Recent updates from the Council of Canadian Innovators
Our recent statements, news releases and opinion pieces are now located on our official Medium page.
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Jim Balsillie
Chair of Council of Canadian Innovators
Jim Balsillie’s career is unique in Canadian business. He is a former Chairman and co-CEO of Research In Motion (BlackBerry), a Canadian technology company he scaled from an idea to $20 billion in sales globally.
He is the co-founder of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the CIO Strategy Council. He currently chairs the boards of CCI and CIGI and is a co-Chair of CIOSC. He is also the founder of the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Arctic Research Foundation and the Centre for Digital Rights. He is a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Stockholm Resilience Centre and an Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy.
Mr. Balsillie was the only Canadian ever appointed to US Business Council and the sole private sector representative on the UN Secretary General’s High Panel for Sustainability. He is the only Canadian member of the US Council on Competitiveness and an internationally renowned voice on innovation strategy, competitiveness and international economic policy. He testified to the US Senate on America Innovates Act, a landmark legislation for management of intellectual property.
Mr. Balsillie holds degrees in a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Toronto, an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a fellow with Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.
His awards include: Mobile World Congress Lifetime Achievement Award, India’s Priyadarshni Academy Global Award, GSMA Lifetime Achievement Award, Canadian Business Hall of Fame, Time Magazine’s World’s 100 Most Influential People and three times Barron’s list of "World’s Top CEOs.”Jim Balsillie
Président du Conseil canadien des innovateurs
Jim Balsillie (baccalauréat en commerce, Toronto; FCA Toronto; MBA Harvard) est l’ancien président et co-PDG de Research In Motion (BlackBerry), une entreprise canadienne qui a commencé par une idée pour devenir une société mondiale dont les revenus se chiffrent à 20 milliards de dollars.
Il est le cofondateur de l’organisation Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) située dans la ville de New York et du CCI, qui se trouve à Toronto. Il est le président actuel du conseil d’administration de la société Technologies du développement durable Canada. Il est également le fondateur de l’organisation Centre for International Governance Innovation, de la Balsillie School of International Affairs et de l’Arctic Research Foundation.
M. Balsillie est le seul canadien à avoir été recruté par le conseil commercial américain et le seul représentant du secteur privé à être membre du Groupe de haut niveau sur la viabilité mondiale du Secrétaire général de l’ONU. Il est le seul membre canadien du conseil américain sur la compétitivité et il est reconnu à l’échelle mondiale pour son expertise en matière de stratégie favorisant l’innovation, de concurrence et de politique économique internationale. Il s’est vu attribuer de nombreux honneurs, dont les suivants : plusieurs doctorats honorifiques au Canada, le prix soulignant l'ensemble de son œuvre du Mobile World Congress et la reconnaissance internationale de la Priyadarshni Academy en Inde. De plus, son nom a figuré sur la liste des 100 personnes ayant le plus d’influence au monde du Time Magazine et trois fois sur la liste des meilleurs PDG du monde de Barron.
John Ruffolo
Vice-Chair of Council of Canadian Innovators
John is the Founder and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity, a private equity firm focused on technology-enabled growth and disruption investment strategies. As a firm run by entrepreneurs, funded by entrepreneurs, and for entrepreneurs, Maverix is investing out of its inaugural fund in the areas of health and wellness, financial services, transportation and logistics, live, work, play and learn, and retail. John chairs the Investment Committee, guides the strategy of the firm, and is deeply involved with sourcing and leading investment opportunities, particularly within the technology industry.
John is also the Founder of OMERS Ventures and Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators. Over the course of his leadership as the CEO of OMERS Ventures, they invested over USD$500 million in over 40 disruptive technology companies across North America, including growth investments in Shopify, Xanadu, Wattpad, Wave, Hootsuite, Rover, Desire 2 Learn, Hopper, DuckDuckGo, TouchBistro and League. During his tenure at OMERS, John also formed OMERS Platform Investments, and as its Executive Managing Director, he led investments in Purpose Financial, PointNorth Capital, District Ventures, OneEleven and ArcTern Ventures. John co-founded the Council of Canadian Innovators with Jim Balsillie, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping high-growth Canadian technology firms scale globally.
Before joining OMERS, in addition to being a Partner at Deloitte, John was their Global Thought Leader, Global Tax Leader, and Canadian Industry Leader for their Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) practice, and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to Deloitte, John was a Partner at Arthur Andersen LLP.
As an active board member in the profit and not-for-profit sectors, John works with many leading innovative organizations including AI Partnerships Corp., engineering.com, Ether Capital, OneEleven, ArcTern Ventures, RIV Capital, the David Suzuki Foundation, the CIBC Foundation, the Royal Ontario Museum, Caldwell’s Top 40 Under 40, the Investigative Journalism Foundation, the SSB Dean’s Global Council (DGC) and most recently he joined the board of Viral Nation, Maverix Private Equity’s first investment
Throughout his career, John continues to be recognized for his unparalleled contributions to the growth of the technology sector and expansive vision of Canada’s economy. For instance, in 2014, John was recognized as Canada’s #1 of 100 Most Powerful Business People by Canadian Business Magazine (#3 in 2015) and was selected as one of Toronto’s 50 Most Influential People by Toronto Life (#16 in 2015, #40 in 2016, #26 in 2017). In 2018, John was honoured with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, making him a fifth Class Knight. In 2020, John became a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (FCPA).
