The CCI Newsletter: May 2025

This edition of The CCI Newsletter was originally shared with CCI’s subscriber community on May 1, 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,

There’s something grounding about walking into a school gym or community centre to cast your vote. For all the intensity of an election campaign, the quiet rituals of Canadian democracy—the pencil, the cardboard screen, the polite nods—remind us what we’re trying to protect.

With the ballots now counted and a new government in place, Canadians have given Prime Minister Mark Carney a clear message: they want bold leadership. They’ve handed this government a mandate to innovate.

At the Council of Canadian Innovators, we take that mandate seriously. It’s not just about policy—it’s about vision. Canadians want an economy that is more sovereign, more self-reliant, and more competitive on the world stage. They want to see homegrown companies leading the way, creating better jobs, bigger paycheques, stronger industries, and long-term prosperity.

Over the past year, CCI hasn’t pulled punches. We fought hard against a capital gains tax hike that would have harmed investment in Canadian companies. We’ve challenged government decisions that favoured foreign firms over domestic ones. But we’ve also offered solutions. And in this campaign, we saw ideas drawn directly from our What Innovators Need to Scale brief—like a Canada Patent Box, procurement reform, and SR&ED modernization—reflected in the Liberal platform.

Still, policy promises are only the beginning. Delivery is what matters.

Next week, we’ll be releasing our next major report: A Mandate to Innovate. It’s our contribution to the next chapter of Canadian economic leadership—a clear, actionable playbook to help the new government strengthen Canada’s innovation economy and respond to the shifting global landscape. I hope you’ll join us for the launch event on May 8 at 1PM ET. Register here.

Democracy isn’t a noun. It’s a verb. It lives in conversations, decisions, and daily actions. At CCI, we’ve always believed our job is to speak plainly, act strategically, and keep building a country where ambitious companies can thrive and grow. That’s the work ahead. And we’re ready to get started.

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

What's Next in Ottawa: We are now in a period of transition, as politics shifts out of campaign mode and back to governing. In the weeks and months ahead, we will be tracking three several key events in the life of Prime Minister Mark Carney's government. In the coming weeks we expect Prime Minister Carney to announce a new cabinet, and call back the House of Commons. The Throne Speech will give us an early idea of the government's priorities. We are expecting the government to deliver a budget relatively quickly, because technically the House of Commons hasn't passed a budget for either 2024 or 2025.

Tariffs: The media has reported that Prime Minister Carney has already spoken to U.S. President Donald Trump on the phone, and we expect that they will have an in-person meeting soon. As trade tensions and tariffs continue to be defining issue of the moment, we expect that the outcome of this meeting will set an important tone.

Value Chains: In a recent Mooseworks blog post, CCI’s Director of Policy and Research, Laurent Carbonneau, looks at how Canadian companies risk being trapped in low-value parts of U.S.-dominated supply chains. Stronger industrial strategies are needed to ensure Canadian innovators capture the full value of their contributions—and aren’t sidelined as global competition intensifies.

Ontario Government: There's also been a flurry of activity at Queen's Park recently. Like with the federal government, the usual budget cycle was disrupted by an election, and we are waiting for the province do deliver their 2025 spending plan. In the face of the trade war, we've been disappointed to see the government continue to subsidize foreign multinationals, rather that devoting more money and government support to homegrown innovators.

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BY CANADIAN INNOVATORS

In this month's By Canadian series, we’re spotlighting more of the homegrown companies shaping Canada’s future economy.

Meet some of the innovators building Canadian capacity:

• Eleven-X
• Applyboard
• Able Innovations
• Loop

Canada’s economic strength depends on ambitious companies like these. We’re proud to keep highlighting the entrepreneurs and businesses building a more resilient, innovation-driven economy here at home—and we hope you’ll join us in celebrating their achievements.

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SCALE-UPS TO WATCH

During the federal election campaign, we were proud to see so many CEOs of Canadian high-growth companies contributing to the dialogue.

We were also thrilled to see CEOs talking about our SecureProsperity.ca open letter to party leaders, including:

• Armen Bakirtzian, CEO of Intellijoint Surgical, on CBC Radio,
• Dan Belhassen, CEO of Neovation, in the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as
• Sana Remekie, CEO of Conscia, and Nic Beique, CEO of Helcim, in Betakit.

150 CEOs signed this open letter.

We also hosted a Canadian Tech Sector Pulse Check conversation with

• Gina Pecore, CEO, Genoa Design International Ltd. (Mount Pearl, NL)
• Sean O’Connor, CEO, 4AG Robotics (Salmon Arm, BC)
• Nic Beique, CEO, Helcim (Calgary, AB)
• Sana Remekie, CEO, Conscia (Toronto, ON)
• Craig McLellan, CEO, ThinkOn (Toronto, ON)
• Hélène Moore, CEO, PharmBD (Montréal, QC)

CCI has also been working to give CEOs the opportunity speak with their own voice, so we launched Innovator Voice Mails—our take on Speakers’ Corner—featuring CEO messages from David Ross and Niraj Mathur in Ottawa, Nicole Janssen in Edmonton, and Mike McGinty in Kelowna, each speaking candidly about what was at stake in the election.

Here are a few other highlights from CCI members recently:

• Intellijoint Surgical is partnering with Waterloo Regional Health Network to improve outcomes for patients undergoing hip replacements, bringing local innovation to the forefront of patient care.
  
  
• Geotab has been selected by the Government of Puerto Rico to provide telematics solutions for fleet management, supporting emergency preparedness, public safety, and operational efficiency across the island.
  
  
• Blumind raised $20 million in Series A funding to accelerate the commercialization of its ultra-low-power analog AI chips for edge computing.
  
  
• Klick Health accelerated AI adoption across its operations by empowering employees with tools, coaching, and incentives—reshaping workflows and embedding AI into daily work.
  
  
• Sanctuary AI demonstrated advanced real-world manipulation with its hydraulic robotic hands
  
  
• Helcim launched Faster Deposits, giving small businesses next-business-day access to their funds at no extra cost across the U.S. and Canada.
  
  
• ClearRisk, Killick Capital, and Solace Power are strengthening Newfoundland and Labrador’s tech economy, scaling companies, investing in innovation, and building global competitiveness from the province.

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DISPATCHES

While Ontario’s government has taken some bold steps to defend its economy, the reality is that global trade tensions are reshaping the landscape—and short-term measures won’t be enough.

In this month's dispatch, CCI’s Skaidra Puodziunas explores why Ontario needs a long-term strategy that prioritizes homegrown innovation, strengthens economic independence, and rethinks our role in global supply chains. With a new mandate underway at Queen’s Park, the time to act is now.

Happy reading!