Canadian Innovators and Investment Leaders Launch ‘Bet on Canada’ Campaign, Urging Ottawa to Adopt Targeted Tax Reforms Ahead of Budget 2026

Today, the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) and the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA), alongside CPA Ontario, the Chartered Business Valuators Institute, C100 and the National Angel Capital Organization, published Bet on Canada — a united push across the ecosystem for two targeted tax reforms designed to put more Canadian capital to work in Canadian businesses: a meaningful Canadian QSBS-style incentive and a broader capital gains rollover that makes it easier for investors to reinvest their gains here at home.

More than 150 Canadian CEOs, investors and business leaders have signed the open letter, with additional signatures continuing to be added. Read the full letter and list of signatories at Bet-on-Canada.ca and pariez-sur-le-canada.ca.

Bet on Canada calls for two measures designed to strengthen Canada’s risk-capital ecosystem and build a stronger cycle of domestic investment and company-building:

• Create a meaningful Canadian QSBS-style incentive, building on the original proposal for the Canadian Entrepreneurs’ Incentive. The proposal includes a $15-million cap for each taxable event, fewer restrictive ownership thresholds and broader eligibility for founders, early employees and investors in qualifying Canadian growth companies.
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• Broaden the existing capital gains rollover so more entrepreneurs and investors—including those investing through corporations or funds—can defer capital gains tax when proceeds from one qualifying Canadian business investment are reinvested in another. The tax would be deferred, not eliminated, while the capital remains invested.
  

Innovators, investors, employees, and ecosystem leaders are invited to add their name using this form.

This joint initiative follows the Canada Investment Summit, which brought together government, business and investors around attracting capital to Canada, lowering barriers to investment and accelerating major projects. Alongside investment in infrastructure, energy, critical minerals and other large-scale projects, Canada also needs a deeper supply of risk capital for companies using Canadian talent, ideas and resources to compete in global markets.

Early-stage companies often need investment years before their technologies, markets or commercial potential are fully proven. Founders, employees and investors can make significant commitments long before success is assured. How Canada rewards those risks can influence where people choose to invest their money, time and ambition.

“If we want ambitious entrepreneurs to build here, talented employees to join Canadian companies and investors to keep putting capital to work here, Canada needs to make that choice more compelling,” said Patrick Searle, CEO of the Council of Canadian Innovators. “The objective is to create a stronger cycle of Canadian company-building, where the capital, talent and experience created by one success can help finance the next.”

“The investors CVCA represents commit capital to Canadian companies for years at a time, from the first cheque into a startup to the expansion of an established business,” said Benjamin Bergen, CEO of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. “These two measures would reward that commitment. When Canada rewards the people who take risks on its companies, it attracts more investment into them, from investors here and around the world.”
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A meaningful Canadian QSBS-style incentive

Bet on Canada calls on the federal government to build on the original Canadian Entrepreneurs’ Incentive proposal and establish a competitive Canadian counterpart to the U.S. Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) regime. The proposal would raise the incentive cap to $15 million for each taxable event, remove restrictive ownership thresholds and broaden eligibility so more founders, early employees and investors taking risks in qualifying Canadian growth companies can benefit.

The campaign argues that a more competitive incentive would give founders a stronger reason to build and scale from Canada, make equity more meaningful for early employees and improve the potential after-tax return for investors committing capital before a company’s prospects are certain.
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Make it easier to reinvest Canadian success

The federal government expanded Canada’s capital gains rollover for small business investment earlier this year, including by increasing the size of companies that can qualify and giving investors more time to reinvest. Bet on Canada is calling on the government to build on those changes by making the rollover available more broadly.

In particular, the campaign proposes allowing more entrepreneurs and investors—including those investing through corporations or funds—to defer capital gains when proceeds from one qualifying Canadian business investment are reinvested in another. The tax would be deferred, not eliminated, while the capital remains invested.

When capital is taxed each time it moves from one Canadian growth company to another, less is available to back the next generation of businesses. A broader rollover would help keep more proceeds from Canadian exits invested in Canada, making it easier for successful founders and investors to become repeat backers of Canadian ambition.

When Canadian companies succeed, the capital, expertise and networks they generate can help build what comes next. The coalition believes that keeping more of that success circulating through Canadian businesses would support company-building across technology, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, mining, natural resources and other innovative sectors.

Read the full letter and list of signatories at Bet-on-Canada.ca and pariez-sur-le-canada.ca.

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Media Contact:
Lisa Brody Hoffman
lhoffman@canadianinnovators.org 
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About the Council of Canadian Innovators

The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) is Canada’s business council for the 21st-century economy. It is a collective of more than 175 of Canada’s fastest-growing and most ambitious companies, and the founders, CEOs and executives behind them, working together to improve the business conditions that help more homegrown companies scale, compete globally and drive long-term prosperity.