Saskatchewan Should Pursue New Approaches to Old Problems — That Means Leveraging Innovation

By Jess Sinclair
CCI Director of Prairie Affairs

Premier Scott Moe waited until the eleventh hour to drop the writ, but Saskatchewanians finally have an election date: October 28.

Both major parties are focussed on healthcare and the cost of living, trends we’re seeing across the country as other provinces prepare for their own voting days. Incidentally, Canadians are beginning to recognize that these issues are connected to the country’s low productivity and the absence of forward-thinking, practical policy frameworks designed for the 21st century economy.

Like that of Brad Wall before it, the Moe government has underplayed innovation policy as a key issue, but the province has been making some quiet moves in this area. Saskatchewan has had a patent box since 2017 — the Saskatchewan Commercial Innovation Incentive. The province’s Ministry of Trade and Export Development is working on improvements to streamline the program’s application process and eligibility requirements. Our team has provided input on that work, though data on the efficacy of sub-national patent boxes is spotty. It will be interesting to see where this program lands in advance of budget 2025 in the province.

The province’s tech sector employment has doubled over the past four years, and venture capital attraction is beginning to bounce back after some lean years during the pandemic. There was a lot of enthusiasm at Conexus Cultivator’s recent Startup Summit in Regina, and Cultivator’s fund recently launched a second $30 million funding round for startups in the province.

We’re also encouraged by recent indications the province’s two universities are working to update their IP commercialization frameworks. They need not reinvent the wheel to do so, as Saskatchewan can look to what provinces like Ontario have already done in this area.

Industry and post-secondary institutions have also made moves toward integrating technology into healthcare service delivery in the province — something our team at CCI has long advocated for. However the provincial seat count shakes up on the 28, policymakers should make it a priority to modernize health tech procurement practices to speed this work up.

That said, neither party has yet committed to directly supporting innovators in the province through updated innovation policy frameworks. Domestic companies that scale from millions to billions are the most important drivers of economic growth across national and provincial economies, and government support for domestic innovators pays significant dividends.

As a native Saskatchewanian I can attest to the fact that folks in the province possess a tendency toward reserve and tempered expectations. Whatever the result on October 28, government should orient itself toward the policies that will keep more bright minds and big ideas in Saskatchewan. New approaches to old problems will unlock the province’s full potential and ensure a prosperous future for all.

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To learn more about CCI's work in Saskatchewan, get in touch with Jess Sinclair at jsinclair@canadianinnovators.org

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About the Council of Canadian Innovators

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.