Planning Canada’s Future: An Open Letter to Federal Leaders from Canadian CEOs

Dear Justin, Erin, Jagmeet, Yves-François & Annamie,

The global pandemic is not over, but in Canada, we hope the worst of COVID-19 is behind us. Canada leads the world in vaccinations, and the post-pandemic economic recovery is already underway.

La pandémie de la COVID-19 continue de sévir dans le monde. Nous osons espérer que le Canada a surmonté le pire. Certains signes le laissent présager. Le Canada mène la course à la vaccination et la reprise économique post-pandémie est amorcée.

Canada needs more than a rebound, though. We need to be planning Canada’s future to create and sustain economic growth for the years to come.

Or, un simple redémarrage de l’économie ne suffit pas. Nous devons planifier l’avenir du Canada si l’on veut stimuler et soutenir durablement la croissance économique.

Now is the time to look forward. This election needs to be about concrete action that can be achieved in the next political mandate and beyond.

Il est temps de se tourner vers l’avenir. Cette élection doit donner lieu à des actions concrètes qui portent leurs fruits dès le prochain mandat politique.

For far too long, Canadian invention has contributed to the economic growth of foreign interests.  Canada needs to adopt Canadian-made technologies, and invest in the market-proven companies that can export our innovations to the world.

L’inventivité canadienne ne cesse de profiter aux intérêts étrangers. Le Canada se doit d’adopter des technologies purement canadiennes et d’investir dans les entreprises canadiennes compétitives, aptes à exporter leurs innovations dans le monde entier.

The threat of climate change is very real, and now more than ever, we must be working to position every aspect of our economy towards a low-carbon future. Moreover, the virus has exposed the fragility of our healthcare systems and only accelerated the pace of digital transformation, making us acutely aware of our cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

La menace bien réelle des changements climatiques doit nous pousser à décarboner notre économie. En outre, le coronavirus a exposé au grand jour la fragilité de nos systèmes de santé et accéléré la transformation numérique, laquelle comporte des failles en matière de cybersécurité.

To be competitive in the technology-powered, data-driven global economy, we need a plan for clean economic growth, powered by Canadian-owned ideas.

Pour rivaliser dans une économie mondiale axée sur les données et les technologies, nous avons besoin d’une feuille de route qui mise sur une croissance économique propre, durable et fondée sur des idées canadiennes.

As leaders of Canada’s fastest-growing companies in the innovation economy, we are already working to make this happen. Over the next four weeks, we want to hear your plans to drive sustainable economic growth and ensure that Canadians reap the benefits of our innovation.

Nous œuvrons dans l’intérêt commun des Canadiens et Canadiennes en dirigeant des entreprises qui connaissent au Canada la plus forte croissance dans l’économie de l’innovation. Au cours des quatre prochaines semaines, nous voulons connaître vos plans pour favoriser une croissance économique durable axée sur l’innovation qui profite à l’ensemble des Canadiens et Canadiennes.

We are looking to the future, and we are building the future. We want to hear how you’re planning Canada’s future to be prosperous, secure, equitable and sustainable, and we stand ready to be part of it.

Nous sommes résolument tournés vers l’avenir. Nous voulons savoir comment vous comptez garantir au Canada un avenir prospère, sécuritaire, équitable et durable. Nous sommes prêts à passer à l’action.

