Assessing the 2025 Election Platforms

By Daniel Perry
CCI Director of Federal Affairs

With Election Day just around the corner, the policy choices we make now will shape the future of Canada’s innovation economy for years to come.

In the run-up to the campaign, CCI published a roadmap for how Canada can support its high-growth firms and unlock long-term prosperity. That roadmap—What Innovators Need to Scale—was shared with every major political party as they developed their platforms. It reflects what we’ve heard from our members across the country: CEOs leading the charge in AI, biotech, clean tech, cybersecurity, and more.

Now that the platforms are out, we’ve assessed the Liberal and Conservative proposals against the core recommendations in our roadmap and the open letter at SecureProsperity.ca, signed by 150 Canadian CEOs. What follows is a summary of where the parties stand on the policies that matter most for Canada’s innovation economy. Both the Liberal and Conservative parties put forward proposals relevant to Canada's innovation economy and aligned with CCI’s advocacy work. While the NDP has also released a platform, it does not directly address the core priorities facing Canadian innovators and is not included in this review. Our public reactions to the Liberal and Conservative platforms have also been published.

CCI is proudly non-partisan—we do not endorse candidates or parties. But we are not neutral on outcomes. For nearly a decade, we’ve served as the umpire in Canada’s innovation economy: applauding good policy, calling out missteps, and working across party lines to build a more secure, prosperous, and sovereign Canada—powered by globally competitive, homegrown companies.

CCI is focused on working with whoever forms government to enact meaningful reforms and seize this economic moment. On May 8, we’ll launch our next policy report, A Mandate To Innovate—our blueprint for the first 100 days of Canada’s next government. Register here to join us for the virtual launch.

Here’s how the platforms stack up:
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Tax & Capital

📌 CCI called on the parties to: Modernize the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit to better reward innovation and commercialization, and scrap the capital gains tax increases that disincentivize investment in Canadian technology firms.

The Liberals: Before the election was called, Mark Carney reversed the capital gains tax hike, which we welcomed. In their platform, the Liberal Party has also promised to increase the amount that companies can claim under SR&ED, and recapitalize the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative. They are also promising to introduce flow-through shares for startups in key sectors like AI, quantum, biotech and advanced manufacturing.

The Conservatives: Had a lot to say in their platform about taxes. They are promising more than $70 billion in tax cuts, and promising to eliminate the tax on capital gains when the money is reinvested in the Canadian economy.

Pierre Poilievre is also promising that within 60 days of taking office, he will launch a Tax Reform Task Force—made up of farmers, builders, entrepreneurs, economists, and workers to deliver a simpler, fairer tax system.
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Security and Economic Resilience

📌 CCI called on the parties to: Align defence and security investments with economic growth by supporting Canadian firms in critical technology sectors such as AI, cybersecurity, and quantum computing. We'd also like to see Canada establish a national economic security strategy to mitigate the risks posed by foreign takeovers and unfair trade practices.

The Conservatives: The platform released this week committed to reaching the NATO target of 2% of GDP spent on defence by 2030, though it did not make any specific promises on defence spending as a vehicle for supporting the growth of innovative Canadian companies.

The Liberals: With a goal to reach and exceed the NATO target of 2% of GDP spent on defence by 2030, the Liberals are promising to create the Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Science (BOREALIS) to ensure the Canadian Armed Forces and Communications Security Establishment have the made-in-Canada innovative solutions they need in areas such as AI, quantum computing, cybersecurity, and other advanced research and technology.

They are also promising to invest in aerial and underwater drones, as well as Canadian-made aircraft.
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Intellectual Property (IP)

📌 CCI called on the parties to: Build national leadership on IP commercialization, and ensure federal research funding is tied to strong IP retention and commercialization strategies, so Canadian breakthroughs generate economic returns at home.

The Liberals: CCI has been calling on the government to create a patent box tax credit, which will create an incentive for companies to keep their intellectual property here in Canada. The Liberal Party is promising to create a patent box which will reverse the trend of Canadian ideas flowing to the United States.

The Conservatives: The platform released this week did not make any specific promises on IP or commercialization.
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Government Incentive Programs

📌 CCI called on the parties to: Reallocate funding from ineffective programs like the Global Innovation Clusters to initiatives that deliver measurable economic outcomes, and streamline regional development agencies to get the best results‍.

The Liberals: While the party's platform offers some very general points about an intention to "spend less, so Canada can invest more" in ways that increase productivity, we saw no specific plans.

The Conservatives: The platform did not make any significant statements on reorganizing funding for legacy innovation funding programs.
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AI and Deep Tech Opportunities

📌 CCI called on the parties to: Invest in domestic AI and compute infrastructure to reduce Canada’s dependence on foreign technology giants. We would also like to see the federal government prioritize Canadian firms in AI commercialization, ensuring that homegrown companies—not global platforms—benefit from Canada’s AI leadership.

The Conservatives: The platform released this week did not make any major announcements regarding artificial intelligence, but the costing of the platform indicated that they intend to reduce funding for AI initiatives.