John Ruffolo
Vice-président du Conseil canadien des innovateurs
John est le fondateur et associé directeur de Maverix Private Equity, une société de capital-investissement axée sur la croissance et les stratégies d'investissement disruptives axées sur la technologie. En tant qu'entreprise dirigée par des entrepreneurs, financée par des entrepreneurs et pour des entrepreneurs, Maverix investit à partir de son fonds inaugural dans les domaines de la santé et du bien-être, des services financiers, du transport et de la logistique, de la vie, du travail, du jeu et de l'apprentissage, et de la vente au détail. John préside le comité d'investissement, guide la stratégie de l'entreprise et est profondément impliqué dans la recherche et la direction d'opportunités d'investissement, en particulier dans l'industrie technologique.
Recent News
Alberta software engineers need freedom to innovate
Read our open letter to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, released October 14, 2022.
CCI's 2022 Talent and Skills Report
Over the past two years, it has gotten more challenging to find, hire, and retain the skilled workers Canada’s fastest-growing companies need in order to scale-up globally. This situation is not unique to Canadian technology companies, or Canada in general, but the way Canadian governments respond to the talent crisis must be unique, innovative, and united if we are to see Canadian firms succeed in the global war for talent.
CCI launches iGP, Canada's executive training program for 21st century corporate governance
The Innovation Governance Program (iGP) equips executive leaders with the skills and resources they require to help Canada’s fastest-growing companies scale-up globally.
An open letter to the Prime Minister from Canada’s business leaders
Preparing Canada for the 21st century economy is a nation-building project, and we need a government to champion the cause. Read our letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed by 133 leaders at Canadian businesses.
CCI's Plan for Economic Recovery & Reorientation
Every national transformation requires fearless effort by those in power. This moment calls for bold policymaking with a sense of mission and a generational effort to make the country resilient and prosperous for the decades to come. Canada must be ready to adopt new thinking on innovation and not get stuck looking to the past for solutions for the future.
Forget Recovery—It’s Time for an Economic Reorientation in Canada
Meaningful recovery should not just aim at recouping the economic losses but also positioning Canada for success in the global economy that awaits us on the other side of the pandemic. For that we need a new set of policy strategies and tools focused on enabling our job and prosperity engines – Canadian high-growth innovative technology companies – to soar.
Innovation Nation: Why has the government put a cap on innovation success?
Despite the hype about our tech sector, we should be concerned that fewer than five per cent of Canadian startups graduate to the scale-up stage, especially when we take stock of the time, capital and hands-on support governments give to early-stage companies. Lifting the employee cap on IRAP is a logical step the government should take to achieve their vision of more Canadian companies growing into the large anchor companies known around the world.
Ottawa turns to U.S. tech giants too often: internal government memo
"Far too often, Canadians watch IT contracts get handed out to foreign multinational companies when highly qualified domestic companies here in Canada are overlooked because the current procurement process favours incumbents and doesn't foster enough new entrants into the process," says Benjamin Bergen, executive director of CCI, to CBC News.
More updates from the Council of Canadian Innovators
Past news releases, statements and updates from CCI about the state of innovation in Canada.
Dans les médias
Lettre ouverte des gens d'affaires canadiens au premier ministre Trudeau
La pandémie de la COVID-19 a révélé l’urgence de mettre en place des projets de construction de la nation de grande portée, adaptés à nos réalités contemporaines. Lisez notre lettre au premier ministre Trudeau signée par 133 gens d’affaires canadiens.
Plan de Relance et de Réorientation Économiques
Toute véritable transformation nationale exige des efforts assidus et courageux de la part de ceux et celles qui sont au pouvoir. La situation actuelle appelle à l’adoption de politiques audacieuses avec un sens de la mission et un effort générationnel permettant l’émergence d’un Canada résilient et prospère pour les décennies à venir. Le Canada doit revoir sa vision en matière d’innovation et cesser de se tourner vers le passé pour trouver des solutions d’avenir.
Innovation de nouvelles stratégies sont nécessaires
"Même si les entreprises technologiques nationales contribuent considérablement à la prospérité et à la création de richesse du Québec, les politiques gouvernementales en matière d’innovation tendent à favoriser l’expansion de succursales étrangères plutôt que la croissance et la réussite de sociétés locales à l’échelle nationale et internationale. Depuis trop longtemps, les répercussions de ces politiques ont été négatives quant à la capacité de transformer les entreprises locales en des géants mondiaux."
Canadian Innovators respond to the 2018 Federal Budget
“Canadian tech CEOs continue to advocate for the need of a national data strategy that will enable Canada to become a leader in the data-driven global economy.”
Ottawa turns to U.S. tech giants too often: internal government memo
"Far too often, Canadians watch IT contracts get handed out to foreign multinational companies when highly qualified domestic companies here in Canada are overlooked because the current procurement process favours incumbents and doesn't foster enough new entrants into the process," says Benjamin Bergen, executive director of CCI, to CBC News.
‘Tax me if you can’ is not a national prosperity strategy, says CCI's Vice-Chair John Ruffolo
"A focus on supporting innovators will help the government generate more revenue than its proposed tax changes contemplate," says John Ruffolo, CEO of OMERS Ventures and Vice-Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators.
Canadian tech CEOs welcome launch of new Global Talent Stream
Program hailed as “game-changer” by innovation community, expediting the time it takes to attract and process highly-skilled foreign workers from abroad
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Canada may be poised for a tech comeback with innovation-friendly Liberal agenda: CEOs
Coalition of CEOs believe Canadian rules, policies and procedures need to favour domestic tech companies the way the policies and standards of countries around the world support their own firms.
More updates from the Council of Canadian Innovators
Past news releases, statements and updates from CCI about the state of innovation in Canada.
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