Signed,

Signé,

Carl Hansen — AbCellera — Vancouver
Michael Owens — Absorb LMS — Calgary
Patrick Ostiguy — Accedian — Québec City
Mike Murchison — Ada — Toronto
Ash Esmaeili — Aimsio — Calgary
Mohamed Sheta — AiZtech — Toronto
Adrian Schauer — Alayacare — Montréal
Allan Benchetrit — Algolux — Montréal
Cory Janssen & Nicole Janssen — AltaML — Edmonton
Felix Baldauf-Lenschen — Altis Labs Inc. — Toronto
Rich Emrich — Altus Assessments — Toronto
Martin Basiri — ApplyBoard — Kitchener
Jeff Simpson — Aquatic Life — Pinawa
Jay Gohill — Arcurve — Calgary
David Tiessen — Arterran Renewables — Kelowna
Adrian Camara — Athennian — Calgary
Dr. Miral Mehta — Atom Health — Edmonton
Todd Heintz — Attendease — Vancouver
Carol Leaman — Axonify — Waterloo
Michael Ferguson — Ayogo — Vancouver
Trent Oster — Beamdog — Edmonton
Ian Crosby — Bench Accounting — Vancouver
Liran Belenzon — BenchSci — Toronto
Susanne Cookson & Cynthia Hastings-James — BestLifeRewarded — Oakville
Eric Kryski — Bidali Inc. — Calgary
Hassan Jaferi — Bitnobi Inc. — Toronto
Jesse Albiston — Bitstrapped — Toronto
Matthew Protti — BlackSquare — Calgary
Justin Hunt — Blaise Transit — Montréal
Ben Fluter — Bloom Care Solutions — Kitchener
Benjamin Alarie — Blue J Legal — Toronto
Stephen Devito — BlueCat Networks — Toronto
Devashish Paul — BluWave-ai — Ottawa
Yvan Boisjoli — Bold Commerce — Winnipeg
Omar Salaymeh — Bonfire — Waterloo
Saad Siddiqui — Bonsai — Toronto
Russ Hanson — Boom! Business Development — Winnipeg
Alison Thompson — Borealis GeoPower — Calgary
Andrew Graham — Borrowell — Toronto
Rob Carmichael — BrainRunner Inc. — Toronto
John Southcott — Brock Solutions — Kitchener
Catherine Metrycki — Callia — Winnipeg
Dr. Kumanan Wilson — CANImmunize — Ottawa
Humera Malik & Josef Zankowicz — Canvass Analytics — Toronto
Alexandra Greenhill — Careteam — Vancouver
Bob Kyryliuk — CEO-P2P Inc. — Waterloo
David Ossip — Ceridian — Toronto
Wal van Lierop — Chrysalix — Vancouver
Andres Assmus — CityZeen — Toronto
Greg Ogrodnick — Circle CVI — Calgary
Lauren Linton — CIX Canadian Innovation Exchange — Toronto
Phil Proctor — Clear Concepts — Winnipeg
Deepak Chopra — Clearbridge Mobile — Vaughan
Matt Rendall — Clearpath Robotics Inc. — Kitchener
Craig A. Rowe — ClearRisk Inc. — St. John’s
Jack Newton — Clio — Burnaby
Robert Kaul — Cloud DX — Kitchener
Ian Rae — CloudOps — Montréal
Hasan Naqvi — CM Inc. — Markham
Alison Sunstrum — CNSRV-X — Calgary
Adam Keating — CoLab — St. John's
Greg Gunn — Commit.dev — Vancouver
Chris Albinson — Communitech — Waterloo
Harry Zarek — Compugen — Richmond Hill
Dr. Brian Courtney — Conavi — Toronto
François-Pierre Moffet — Connect&GO — Montréal
Tom Hawkett — Connect4 Growth — Toronto
Darrell O'Donnell — Continuum Loop Inc. — Ottawa
Chami Akmeemana — Convergence Tech — Markham
Roger Kirkness — Convictional — Waterloo
Kevin Rinfret — Corus Product Design — Vancouver
Ganesh Swami — Covalent — Vancouver
Louis Têtu — Coveo — Québec City
Vincent Lamanna — Crewdle — Montréal
John Scott — Crypto4A — Ottawa
Joe Cummins — CybernetIQ — Ottawa
