CCI Response to the 2024 B.C. Budget

In response to B.C.’s 2024 budget, released today by Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, Council of Canadian Innovators President Benjamin Bergen released the following statement:

“In an era where governments are expected to achieve more with less, Canadian innovators take a practical approach. They don't seek increased spending, but rather smarter spending to boost the economy. That's why our members advocate for procurement reform, enabling more Canadian-made solutions to be purchased by governments. This not only supports local companies but also positions them for global contracts in the future.

Additionally, our members advocate for policies geared towards the modern economy, focusing on generating and owning intangible assets like intellectual property (IP) and data. This involves promoting literacy and providing research and development support to help high-growth companies scale.

Governments that spend more without a plan to make more – through the growth of their wealth and job creating innovative companies – must reorient their strategies towards a more sustainable economic path.

While today’s budget is not an innovation budget in CCI’s view, the B.C. government does have time before voters head to the polls later this year to demonstrate progress on the files innovators expect movement on.”

Furthermore, Abu Kamat, CCI’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, commented:

“It’s critical that B.C.’s intellectual property strategy, released last July, is implemented as soon as possible. Intangible assets are essential to building economic value in the 21st Century, and B.C.’s early work on IP has been promising. We encourage the government to keep momentum on this file.

This budget includes new spending for healthcare, a prime area where modernized procurement processes could propel the province’s health and life sciences companies who are keen to help solve the pressing challenges facing B.C.’s healthcare systems while delivering better public services at a reduced cost.

In the year ahead, we hope that Finance Minister Conroy, Innovation Minister Bailey, and their cabinet colleagues will consider the opportunities presented by public sector procurement to help propel B.C.’s innovation economy and help more local innovators scale-up globally.”

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Established in 2015, the Council of Canadian Innovators represents and works with over 150 of Canada’s fastest-growing technology companies. Our members are the CEOs, founders, and top senior executives behind some of Canada’s most successful ‘scale-up’ companies. All our members are job and wealth creators, investors, philanthropists, and experts in their fields of healthtech, cleantech, fintech, cybersecurity, AI and digital transformation. Our members are market leaders in their verticals, commercialize their technologies in over 190 countries, and generate between $10-$750 million in annual recurring revenue. We advocate on their behalf for government strategies that increase their access to skilled talent, strategic capital, and new customers, as well as expanded freedom to operate for their global pursuits of scale.

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Media Contact:

James McLeod

jmcleod@canadianinnovators.org