SUBMITTED BRIEF FROM PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND BIOALLIANCE TO HOUSE OF COMMONS STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE OCTOBER 18, 2016 It is indeed a privilege to present our views on economic prosperity in Atlantic Canada as you carry out your Pre-Consultations for the 2017 Budget. The Prince Edward Island BioAlliance was incorporated as a private sector-led, not-for-profit organization in 2005 to coordinate and accelerate the development of the PEI Bioscience Cluster. Since that time, the BioAlliance has been the catalyst in aligning the efforts of government partners, research and academic organizations, and bioscience business leaders to build a new economic pillar for the Province and the Atlantic Region. This sector has been important to our Province in terms of its growing economic impact, but perhaps equally importantly, in establishing a successful high-technology sector that created a cultural shift in the minds of Atlantic Canadians to a see a new vision of our collective potential. Since the incorporation of the PEI BioAlliance, the bioscience Industry in Prince Edward Island has grown from 16 companies to over 45. Private sector revenue has more than tripled to $200 million in export sales, and employment in the sector has risen from just 450 jobs to over 1,500. About half of our companies in the Cluster are locally grown from early entrepreneurial efforts. 1
Half are from other parts of Canada and other parts of the world. We are home to business units of three multi-nationals, all of whom are here because they invested in local small and medium sized enterprises, and continue to invest. Early on, we recognized, as others did, that where Canada needed to improve was in our ability to help new technologies in academia and start-up stages successfully navigate the path to commercialization success. That has been a core part of our development strategy to become a Canadian leader in technology commercialization- and we ve done this through our collaborative partnership model of establishing a winning environment for early stage businesses. Key partners in our Cluster that support strategy implementation and business growth in a variety of important ways include Holland College, the University of Prince Edward Island, the National Research Council, Agriculture Canada Research, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, and several provincial government agencies. Together, we have led a Human Resource Strategy for the sector that has resulted in the establishment of new training and education programs for our youth, and increased our province s ability to attract and retain newcomers. We have influenced public policy as it relates to seed capital and tax incentives, and have stimulated private sector investment in PEI bio companies to a remarkable level of now over $15 million per year. 2
Key factors in building a successful innovation ecosystem in the bio-sector include: the relevance and accessibility of our science and technology platform, access to qualified human resources, provision of high quality physical infrastructure, and access to capital. To address these and other important enabling conditions, the BioAlliance has developed and implemented several multi-year strategic plans that guide our partners priorities for investment of time and money, and ensures alignment and collaboration among the partners. Our experience has shown that no matter whether from academia and research, government, or private sector, all partners are better able to achieve their mandates because they are part of the BioAlliance and our bioscience cluster. We released the latest strategy for cluster growth just a few weeks ago, on Sept 27. We have provided copies of that Strategy for your review. Let s look particularly at federal public policy initiatives over the past several years and how they have contributed to the success of the PEI Cluster to date. A few notable initiatives that have been major contributors: R&D Investments (People and Facilities) SRED NSERC funding at UPEI and Holland College (including the TAC Program) Strategic Infrastructure Program and Canadian Foundation for Innovation at Holland College and UPEI 3
Seed / Risk Capital for Business: NRC-IRAP and NRC Collaborative Research ACOA Atlantic Innovation Fund, Business Development Program, and International Business Development Program Incubation and Acceleration: Canadian Accelerator and Incubator Program (Emergence Incubator) Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (Natural Products Canada) With our recent successes in two important national competitions - the Canadian Accelerator and Incubator Program (CAIP), and the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR), we have established the Emergence Bioscience Business Incubator and Natural Products Canada here in PEI. These entities are multiplying business development and business attraction opportunities and building our reputation in Canada as an innovation leader that has the experience and infrastructure to help companies take new products through R&D and then scale to international marketing and sales. The Emergence virtual incubator currently provides business strategy, mentorship, and specialist services to over 35 early stage companies, in order to create more investor-ready companies that can attract private capital and scale for success. As our companies expand, we spawn and attract new businesses, attract talent and capital, and create employment. One of the consequences is that we are now exceeding the capacity of our 4
incubation and acceleration infrastructure in the province and in the region. We must, as an urgent priority, establish the strategic infrastructure, including laboratory, manufacturing, and scale up facilities and services, necessary to allow for further growth and development of this bioscience business cluster. A multi-stakeholder Steering Committee has worked for the past couple of years on the conceptual design and business plan for a solution to our space and service needs. The solution is what we call the Centre for Bioscience Commercialization, or simply, the BioAccelerator. It is a 70,000 square foot facility which incorporates technical and business services, accelerator space for early stage businesses, and manufacturing space that allows companies to scale for global markets. It would be located at the BioCommons Research Park here in Charlottetown. The current cost estimate is $38 million. Its construction would allow for the establishment of 30 new companies within the Cluster, and the capacity to transfer those companies to standalone facilities across PEI and across the region as they grow. The BioAccelerator will be part of Canada s national innovation connectivity supporting new product development and commercialization in the biosciences. There is no reason why Canada can t be a leading nation in manufacturing of innovative science based products our competitive advantages are people and infrastructure we have spent significant dollars on research and innovative institutions we now need to commercialize these innovations and reap the economic rewards in this country. 5
Our priority recommendation today is that the federal government ensure that strategic economic development infrastructure, such as the BioAccelerator, is a priority for funding under Phase 2 of the Federal Infrastructure Program. Infrastructure such as the BioAccelerator, when placed in the midst of a successful cluster partnership, can ensure that the federal government achieves a full return on its investment of public funds. It supports Canada s innovation agenda, commercializing technologies for global markets, it attracts talented immigrants, increases foreign direct investment, and mobilizes Canadian capital for investment in Canadian businesses. Our second recommendation is that the federal government invest in successful cluster models across Canada as a means of maximizing the impact of public funds invested in academic research, scientific research organizations, grants and loans to SME s, SRED credits, HR programs, and strategic infrastructure. A coordinated economic strategy developed and executed through a strong regional business-led partnership, can yield positive results. Thank you. 6