About
The Council of Canadian Innovators was created in 2015 by Canada’s most successful technology CEOs to ensure their voice was heard in the public policy development process. Innovation experts say that one essential element in sustained regional growth is the presence of significant concentrations of homegrown high-growth scale-ups. Companies that scale from millions to billions provide the most returns to national economies. For far too long, Canada’s public policy regarding innovation has been dominated by foreign multinationals and other actors whose primary purpose is not to create economic growth in Canada.
Currently, the Council is composed of more than 150 CEOs leading high-growth companies headquartered in Canada. The Council is chaired by Jim Balsillie, former Blackberry Co-CEO and John Ruffolo, Founder & Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity, and Founder of OMERS Ventures.
Our history
2015
In September of 2015, former Blackberry Co-CEO Jim Balsillie speaks to a group of CEOs from Canadian technology companies during an event organized by OMERS Ventures, which was founded and led by John Ruffolo. Balsillie’s message to the group was that the federal government was setting policy which would impact technology companies, but Ottawa was not listening to Canadian tech companies. Out of this meeting, the seeds for CCI are planted.
In October, the Liberal Party of Canada wins the 2015 federal election on a platform which includes a promise to hike taxes on employee stock options, a policy which would severely harm scale-up technology companies’ ability to recruit skilled talent. This served to underscore Balsillie’s message about policy being created without consulting with domestic tech companies and acted as a galvanizing force.
CEOs begin a public and government relations campaign, penning opinion pieces and writing letters to the Minister of Finance.
2016
In response to pressure from the tech sector, the Liberal government revised the policy to exempt most scaling technology companies from tax hikes on employee stock options. Bill Morneau, who was finance minister at the time, remarked, “I heard from many small firms and innovators that they use stock options as a legitimate form of compensation, so we decided not to put that in our budget.”
This proved to many CEOs on the sidelines of the CCI movement that linking arms and advocating with one voice can spur meaningful policy changes and was essential for updating Canada’s economic playbook for the 21st century innovation economy.
In March, Benjamin Bergen was hired as executive director and the first employee of the Council of Canadian Innovators.
Summer
CCI begins working with then-Immigration Minister John McCallum, consulting with scaling technology companies. The result of this work would be the Global Talent Stream, which greatly reduced visa processing times for skilled workers coming to Canada — one of CCI’s first clear policy wins for members.
Around 50 CEOs travel to Ottawa to participate in CCI's first CEO Summit, which includes meetings with key federal ministers and civil servants and exposes CEOs to in-person advocacy firsthand.
2017
The federal government announces the Global Skills Strategy, which includes the Global Talent Stream pilot part of theTemporary Foreign Workers Program. CCI is selected as the only non-governmental referral partner to the program. Following the 2017 federal budget, CCI hosts its first pan-Canadian budget debrief for innovators.
Summer
CCI begins to expand its sectoral advocacy efforts into clean technology, health technology, cybersecurity, fintech, and digital services. CCI hosts various advocacy days in Ottawa for innovators.
Fall
CCI begins working on behalf of innovators at the provincial level, working first in Ontario to reorient provincial strategies towards supporting homegrown firms.
2018
CCI continues to establish itself as a leading voice for prioritizing homegrown Canadian technology companies through strategic public policy, including the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations, ongoing federal government budget proposals, and the Sidewalk Labs project proposed for Toronto.
Spring
CCI hosts CyberCanada Senior Leadership Summit in Toronto, convening innovators, federal and provincial government leaders, and officials from our national security and defence agencies. In Ottawa, CCI appears before parliament calling for a national data strategy.
Fall
CCI hosts second CEO Summit in Ottawa, bringing together over 100 scale-up leaders from across Canada for over 40 meetings focused on increasing access to talent, capital and customers, and new marketplace frameworks for the 21st century economy.
2019
CCI opens a bureau in Québec with a dedicated provincial affairs lead, a new brand – Conseil canadien des innovateurs – and the addition of Louis Têtu to the Board of Directors of CCI. When the Quèbec government tables their 2019 budget, CCI is on site in Quèbec City analyzing each measure through an innovation lens.
Spring
CCI hosts Spring Intellectual Property Symposium in Toronto, coalescing CCI's calls for a national IP strategy that helps innovators expand their freedom-to-operate to scale globally.
Fall
CCI hosts meetings in Winnipeg with the Manitoba Government, laying the seeds for CCI's future expansion into the Prairies.
2020
At the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, CCI acted swiftly to ensure innovators and business leaders across Canada had access to essential information to keep their businesses running. In March, CCI launched the COVID-19 Slack Channel, which rapidly grew to over 2,500 members nationwide. CCI also began hosting webinar briefings with federal and provincial leaders, providing a platform for business leaders across Canada to engage in critical Q&A sessions during a time of significant economic uncertainty. These forums also allowed business leaders to share best practices and strategies with their peers.
As governments rolled out relief measures, CCI emerged as a vital voice for Canadian tech, advocating for improvements to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, which proved inadequate for high-growth technology companies. This advocacy ultimately contributed to the creation of the $250 million Innovation Assistance Program, providing much-needed capital to innovative tech companies that did not qualify for other programs. CCI also urged faster release of funds from Regional Development Agencies to help companies manage the growing operational pressures they were facing.
2021
CCI Launches the Innovation Governance Program to train prospective board members with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively provide corporate governance oversight in scale-up Canadian technology companies.
