Advocacy

The Council of Canadian Innovators shapes public policy across federal and provincial governments to strengthen the conditions Canadian companies need to scale, compete globally and build lasting economic value at home.

Our advocacy is grounded in the experience of the founders, CEOs and executives building some of Canada’s fastest-growing companies. We work with governments across the country to ensure economic policy reflects the realities of competing in a global, technology-driven economy.

At the core of that work are four things every ambitious company needs to grow: talent, capital, customers and the freedom to operate.

Access to Talent

Great Canadian companies need access to great people.

Since its earliest days, CCI has championed policies such as the Global Talent Stream that help Canadian companies recruit highly skilled people from around the world quickly and competitively.

We also work with governments, post-secondary institutions and partners across Canada to ensure education, immigration and skills policies respond to the changing needs of high-growth companies.

Canadian firms are competing for talent in a global market. That means founders need the flexibility to offer competitive compensation, including stock options, and companies need access to both homegrown and international expertise as they scale.

Innovation is ultimately the product of human ingenuity. Canada’s ability to build globally competitive companies depends on our ability to attract, develop and retain exceptional people.

Access to Capital

Growth companies need growth capital.

As Canadian firms move from start-up to scale-up, access to capital often determines whether they become globally competitive companies or sell before reaching their full potential.

CCI advocates for tax, investment and financing policies that reward the people willing to take risks on Canadian companies and make more growth capital available on competitive terms.

That includes improving programs such as SR&ED so they are predictable, accessible and better aligned with the realities of commercializing innovation; strengthening non-dilutive financing for high-potential firms; and ensuring Canada’s tax system encourages founders, employees and investors to build and invest here.

CCI has also championed initiatives that mobilize private investment into Canadian companies, including the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative.

Our objective is straightforward: Canadian companies with global potential should be able to access the capital they need to keep growing from Canada.

Access to Customers

Companies do not scale on grants. They scale on customers.

For high-growth Canadian firms, access to sophisticated customers can be transformational — providing revenue, validation and the track record needed to win larger opportunities around the world.

That is why CCI has long argued that public procurement should be treated as a strategic economic tool.

Governments spend billions of dollars every year purchasing technology and services. When those purchasing decisions create opportunities for competitive Canadian firms, governments can solve public-sector challenges while helping domestic companies build reference customers, attract investment and scale.

CCI also advocates for fewer barriers to selling across provincial borders and for trade agreements that give Canadian companies meaningful access to global markets without unnecessarily constraining Canada’s ability to support its own economic interests.

A strong Canadian economy requires companies that can win customers at home — and then compete for them everywhere else.

Marketplace Frameworks

Companies cannot compete globally if the rules of the marketplace prevent them from doing so.

Intellectual property, data governance, competition policy, standards, artificial intelligence regulation and international trade rules all shape a company’s freedom to operate and its ability to capture the value it creates.

CCI advocates for modern, clear and interoperable regulatory frameworks that encourage innovation while protecting Canada’s economic interests.

That includes ensuring Canadian companies are not boxed out of global markets by the ownership of critical intellectual property, standards written elsewhere or trade commitments that unnecessarily limit domestic policy choices.

In an intangible economy, sovereignty increasingly depends on who owns the technology, data and intellectual property — and whether Canadian companies have the freedom to compete.

A National Advocacy Network

Canada’s economy is too large and too diverse to understand from a single vantage point.

CCI has teams working across British Columbia, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada and Ottawa, giving our members a voice with governments across the country and ensuring our national advocacy is grounded in regional economic realities.

Our regional and federal teams work together as one national network — connecting what CEOs are experiencing on the ground with the policymakers shaping the conditions in which Canadian companies compete. That work is supported by data-driven analysis, economic research and policy intelligence, ensuring CCI’s positions are grounded in evidence and informed by global competitiveness trends.