canada, must have at the very minimum the ability to conduct transactions in English and French and must have accessibility plug-ins as a built-in feature, which is not necessarily the current case.... You might have small or local businesses that want to operate, but are unable to communicate with the demographic, whether it be through a lack of tools or a lack of a user experience.
It doesn't need to be expensive. A lot of these tools are becoming a lot cheaper. They're becoming a lot simpler to use. I think the pandemic has accelerated innovation in the software space. We could actually leverage that to create a much more competitive environment.
View Sébastien Lemire Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you.
Aside from the ways of improving the industrial and technological benefits policy, are there other government policies, acts or regulations, not counting those dealing with military procurement, that are obstacles to your development and success?
Stéphane Oehrli
View Stéphane Oehrli Profile
Stéphane Oehrli
2021-03-23 12:19
In Canada, the tendering process is covered by a number of acts and regulations. The industrial benefits policy is important, but there is a direct link with exports as well. In the current policy, exports are prioritized. You are awarded points when you can demonstrate your skills internationally. The regulations must follow. So, on the one hand, exports are encouraged, and on the other, issuing export permits is slowing down. So there is certainly an imbalance.
In our view, as my colleague said earlier, this is not a matter of questioning the basis for export permits. Of course, we subscribe to that practice. However, we have seen the delays increasing four- and five-fold. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, working in a climate like that would have made us lose our customers and our competitiveness. That interrelationship is important for us.
Kimberley Van Vliet
View Kimberley Van Vliet Profile
Kimberley Van Vliet
2021-03-09 11:24
Madam Chair, thank you very much.
Honourable members of the standing committee, thank you for letting me present today.
My name is Kimberley Van Vliet. I am the director of aviation, aerospace and logistics for Invest Alberta. I am also the founder and CEO of WaVv and ConvergX, a strategic consulting company and a global congress that focus on technology transfers across multiple industries, including the aerospace industry.
Today, I am honoured to present to you as the director of aerospace for the Alberta Aviation Council, a catalyst for industry growth and the voice of aviation interests in Alberta. You have heard that the aerospace sector is an umbrella industry. It's an engine that powers economic growth and investment we desperately need for middle-class jobs in communities across Canada to build back better.
We have a unique opportunity. There lies before us a nation-building opportunity on an order of magnitude of the Trans-Canada Highway. The opportunity is the creation of the Canadian centre of excellence for aerospace and aviation research and training, CCEAART, which will attract foreign direct investment to link sustainable and responsible northern development; accelerate Canada’s Arctic sovereignty; and grow Canada’s middle class through advanced manufacturing jobs and training for indigenous peoples, youth and women. This opportunity will also provide job transition and export development opportunities to Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
We have the perfect storm. As Arctic tanker traffic increases and global forces transcend upon the Arctic with repeated nation-state incursions into Canadian waters and airspace, the challenges facing Canada’s Arctic sovereignty are increasing exponentially.
We are also facing post-pandemic economic recovery challenges, with job and business losses never experienced before. Some of our hardest-hit communities are women. RBC reported that women who have lost their jobs during the pandemic will experience increased joblessness for longer than their male counterparts, and this is amplified in indigenous communities.
The economic impacts of COVID and the mounting pressures to tackle climate change are putting tremendous pressures on our industries and added pressure on Canada’s aviation and aerospace industry. Yet, in adversity, there is always opportunity to develop future workforces, put Canadians back to work and develop industries with jobs of tomorrow. There are countless technologies awaiting development that have yet to be imagined, markets waiting to be explored, and Canadians who are ready to build back better.
We have the vision. The CCEAART is a set of shovel-ready, finance-ready projects in Alberta. The Alberta Aviation Council is a supporter of this initiative, which was created by many devoted people, communities and organizations.
The main campus of this centre would be an innovation hub in the Edmonton area, where companies converge to develop new aviation, aerospace and defence technologies with a focus on space and unmanned systems. The centre, a supercluster of development, would accelerate new unmanned system platforms, materials science, propulsion systems, fuels research and ground systems. Canada and Alberta, with our highly skilled and technical workforce, could lead global use of nanotechnologies, AI, and advanced computing in aerospace.
This centre would also be a nexus of aerospace and aviation education for under-represented groups and provide access to Alberta’s world-leading engineering and business talent at a critical time for an area of the country that has been hardest hit by sectoral downturns and a global health pandemic.
Augmenting the campus, the centre would also manage an air corridor—the largest on earth—for research and testing of unmanned systems with continuous beyond visual line of sight operations, from southern Alberta all the way to the Arctic.
The centre’s programs would help to fund and accelerate Alberta’s Arctic gateway infrastructure, and would leverage Alberta’s research institutions that specialize in space systems, ethical fuels, hydrogen fuels, computing science and advanced materials—materials that are critical to the global, low-carbon energy transformation.
Alberta, with its unique position, is home to the Alaska Highway, a critical jumping-off point to the United States, and to its waterways to Hudson Bay. With Edmonton being one of the world’s most northern metropolises, it has the population and infrastructure needed to support northern development.
The centre would also support Canada’s Arctic sovereignty programs, by linking Alberta’s four military bases and the centre’s massive flight corridor, to accelerate development and testing of unmanned Arctic surveillance platforms. All this means jobs for Canadians and technologies that can be exported around the world.
We have policy asks. Alberta can't do it alone. Alberta has made aviation and aerospace a strategic pillar, backed by new initiatives like the new Invest Alberta Corporation, and the newly created Strategic Aviation Advisory Council, which are intended to aid an initiative like this.