Andrée-Lise Méthot — Cycle Capital Management — Montréal
Iain Paterson — Cycura — Toronto
Todd Burns — Cypher Environmental Ltd. — Winnipeg
John Baker — D2L — Kitchener
Adam Froman — Delvinia — Toronto
Haroon Mirza — DemandHub — Mississauga
Cherif Habib — Dialogue — Montréal
Taylor Ablitt — Diply — London
Kris Hartvigsen — Dooly — Vancouver
Angie Ricci — DriverDX Inc. — Barrie
Jon Lipinski — Ecopia — Toronto
Marie-Pier St-Hilaire — Edgenda — Montréal
Raphaël Dubé-Demers — EHVA Inc. — Québec City
Mallory Greene — Eirene — Toronto
Sankar Das Gupta — Electrovaya — Mississauga
Dan Mathers — Eleven-X — Waterloo
Dr. Ryan Doherty — EMPOWER Health — Toronto
Paul Donald — Encircle — Kitchener
Trish Redekop — Endeavor Canada — Calgary
Stephen Carlton — Energy Dexteritas — Calgary
Jan Kestle — Environics Analytics — Toronto
J. Paul Haynes — eSentire — Waterloo
Germain Lamonde & Philippe Morin — EXFO — Québec City
Ivan Tsarynny — Feroot Security — Toronto
Dominique Ferst — Ferst Capital Partners — Montréal
Bernard Gonsalves — fliteX — Oshawa
Ellen McGregor — Fielding Environmental — Mississauga
Alice Reimer — Fillip — Calgary
Michael Garrity — FinanceIt — Toronto
Patrick Huynh — Fiska — Montréal
Lisa Shields — FISPAN — Vancouver
Justin Raymond — Flexday — Toronto
Peter Kalen — Flexiti — Toronto
Jeanette Jackson — Foresight — Vancouver
Eric Beckwitt — Freightera — Vancouver
Mike McDerment & Levi Cooperman — FreshBooks — Toronto
Joseph Lee — Freshline — Vancouver
Mark Scott — Fully Managed — Ottawa
Steven Uster — FundThrough — Toronto
Prathna Ramesh — FutureSight — Toronto
Guillaume Bazinet & Lukas Lhotsky — FX Innovation — Montréal
Karl Pringle — GenXys Health Care Systems — Vancouver
Anna Sainsbury & David Briggs — GeoComply — Vancouver
Neil Cawse — Geotab — Oakville
Don Gray — Givex — Toronto
Jeff Lawrence — Granify — Edmonton
Sergio Buzo — Groupe Conseil ITeknova Inc. — Montréal
Simon De Baene — GSoft — Montréal
John Bianchini — Hatch — Mississauga
Nicolas Beique — Helcim — Calgary
Alina Turner — HelpSeeker Technologies — Calgary
Andre Bertram — HelpWear — Toronto
Steven Koles — Hifi Engineering — Calgary
Frederic Lalonde — Hopper — Montréal
Simon Bourgeois — Humi — Toronto
Francis Nadeau — HydraLab — Québec City
Mike Cook — Identos — Toronto
Khizer Hayat — IFIVEO Inc. — Windsor
Mike Gaburo — Igloo Software — Kitchener
Alexandre Le Bouthillier, PhD — Imagia — Montréal
Michael Smith — IMPACT BRIDGE — Toronto
Prasad Rao — inField Solutions — Markham
Dan McCall — Influitive — Toronto
Leland Oberst — Innovative Fuel Systems — Edmonton
Alain Chandonnet — INO — Québec City
Uzair Ahmed — instaMek — Edmonton
Chris Tam — Integrated Nanotherapeutics — Vancouver
Armen Bakirtzian — Intellijoint Surgical — Kitchener
Debbie Gamble — Interac — Toronto
Jody Glidden — Introhive — Fredericton
Alex Langlois — Investissements IfCap Inc. — Montréal
Kumar Ratnam — iVedha Inc. — Toronto
Alison Taylor & Trevor Johnson — Jane Software — Vancouver
Sam Pillar — Jobber — Edmonton
Carl Mascarenhas — JoeZoo — Toronto
Vince Cifani — Joyride — Toronto
