CCI’s Pre-Budget Address to the Standing Committee on Finance in Ottawa

Today, CCI President Benjamin Bergen and CCI Director of Federal Affairs Nick Schiavo presented CCI's 2025 Pre-Budget recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Below are the opening remarks from Mr. Bergen:

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Good afternoon Chair, Vice Chairs, and Members of the House Standing Committee on Finance.

Thank you for the opportunity to present today on behalf of Canadian job and wealth creators from across the country.

My name is Benjamin Bergen, President of the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI).

I’m pleased to be joined today by my colleague Nick Schiavo, Director of Federal Affairs.

CCI represents over 150 of Canada’s fastest-growing, technology-intensive companies.

All of our members are proudly headquartered in Canada, employing thousands of workers across the country.

These companies are leaders in sectors critical to our economic future—AI, cybersecurity, fintech, health technologies, clean energy, and more.

They are innovating right here at home while commercializing their solutions globally, selling to governments and consumers across Europe, Asia, and the US.

As we approach Budget 2025, it’s important to recognize that Canada is at a crossroads.

We are experiencing what many are calling a "Great Canadian Slump," with rising living costs, stagnant productivity, and a declining GDP per capita.

This reality is making it harder for Canadians to maintain their standard of living.

The facts are striking: real median wages have barely grown since the 1970s, and Canada’s productivity has dropped to less than 1% annually since 2000.

Forecasts now suggest Canada could be the worst-performing economy in the OECD by 2060.

These challenges are compounded by structural issues like climate change, global conflicts, and pressures on our healthcare system.

But I’m not here to complain—and our members are not passive bystanders to these challenges.

CCI’s members have been actively working on policy solutions, and we believe that with the right strategic actions, Canada can turn the tide.

One of the most important areas for reform is Canada’s approach to working with homegrown companies and ensuring Canada remains home to the very companies that will fuel Canada’s long-term prosperity.

At the heart of our recommendations is the need for a modern industrial strategy, one that places innovation, productivity, and intangible assets at the core of our economic framework.

This must include reforming key programs like the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit.

Currently, the program is outdated, and its complexity hinders domestic companies from fully benefiting.

In fact, a significant portion of SR&ED funds go to foreign firms. We believe this must change to better support Canada’s innovators.

Our budget submission recommends cost-neutral ways to improve this critical program, and I’d be happy to explore this issue further during our Q&A.

Additionally, reforming government procurement is essential.

Government spending represents a significant portion of our GDP—yet our procurement systems are often overly risk-averse, rigid, and lacking the flexibility to adopt new, innovative solutions.

This not only stifles Canadian companies but also prevents governments from accessing cutting-edge technologies that could improve public services.

The changes won’t happen overnight, but tackling these procurement barriers is vital for unlocking Canada’s innovation potential.

I’m also happy to expand on this topic if it’s of interest to the committee, and speak to our recent reports Building Winners and Buying Ideas.

We also need to avoid policies that inadvertently punish innovation and entrepreneurship. The recent changes to capital gains tax, for example, are counterproductive at a time when we need to be fostering growth and investment.

These policies create an added burden on entrepreneurs, making it harder for Canadian companies to scale and compete globally.

When Canada’s productivity is in crisis, we cannot afford to hold back our most innovative companies.

In closing, I want to address something I heard from Minister Champagne today at the INDU committee, which I saw a reporter at The Logic tweet out.

The Minister suggested the challenges facing Canada's economy are due to a lack of ambition from our innovators and business leaders.

If only innovators would ‘seize the moment’ we’d be better off.

Frankly, this view is troubling and ignores the reality that entrepreneurs growing businesses in Canada are living through.

For nearly a decade, we've been telling the government that Canadians are as innovative, ambitious, and relentless in business as anyone in the world.

The real issue is that our government isn’t providing the modern policy frameworks needed for them to succeed.

They’re still using old playbooks.

Meanwhile, the superpowers in the US, UK, Europe, and Asia are using new strategies that reflect the digital economy companies are operating in today.

I get that it's easier for governments to blame the innovators instead of taking responsibility for the role they should be playing to create the marketplace frameworks for innovative Canadian companies to succeed.

But this is like a hockey coach blaming the players for not skating fast enough when there’s no ice on the rink.

The problem isn’t Canadian ambition — it’s that our policies, strategies, and institutions aren’t built to harness and support it.

That’s why Budget 2025 represents a crucial opportunity to enact bold reforms—reforms that will foster innovation, increase productivity, and drive long-term economic growth.

These include modernizing the SR&ED program, reforming procurement to better support domestic innovators, and creating a tax environment that encourages entrepreneurship, rather than stifling it.

I look forward to answering any questions you may have and further discussing how we can build an economy that Canadians deserve—one that is prosperous, innovative, and globally competitive for years to come.

Thank you, and I welcome your questions.

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To review CCI's full 2025 pre-budget submission, click here.

To watch CCI's full recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, click here.

To learn more about CCI’s federal advocacy efforts, contact Nick Schiavo at nschiavo@canadianinnovators.org.

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About the Council of Canadian Innovators \ Conseil Canadien des Innovateurs

The Council of Canadian Innovators is a national member-based organization reshaping how governments across Canada think about innovation policy, and supporting homegrown scale-ups to drive prosperity. Established in 2015, CCI 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 health tech, cleantech, fintech, cybersecurity, AI and digital transformation. Companies in our portfolio are market leaders in their verticals, commercialize their technologies in over 190 countries, and generate between $10M-$750M 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.