Shelley King
GUEST OPINION
The recent Conference Board of Canada’s (CBOC) report card on the state of innovation in Canada probably caused a lot of us to cringe.
Of course, those in the “innovation game” know that Canada has been addressing this challenge for a while now. We have excellent researchers and scientists, but we have struggled to turn those ideas and discoveries into products and technologies that can be used by companies or consumers.
But as the team at Natural Products Canada (NPC) discussed this with its collaborators across the country, we were reminded of the many great signs of progress. Countless companies and products that have made their way from research institutions to the market, buoyed by the expertise and financial support of a range of excellent provincial, regional and federal programs, and most importantly, private investors.
I cite three examples from our own investment portfolio that have happened just in the last 14 months:
Island Water Technologies, a company in Prince Edward Island, has developed the first real-time bio-electrode sensor for direct monitoring of microbial activity in wastewater treatment systems. The technology was developed by the company founder who is a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and industrial engineer.
IWT received strategic insight and support from entities such as Innovacorp before attracting investment from NPC and Island Capital Partners. It’s now engaged with partners around the world who are eager to try the innovative solutions.
FireRein is an Ontario company that has developed a powerful new firefighting compound. It’s made entirely of natural materials so it has no environmental impact on the natural surroundings where a fire occurs and poses no health issues to firefighters.
The technology was developed by a group of Ontario firefighters using the expertise of GreenCentre Canada. They’ve received investment from NPC, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, the Ontario Centres of Excellence, and a network of private investors. The capital allowed them to scale up production and marketing, which led to their recently-announced deal to facilitate entry of their product into the US military.
Mazza Innovation, from British Columbia, has refined the process of extracting the most valuable components of plant material such as blueberries and botanicals. This means companies can meet the growing global demand for natural health products that are free from synthetic chemicals. The technology was developed at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) and shepherded through commercialization by several government programs including the Western Economic Development Fund and AAFC’s Growing Forward 2 before attracting the attention of private investors last summer. They serve major natural health product clients around the world and have developed their own proprietary line of supplements.
None of us can argue with the CBOC report. If we can’t be honest with ourselves about how we’re really doing, we’ll never have the insights we need to improve. We need big thinkers willing to face reality and embrace bold, new ideas to create real change.
But let’s also take note of the companies, individuals and government programs making a difference from coast to coast to coast.
Innovation is happening. Great companies are attracting investment. And excellent ideas are making it out of the labs and into the hands of consumers.
Shelley King is the CEO of Natural Products Canada, part of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence, funded through the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program.