Amol Karnick — KA Imaging — Waterloo
John Sicard — Kinaxis — Ottawa
Charles Deguire — Kinova Robotics — Boisbriand
Marc Porcelli — Kismet — Toronto
Leerom Segal — Klick Health — Toronto
Jason Smith — Klue — Vancouver
Kathryn Hogan — KMH Touches — Cambridge
Michael Tamblyn — Kobo — Toronto
Konrad Konnerth — Konnexio — London
Paul Aiello — Lamina Solutions — Toronto
Clinton Robinson — Lane Technologies Inc. — Toronto
Philippe Lareau — Lareau Courtiers d’assurances — Napierville
Mike Serbinis — League — Toronto
Charles Boulanger — LeddarTech — Québec City
Cato Pastoll — Lending Loop — Toronto
James Keirstead — Levven — Edmonton
Howard Rosen — LifeWIRE Corp — Toronto
Dax Dasilva & JP Chauvet — Lightspeed — Montréal
Gregg Oldring — Llearner — Edmonton
Roch A. Tremblay — Logiciels Radio IP — Mercier
Blaine Penny — Lumiio — Calgary
Michael Kravshik — LumiQ — Toronto
Adam Belsher — Magnet Forensics — Waterloo
Hugo Girard-Beauchamp — Maître Carre — Montréal
Hongwei Liu — MappedIn — Waterloo
David Strucke — Media Sonar Technologies Inc. — London
Laurence Poissant — Medialys — Montréal
Elliot Fung — Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX) — Kitchener
Balaji Gopalan — MedStack Inc. — Toronto
Malcolm Kendall — Microbiome Insights Inc. — Vancouver
Solon Angel — MindBridge — Ottawa
Kurtis McBride — Miovision — Kitchener
Henri Machalani — Mistplay — Montréal
David Brebner — Mobials Inc. — London
Irfhan Rawji — MobSquad — Calgary
David Feller & Greg Feller — Mogo — Vancouver
Kenny Hawk — Mojio — Vancouver
Robert Fraser — Molecular You Corporation — Vancouver
Mike Andrade — Morgan Solar — Toronto
Traci Cheng — Moselle — Toronto
Marc Holtenhoff — Motive Health — Toronto
Matt Spoke — Moves Financial — Toronto
Tony Chahine — Myant — Toronto
Joshua Green — Mysa — St. John’s
Claudio Rojas — National Angel Capital Organization — Toronto
Dan Belhassen — Neovation Learning Solutions — Winnipeg
Derek Lackey — Newport Thompson — Alma, NB
Gregor Robertson — Nexii Building Solutions Inc. — Vancouver
Clara Angotti & Chetan Mathur — Next Pathway — Toronto
Yuvrender Gill — Nuclear Promise X — Kincardine
Jason Tham — Nulogy — Toronto
Philip Fayer — Nuvei — Montréal
Victor Anjos — 100ml Inc. — Toronto
Fadwa Mohanna — one37 Identity — Toronto
Jonathan Léveillé — Openmind Technologies — Montréal
Louis Roy — OPTEL Group — Québec City
Breanne Everett — Orpyx Medical Technologies — Calgary
Marc Barbeau — Ovivo Inc — Montréal
Jim Hinton — Own Innovation — Kitchener
Adolfo Klassen — Paladin AI — Montréal
Karen Lam — Pawsperity Biotechnologies — Vancouver
Tarique Al-Ansari — Paystone — London
Ami Shah — Peekapak Inc. — Toronto
Craig Follett — Peggy — Toronto
Ron Glibbery — Peraso — Toronto
Patrice Gilbert — PetalMD — Québec City
Hugo Gagnon — PhenoSwitch Bioscience — Sherbrooke
Chris Loranger — Plexxis Software — Brampton
Ian L. Paterson — Plurilock — Victoria
Ken Harris — Plusgrade — Montréal
Mike Wessinger — PointClickCare — Mississauga
Rob McLean — Points — Toronto
Mark Rabin — Portable Electric Ltd. — Vancouver
Daniel Hartley — Powertec — Winnipeg
