Federal Budget: Impact on ventureLAB and the Innovation Ecosystem

ventureLAB responds to the Federal budget, released Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The budget boasts promising initiatives in research, development and Artificial Intelligence (AI)  investment, while progress could be made on commercialization and creating a business friendly environment for the tech and innovation sector. 

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ventureLAB, leading global founder community for hardware technology and enterprise software companies in Canada, received the Federal budget with great appreciation for its focus on innovation and investment in emerging technologies. 

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ventureLAB applauds the government’s pilot initiative with Talent for Innovation focusing on attracting, training and deploying talent in bio-manufacturing, clean technology, electronic vehicle manufacturing and microelectronics - including semiconductors. Canada’s hardtech ecosystem needs this sort of attention and the pilot initiative marks a significant step in the right direction.

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ventureLAB was also encouraged to see the government commit to helping Canada compete in the growing AI ecosystem through its new AI Compete Access Fund and Canadian Sovereign Compute Strategy and looks forward to further details on these initiatives. Similar to hardtech, Canada faces competition globally in advancing AI development. The $2.4 billion committed in the budget toward the AI ecosystem will empower Canada Canada to leverage its world-class talent. 

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In addition, ventureLAB supports the budget's commitment of $600 million to the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit, to support the researchers who provide the specialized talent that the innovation economy needs. 

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These initiatives demonstrate an understanding of the potential for Canada in hardtech and AI. However, it is commercialization that generates the jobs and revenue crucial for Canadian prosperity. The government could strengthen its support by investing further in commercializing  technologies created by the ambitious Canadians trained in its excellent research universities, and by fostering a business friendly tax environment to allow Canadian technology companies to compete more effectively on the global stage. 

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The ventureLAB team looks forward to working with partners in the York region and beyond to take advantage of these farsighted initiatives in AI, hardtech and innovation.

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