An initiative like this requires collaboration from every level of government, including Ottawa. Federally, there are policies that may inhibit the types of FDI needed to develop the centre of excellence.
The SR and ED program eliminated capital expenditures. This has adversely affected advanced manufacturing industries like the automotive and aerospace industries. An aerospace company exporting its products around the world needs capital expenditures. We would like to see these expenditures reinstated.
The industrial and technological benefits policy could be improved to better incentivize foreign direct investments into small Canadian companies.
An aerospace industry, focused, indigenous benefits program is critical.
We need policies but also funding. We need federal leadership. We need you.
In conclusion, the Alberta Aviation Council is proud to present this Canadian nation-building opportunity, the Canadian centre of excellence for aerospace and aviation research and training.
This centre would leverage Alberta's unique assets. The benefits would reach well into the north, helping to advance reconciliation by developing our northern economies and communities responsibly and collaboratively with indigenous communities. Investments today ensure Canadian leadership tomorrow will benefit across our borders and beyond, providing a sustainable and secure future across Canada.
Thank you very much.
Mike Greenley
View Mike Greenley Profile
Mike Greenley
2021-03-09 11:38
Thank you for the opportunity to make a presentation to the committee today. As opposed to an association, I'm now speaking as a corporation, on behalf of MDA.
MDA is a homegrown story of innovation and entrepreneurship. In 1969 University of British Columbia professor Dr. John MacDonald and his physics grad Vern Dettwiler founded MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates. Their goal was simple—to create an advanced technology company where talented engineering graduates could find employment in British Columbia. That humble start was the catalyst for B.C.'s technology industry, which today employs more than 100,000 people in the province.
Today MDA serves the world from our Canadian home and global offices as an international space mission partner and robotics, satellite systems and geo-intelligence pioneer with a 52-year story of firsts on and above the earth. With more than 2,000 employees across Canada, located in multiple provinces, MDA is leading the charge toward viable moon colonies, enhanced earth observation and communication in a hyper-connected world.
MDA's success is a direct result of Canada's early recognition, dating back to the dawn of the space era some 60 years ago, that it needed to harness space to achieve its national needs for telecommunications services and remote sensing of our large land mass and long coastlines. Today Canada's comparative advantage in this sector involves our country's robust space ecosystem, where the industrial and academic community collaborate to develop, build and operate complex space systems, all from within our domestic borders. Beyond manufacturing, the importance of space to Canada's national security, economic prosperity and place in the world cannot be understated. Space also has the ability to inspire the next generation to pursue science, technology, engineering and math studies in their education.
MDA plays an important role as a prime contractor for Canadian government flagship space programs and an anchor company in Canada's space innovation ecosystem, creating, developing and building solutions in Canada, exporting these solutions globally, and reinvesting in future Canadian innovation and intellectual property. Many of MDA's, and Canada's, space technologies are world-renowned. Our Canadarm robotics technology has branded Canada on the world stage, and serves as a source of inspiration and pride for Canadians. Our RADARSAT earth observation satellite technology is a leading source of knowledge about our planet.
MDA is pursuing a number of exciting commercial initiatives, such as our plan to build a commercial earth observation satellite mission as our follow-on to RADARSAT-2, as well as advanced technology work on Telesat's recently announced low-earth orbit satellite broadband network, Telesat Lightspeed. We are also planning to leverage our work on Canadarm3, the Canadian Space Agency's third-generation robotic system for NASA's moon-orbiting space station, into commercial opportunities in the on-orbit satellite servicing and space tourism sectors.
In April 2020 a group of enthusiastic Canadian investors, led by Northern Private Capital, repatriated MDA as a stand-alone, Canadian-headquartered private company. Together we are charting a path for growth as a pure space-play company focusing on the burgeoning space economy. Countries around the world are moving swiftly and decisively to participate in the new space economy, because while space may not be a final frontier, it is the next one. The global space market is worth over $420 billion today and is projected to surpass $1 trillion in the next decade. In 2020, in spite of the pandemic, this sector experienced record investment.
Canada is well positioned to lead in the future if we keep our hand in. Canada and the entire space community are planning to be part of this trillion-dollar economy in a big way. In order to do this, however, we need to have the Government of Canada as a partner. In this global sector, the government's role is paramount—as an investor, owner, regulator and anchor customer.
In terms of the post-pandemic economic recovery, the government should turn this epic challenge into an opportunity to build back better, building on strengths, charting a path to a future that focuses on areas of strength and claims them for this country. Space is one such area. Every dollar invested in space by the Canadian government has a strong multiplier effect, producing roughly twice the impact. Investments in space have an immediate effect. They are rocket fuel for Canada's economic recovery. This sector is poised to play a significant role over the long term as Canada positions itself for future prosperity and a continued high quality of life.
For the continued success of Canada's space sector and to position Canadian companies for the rapidly expanding global space economy, we need three things.
First, we need the Government of Canada to serve as an anchor customer to innovative space companies.
Second, we need continued investment in technology development and demonstration. There are a number of opportunities for Canada to do this for projects that could be active right now.
Third, we need a long-term space plan that outlines the government's planned investments in space as well as a modern regulatory framework. In these times of economic uncertainty, the space sector is a light on the horizon. With investments in space paying strong dividends now and over the long term, the sector is ready to play its part to help our country build back better.
Thank you.
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