CCI Response to the 2024 Manitoba Budget

Today in Winnipeg,  Finance Minister Adrien Sala delivered Manitoba's 2024 provincial budget. On behalf of our members, CCI President Benjamin Bergen issued the following statement.

“Last September I penned an op-ed with Tech Manitoba’s Kelly Fournel, calling on candidates to present a vision for the province’s intangible economy, especially in the areas of health and life sciences. When Premier Kinew and his team took office, we were pleased by the government’s message about creating the conditions for economic growth. 

“In today’s budget, we see the NDP government getting to work on many of the areas they campaigned on last year. We were pleased to see an emphasis on health care digitization and innovative technology, and we believe that innovators can work closely with this government to achieve better results for Manitobans.

“Economic growth is the best way for the Manitoba government to pay for the social services we all value, and the most powerful tool for driving growth among innovative companies is strategic government procurement. In 2024, the government should look at ways to improve service delivery and operate more efficiently, while also validating the services of Manitoba’s growing technology firms.”

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Jess Sinclair, CCI Director of Prairie Affairs, also said:

"With a $50 million Strategic Innovation Fund in today’s budget, we see a clear message that the Manitoba government is serious about driving economic growth through innovation, and making strategic moves to support the domestic technology sector.

"We are also pleased to see another $50 million earmarked for the Health System Innovation Capacity Fund to support better frontline health services through improved diagnostic capacity. Paired with language in today’s budget about improved technology driving better results in the health care system, we see today’s document as a highly encouraging signal.

"CCI has dubbed 2024 as the “Year of Procurement” because we see enormous opportunity for Canadian governments to drive growth and support domestic innovators with strategic procurement reform. The health care system is an ideal place to start, and we hope to see Manitoba demonstrate how smart digitization and technology procurement can deliver significant benefits."

Media Contact

James McLeod
Director of Communications

jmcleod@canadianinnovators.org

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