2022
CCI entrenches regional advocacy —galvanizing Alberta tech to sound the alarm on regulatory overreach of software engineers, and Quebec tech coming together to push back against overly onerous French language legislation. CCI is also an active voice of homegrown innovation in the Ontario general election.
2023
CCI hosts its first Capital Summit in Toronto, bringing together leading Canadian institutional investors and a CEOs of high-growth technology companies
The Government of Canada announces significant changes to Canada’s economic immigration streams, including a digital nomad strategy and a high potential tech talent stream, in response to CCI’s ongoing advocacy. Many of the policy changes were directly mirrored in CCI’s 2022 Talent and Skills Strategy.
2024
CCI takes a leadership role in the federal government's review of the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit, pushing for policy changes that provide maximum benefit to scale-up companies.
CCI makes government procurement a national priority as a key tool for governments to support innovative technology companies.
Our Board
Our Team
Careers
Join a team of of professionals working at the intersection of public policy and leading-edge technology, on behalf of Canada's most dynamic, high-growth technology companies.
Member Success Manager
About the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI)
The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) is a national business association representing over 150 of Canada’s fastest-growing technology-intensive companies. Companies within CCI’s portfolio are market leaders in their verticals and commercialize their technologies in over 190 countries, generating between $10M - $750M in annual recurring revenue. CCI’s member companies are all headquartered in Canada and collectively employ over 52,000 Canadians from coast to coast.
CCI was created in 2015 by the leaders of Canada’s most innovative companies to reorient Canada’s economic strategies towards supporting domestic scale-up companies to aid in their pursuit of becoming engines of Canada’s future economic prosperity. CCI works closely with our members and leaders within federal and provincial governments to develop economic strategies that increase access to talent, capital, and customers for homegrown firms, all while updating Canada’s economic playbook for the 21st century economy. Since 2015, CCI’s advocacy has led to the government improving the way businesses access international talent, patent their inventions, and navigate the global data-driven economy.
CCI is a peer network of Canadian business leaders and innovators who look to CCI’s leadership and membership for strategic advice and foresight, expert navigation of federal and provincial governments, and for connections to other innovators and institutions that can assist them in scaling their businesses worldwide.
Today, CCI is headquartered in Toronto and has staff located in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Montreal. CCI is established as a not-for-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors, with Jim Balsillie, retired chairman and co-CEO of BlackBerry, serving as Chair, and John Ruffolo, founder of OMERS Ventures and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity, serving as Vice-Chair. Both are also co-founders of CCI.
Role: Member Success Manager
Reports To: Director of Member Success & Partnerships
As Member Success Manager, you’ll be an integral part of CCI’s growing team, helping to build and maintain strong relationships with our members. In this early- to mid-career role, you’ll support member recruitment, onboarding, engagement, and retention efforts. You’ll work cross-functionally with colleagues in marketing and government relations to ensure members feel supported and connected to CCI’s mission.
This role is ideal for someone with a few years of professional experience who is excited to grow in a relationship-focused role and contribute to the success of Canada’s leading innovation companies.
Key Responsibilities
1. Member Recruitment Support (25%)
- Help identify and reach out to prospective members.
- Respond to inbound interest and participate in introductory calls.
- Collaborate with the team to develop messaging that clearly communicates the value of membership.
- Work with marketing on outreach materials and member campaigns.
2. Member Onboarding & Engagement (25%)
- Coordinate onboarding calls and ensure new members receive a smooth introduction to CCI.
- Track member engagement and share relevant resources and opportunities.
- Assist with planning and executing member events, webinars, and other engagement initiatives.
3. Member Retention (25%)
- Support renewal processes and help track member satisfaction.
- Participate in check-ins with members to understand needs and identify ways to add value.
- Help capture and organize member feedback.
4. CRM & Operations Support (25%)
- Update and maintain member records in the CRM system.
- Track member interactions, renewals, and engagement metrics.
- Help streamline internal processes to enhance the member experience.
What Success Looks Like
- You help grow our membership by supporting recruitment efforts and managing smooth onboarding experiences.
- You ensure members feel connected, informed, and valued throughout their time with CCI.
- Our CRM is organized and up to date, enabling effective team coordination.
- You proactively support renewals by building strong relationships and surfacing opportunities to deliver value.
What We're Looking For
We know great candidates come from many backgrounds. You might be a fit if you bring some or all of the following:
- 1–4 years of experience in a relationship management, customer success, community engagement, or similar role.
- Experience working in or with tech companies, associations, nonprofits, or public policy is a plus.
- Strong communication and organizational skills.
- Comfort working with CRM tools (e.g. Salesforce, HubSpot) and managing multiple projects at once.
- A proactive and collaborative mindset—you like building relationships and supporting a mission-driven team.
- Interest in innovation, economic development, and helping Canadian companies succeed globally.
Compensation & Benefits
- Salary range: $75,000–$90,000 CAD
- $2,500 annual education and training allowance
- Comprehensive health and dental benefits
- Paid parental leave
- Generous vacation: 3 weeks plus two discretionary office closures: 1 week in July and 2 weeks in December, cumulating in a total of 6 weeks off per year
Our bands are based on paying above market rates in our industry and paying comparatively to market rates for parallel roles in the tech sector to acknowledge the diverse skill set we need for our work.
We believe in equal pay for equal value of work. For this reason, although we hire all over Canada, we don’t adjust our pay based on where you live. We’ve used a rate that is competitive across the various locations where we hire