The CCI Newsletter: March 2025

This edition of The CCI Newsletter was originally shared with CCI’s subscriber community on March 3, 2025. To receive our monthly briefing on the scale-ups shaping Canada’s future, the policies that matter, and insights you won’t find anywhere else—subscribe here.

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Dear Innovator,

Canada is in the midst of an important conversation about how to build a more resilient and prosperous economy. But if there’s one idea that needs to be better understood, it’s this:

Canada needs strategies that diversify our products, not just our markets.

For too long, we’ve focused on selling low-margin, raw products instead of high-margin, value-added goods and services. The current tariff threats underscore this reality—whether it’s aluminum, steel, softwood lumber, or crude oil, Canada’s exports are overwhelmingly supply chain inputs rather than finished, globally competitive products.

For nearly a decade, CCI has been making the case that innovative, high-growth technology companies are the key to driving Canadian productivity and long-term prosperity. It’s why we were in the Toronto Star, calling on Premier Doug Ford to eschew branch-plant economics and support homegrown innovators as a bulwark against trade hostilities. It’s also why I recently wrote for The Future Economy about why economic resilience must be a core pillar of Canada’s national security strategy.

Later this week, we’ll be exploring these ideas further with the release of our 2025 federal election companion document — What Canadian Innovators Need to Scale. This is a winning plan that lays out specific, actionable policy ideas every party should adopt to support commercialization and drive real productivity growth.

These are challenging times for Canada. But if we can keep winning hockey games and keep having serious conversations about the future of our economy, we have a real opportunity to put this country on a better path for the 21st century.

Let’s organize for victory.

Keep growing,

Benjamin

Benjamin Bergen is the President of the Council of Canadian Innovators, a national member-based organization reshaping how governments across Canada think about innovation policy, and supporting homegrown scale-ups to drive prosperity. If you are interested in learning more about the Council or joining our cause, get in touch.

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INNOVATION UPDATES

Tariff Watch Continues: On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that he will push ahead with 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods this week, and this is alongside tariffs on steel and aluminum. In February, CCI hosted a discussion with Aaron Fowler, Canada's Deputy Chief Trade Commissioner, where we discussed economic defence strategies the government is considering.

Procurement Power: CCI's Laurent Carbonneau wrote recently in Mooseworks about how Canada can meaningfully respond to these tariffs by embracing procurement reform. Procurement represents roughly the same share of GDP as the entire Alberta economy, so if we can reorient government purchasing towards Canadian companies, that could have an enormous impact.

Sovereign Compute: Last week, the federal government published eligibility criteria for their Sovereign AI Compute Strategy. The Sovereign AI Compute Strategy is a $2 billion program over five years announced in last year's budget. The future of this funding could be complicated by the fact that Parliament still hasn't passed the 2024 budget, but the eligibility criteria means that the money can flow more smoothly if/when MPs vote to approve the budget.

B.C. Throne Speech: Premier David Eby's NDP government received a new mandate from voters last fall, and returned to the legislature in February with a strongly-worded Throne Speech. The speech was heavily focused on the trade war, and laid out a three-pillar approach to the trade war: "Strengthening and growing our economy, diversifying our trading relationships and responding firmly and forcefully if required." While the government acknowledged the importance of the technology sector, most of the specific actions announced were around accelerating natural resource and energy project.

Ontario Election: Premier Doug Ford won a fresh mandate from the voters, on a promise to lead the province through trade shocks caused by U.S. President Donald Trump. Read our statement on the election here.

Budget Season: Last week Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner delivered the province's 2025 budget. As expected, it was a lean document, without much policy or funding for innovators; however we're hoping to work with the Alberta government on non-budgetary measures to support technology companies. We expect the B.C. budget to be delivered tomorrow, and the Saskatchewan Budget on March 19.