The Liberals: Promise to catalyze AI infrastructure including data storage facilities, computing capacity and high speed networks.
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Innovation Governance

📌 CCI called on the parties to: Merge and modernize federal standards bodies to make regulatory processes more agile and innovation-friendly. We would also like to see expanded use of regulatory sandboxes to accelerate the testing and deployment of new technologies in Canada.

The Liberals: The 2025 campaign platform promises to require all federal departments to review and report within 60 days on steps to eliminate unnecessary rules that overlap with provincial rules, and streamline administrative and regulatory decisions.

They are also promising to launch a Task Force for Public Health Care Innovation aimed at scaling-up made-in-Canada solutions, in part by improving the quality of data.

The Conservatives: Pierre Poilievre's platform promises to cut red tape by 25% and bring in a two-for-one rule for future regulations.
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Trade & Investment

📌 CCI called on the parties to: Strengthen Canada’s trade position by integrating economic security into trade policy and ensuring that Canadian IP and innovation assets are protected from predatory foreign investment. We would also like to see better cooperation on trade strategy between government and industry to counter growing protectionism from the U.S. and other major trading partners.

The Conservatives: The party's platform has nothing of note to say about digital trade or predatory foreign investment.

The Liberals: Mark Carney is also promising to strengthen the Investment Canada Act to prevent foreign players from buying up valuable Canadian intellectual property. The platform promises to make more transactions reviewable, to ensure that the government is able to block foreign takeovers that impact Canada's data sovereignty.
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Procurement

📌 CCI called on the parties to: Implement a Buy Canadian Tech strategy, prioritizing domestic technology firms in federal procurement to support growth and commercialization. To support this, Ottawa needs to reduce procurement barriers that prevent Canadian innovators from competing fairly for government contracts.

The Liberals: Promised to leverage the government's purchasing power to drive Canadian innovation, while supporting small- and medium-sized businesses.

The party's platform contains a "Buy Canadian" section that speaks extensively about domestic procurement, with a range of specific policy ideas to drive more purchasing to Canadian companies, innovators and entrepreneurs.

The Conservatives: The platform promises to streamline military procurement and collaborate with Canada's defence industry. They are also committing to a "Buy Canadian" procurement policy for federally funded infrastructure and defence projects.

Poilievre's party is also promising new drones and surveillance towers to better secure the Canadian border, which could offer significant procurement opportunities for Canadian technology suppliers.
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Odds and Ends

While we have been assessing the party platforms through the lens of our advocacy pillars, there are some interesting policy ideas that are relevant for innovators which don't neatly fit into the categories above.

Conservative Party of Canada

• Promising to implement open banking in Canada, which CCI has been championing for years.
• Promising to launch an oligopoly review of key federally-regulated sectors to increase competition and lower costs for Canadians.
• If they form government, federal online advertising dollars will only be spent on Canadian online platforms.
• Promising to speed up drug approval for drugs approved by 2 of 3 peer jurisdictions, ensure companies share all data on paediatric drug use, and implement a rare diseases strategy to support treatment development.

Liberal Party of Canada

• Promising to support agtech by emphasizing agricultural innovation aimed at enhancing food security rather than boosting exports.
• Promising to "revitalize" the Global Skills Strategy to attract top talent from around the world, and the United States in particular.

Canada's NDP

• The NDP platform made some mentions of procurement with an eye towards Canadian suppliers, however they would reinstate the capital gains tax hike. Overall, their party platform had very little to say about Canadian innovation and economic policy relevant for the tech sector.

CCI will be working closely with members of the new government to get to work immediately, turning campaign rhetoric into concrete policy, and ensuring that Canadian innovators have a seat at the table.

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À propos du Conseil des innovateurs canadiens

Le Conseil des innovateurs canadiens est une organisation nationale basée sur ses membres qui remodèle la façon dont les gouvernements à travers le Canada pensent à la politique d'innovation, et qui soutient les entreprises d'envergure nationale pour stimuler la prospérité. Fondé en 2015, le CCI représente et travaille avec plus de 150 entreprises technologiques canadiennes à la croissance la plus rapide. Nos membres sont les chefs de la direction, les fondateurs et les cadres supérieurs qui sont à l'origine de certaines des entreprises à grande échelle les plus prospères du Canada. Tous nos membres sont des créateurs d'emplois et de richesses, des investisseurs, des philanthropes et des experts dans leurs domaines de la technologie de la santé, des technologies propres, de la fintech, de la cybersécurité, de l'IA et de la transformation numérique. Les entreprises de notre portefeuille sont leaders sur leur marché vertical, commercialisent leurs technologies dans plus de 190 pays et génèrent entre 10 et 750 millions de dollars de revenus annuels récurrents. Nous plaidons en leur nom pour des stratégies gouvernementales qui augmentent leur accès aux talents qualifiés, au capital stratégique et aux nouveaux clients, ainsi qu'à une liberté d'exploitation élargie pour leurs poursuites d'échelle à l'échelle mondiale.