Jay Singh — Precision ADM — Winnipeg
Zeeshan Hayat — Prizm Media Inc. — Vancouver
Normand Frechette — Project Clean Inc. — Hamilton
Ben Sanders — Proof — Whitehorse
Sam Jenkins — Punchcard Systems — Edmonton
Jean Le Bouthillier — Qohash — Québec City
Scott Stevenson — Rally — St. John’s
Hamid Arabzadeh — Ranovus — Ottawa
Brian Lang — Real Matters — Markham
Christine Haas — Renix Inc. — London
Lloyd Segal — Repare Therapeutics — Montréal
Nikhil Rodye — R&D Capital Inc. — Toronto
Dana Stephenson — Riipen — Vancouver
Aldo Zanoni — Riva — Edmonton
Latif Nanji — Roadmunk — Kitchener
Doug Carwardine — Rockport Networks — Ottawa
David Ross — Ross Video — Ottawa
Myrna Bittner — RUNWITHIT Synthetics — Edmonton
Rhiannon Davies — Sandpiper Ventures — Halifax
Tim Bruce — Scend Solutions Inc. — St. John’s
Michael Coulter — Seascape Inc. — Cochrane
Greg Wolfond — SecureKey — Toronto
Corey Gross — Sensibill — Toronto
Patrick Blanchard — Sensory Technologies — London
Jean-François Côté — Sharethrough — Montréal
Mai Mavinkurve & Wally Trenholm — Sightline Innovation — Toronto
Kevin Edwards — SkipTheDishes — Winnipeg
Mike Rossi — Smile Inc. — Kitchener
Denis King — Solace — Ottawa
Saba Mohebpour — Spocket — Vancouver
Denis Doré — Squeeze — Québec City
Abdul Rehman — SSIMWAVE Inc. — Waterloo
Dr. Allen Eaves — STEMCELL Technologies — Burnaby
Eric Boyko — Stingray Digital — Montréal
Basil Bouraropoulos — Stradigi AI — Montréal
Anna Foat — Sunlife — London
Carlo Perez — Swift Medical — Toronto
Hanif Joshaghani & Tiffany Kaminsky — Symend — Calgary
Graeme Moffat — System2 Neurotechnology — Toronto
Melissa McInerney — tbk Creative — London
Stephany Lapierre — Tealbook — Toronto
Paul Vallée — Tehama — Ottawa
Karn Manhas — Terramera — Vancouver
Derek Ting — TextNow — Waterloo
James Lochrie & Jim Gibson — Thin Air Labs — Calgary
Sachin Aggarwal — Think Research — Toronto
Craig McLellan — ThinkON — Toronto
Mike Monteith — ThoughtWire — Toronto
Jeffrey Doucet — Thrive Career Wellness — Toronto
Bouhdad Karim — TikTak Express — Montréal
Simon Ferragne — TrackTik — Montréal
Keith Metcalfe — Traction Guest — Burnaby
Greg Malpass — Traction On Demand — Burnaby
Debra Greig — TransforMana — Edmonton
Sebastien Gendron — TransPod — Toronto
Noah Dolgoy — Tread — Toronto
Ghislain Demers — Umano Médical — L'Islet
Radcliffe Dockery — Unifai Solutions Inc. — Toronto
Chris Jensen — UpNext Ventures — Pitt Meadows
Craig Clydesdale — UWB Energy — Oakville
Ilya Brotzky — VanHack — Vancouver
Aran Hamilton — Vantage — Toronto
Brendan King — Vendasta Technologies — Saskatoon
Brett Udashkin — Vendittude — Kingston
Martin Beaudoin Nadeau — Viridis Terra — Québec City
David Ciccarelli — Voices.com — London
Denis Kouroussis — Volta Energy — Toronto
Rory Olson — VOTI Detection — Montréal
Allen Lau — Wattpad — Toronto
Tiffany Linke-Boyke — We Know Training — Edmonton
Michael Katchen — Wealthsimple — Toronto
Ashwin Kutty — WeUsThem — Halifax
Jeremy Tooley — Xerris — Calgary
Paul Bellows — Yellow Pencil — Edmonton
Deepak Dutt — Zighra — Ottawa
Ali Tehrani, PhD — Zymeworks — Vancouver