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BY CANADIAN INNOVATORS

As Canada responds to American trade hostilities, one thing that we seem to be able to agree on is the fact that now is the time to support Canadian companies. At CCI, we've been profiling Canadian technology companies who are building great products. From agriculture to cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles to welding robots, Canadian innovators are building great technology.

Check out a few of the profiles from our "By Canadian" series:

• Novarc Technologies is helping Canadian construction companies by building full-stack robotics solutions, specializing in cobots (collaborative robots) and AI-driven machine vision solutions for autonomous welding.
  
  
• Levven is helping Canadian builders work more efficiently, by creating wire-free power controls and smart automation solutions.
  
  
• Brave is deploying technology to fight the opioid epidemic, including overdose detection sensors in public washrooms, ensuring that help can be dispatched when someone is in distress.

We're going to keep profiling these great Canadian companies. Innovators will play a key role in fortifying the Canadian economy, as we navigate the volatility ahead. It's important for us all to celebrate their success.

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SCALE-UPS TO WATCH

This February, we were thrilled to welcome several new members to the Council to support our work in driving policy and economic strategies across Canada that fuel prosperity for every generation.

• GIRO, a Montréal-based software company led by President and CEO Renée Touzin, is optimizing public transit and postal operations worldwide. GIRO helps cities and postal operators boost efficiency through advanced modeling and co-innovation with clients.
  
  
• eStruxture, Canada’s largest data centre platform, is redefining digital infrastructure under the leadership of Founder, President, and CEO Todd Coleman. With 16 cutting-edge facilities across major Canadian markets, eStruxture delivers scalable, high-performance colocation and cloud connectivity solutions.
  
  
• AVSS, a New Brunswick-based aerospace company led by Co-Founder & CEO Josh Ogden, is advancing drone safety and reliability with cutting-edge technology. By working with drone manufacturers and government agencies, AVSS is strengthening Canada’s domestic drone industry
  
  
• Architech, a Toronto-based cloud software firm led by CEO David Suydam, is driving digital transformation with cutting-edge cloud-native solutions. With a global team of experts, Architech helps organizations modernize enterprise systems.
  
  
• Seafair Capital, a St. John’s-based strategic leadership firm led by CEO Anne Whelan, is fostering innovation at the intersection of economic development and social impact. Seafair partners with technology providers and policymakers to build inclusive growth and economic resilience across urban, rural, and Indigenous communities.
  
  
• Zero To One Strategic, led by Founder & CEO Ronen Benin, which is transforming how Canadian companies secure non-dilutive funding. With expertise in SR&ED, grants, and tax credits, their team helps innovators unlock capital efficiently—minimizing effort while maximizing returns to fuel growth.
  
  
• Disco, a Toronto-based AI-first learning platform led by Co-Founder & Co-CEO Candice Faktor, is transforming how organizations deliver and scale learning programs. With AI-powered personalization and engagement, Disco helps global leaders turn learning into a competitive advantage.

Here are a few other highlights from CCI members recently:

• ThinkOn CEO Craig McLellan speaks to the Globe and Mail about how the changing U.S. relationship has thrust Canada’s data sovereignty into the spotlight.
• Well Health Technologies CEO Hamed Shahbazi shared insights on transforming healthcare through technology.
• Ranovus CEO Hamid Arabzadeh called for stronger domestic support as Canadian chipmakers brace for U.S. tariffs.
• Plurilock secured a US$800,000 Services Contract with a leading U.S. hospital.
• Clio was named the 2025 Innovator of the Year at CIX Summit
• Shinydocs CEO Jason Cassidy is hosting a webinar on March 11 all about harnessing AI while addressing risks, including IP leakage.

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DISPATCHES

While much of the political and economic policy attention tends to focus on Ottawa, the fact is that provincial governments play a crucial role in driving economic growth, and creating the conditions for innovative companies to thrive.

In this month's dispatch, CCI's Abu Kamat takes a look at what's on the to-do list for B.C. Premier David Eby and Finance Minister Brenda Bailey, as they prepare to deliver the first budget of a new mandate.

Happy reading!