August 27, 2019 — Toronto, Ontario
As Canada’s business and financial capital, Toronto is an economic powerhouse benefiting all Canadians. Through strategic investments, the Government of Canada is building on regional strengths to help secure our position as a world leader in innovation and create the right conditions for continued growth in our evolving economy.
Today, Marco Mendicino, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and Member of Parliament for Eglinton–Lawrence, announced a combined FedDev Ontario investment of up to $53.3 million for six Toronto-based organizations to create good jobs, support sustained economic growth, and continue to drive innovation across the region. This announcement was made on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, at The Bentway, a unique and innovative public space that transforms 1.75 kilometres underneath the Gardiner Expressway into a new gathering place for Toronto’s growing population.
FedDev Ontario is investing up to $6.24 million for the Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO®) to boost investment, market access and mentorship opportunities for companies across southern Ontario looking to commercialize their medical innovations.
“Building the health sciences industry is an important part of building Canada’s economy and our future. With the support of FedDev Ontario, OBIO® is excited to expand our work with health science companies seeking to access the capital and markets needed to commercialize their leading-edge innovations here at home and globally.”
With this funding, OBIO will work over the next four years to enhance and expand its Capital Access Advisory Program (CAAP®) and HealthMINT™ program (HealthMINT) to increase access to capital for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the health and biosciences sector that are moving beyond the seed stage of financing, and deliver training programs and business development support to companies.
OBIO will launch a Technology Early Adoption (TEA™) program to support companies as they engage with health organizations to test and develop their technologies and accelerate innovation adoption. OBIO will help over 400 companies connect with financing, markets, networking and coaching opportunities to commercialize innovative technologies and scale up, effectively establishing a pipeline of market and investment-ready health and biosciences companies in southern Ontario.
Supported companies are expected to generate $25 million in new sales revenues, and over 990 skilled jobs are expected to be created and maintained across the region—bolstering Ontario’s, and Canada’s, world-recognized health and biosciences cluster. FedDev Ontario previously supported OBIO with a $3.89 million investment to expand the CAAP program.