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National Biotechnology week is a celebration of the imagination and innovation of Canadian scientists from Vancouver to Halifax. And we have a lot to celebrate!
- With nearly 600 firms, Canada has one of the largest core biotech communities in the world.
- Canadian biotech companies invest more than $1.7 billion in research & development – every year!
- We are in the top 5 in the world for acreage of biotech crops planted.
Powering a bio-economy
Canadian biotech firms are powering a new form of economy: the bio-economy is based on the increasing use and application of biotechnologies in all types of economic activity.
From green pesticides made from viruses to car seats out of renewable soy foam, to medicine targeted to a person’s specific body, biotech is changing all parts of our life.
The $87.3 Billion Canadian Bio-Economy
Canada's bio-economy is worth $87.3 billion, or more than 7% of our GDP and supports an employment network of more than 1 million jobs.
The bio-economy applies biotechnology processes, products and tools to manufacturing, automotive, health, energy and agriculture to create new methods of manufacturing and developing consumer products and services.
New vaccines, bio-diesel and engine oils made from oilseed crops, biological therapies for Alzheimer’s and cancer, new plastic composites from agricultural sources, trans fat-free cooking oil, renewable biomass energy sources — all are examples of ways biotechnology is changing our economy.
International economists believe the bio-economy is currently responsible for as much as one-third of the global economy. In the future, according to the OECD, the bio-economy will contribute 10-14 new drugs per year over the next 5 years, and will be responsible for 10 % of chemical production by 2030.
How can we realize the potential of the bio-economy? Let’s build it here!
The drivers of the bio-economy — people, capital, and operating environment — can help us create a dynamic new economic base. Canada’s biotechnology industry has proposed a dynamic plan to get us there. The Beyond Moose and Mountains Plan identifies three areas for change:
People: develop, attract and retain world-class talent in both biotechnology research and the commercialization of innovation.
Capital: stimulate new capital formation, achieve world-leading efficiency in the use of capital, and create the most bio-friendly tax regime in the world.
Operating Environment: align all government policies, regulations and research and commercialization efforts to capture the full potential of innovation.
Biotech Close to Home
The exile of the tobacco plant is over: tobacco plants have shown they can act as safe and speedy factories for producing pandemic flu vaccine. Okanagan Specialty Fruit: The Apple of Everyone's Eye
It’s the darling of the fruit world. But the fruit touted for its ability to keep away doctors is also the fruit that bears the shame of too-often ending up half eaten and ignominiously tossed into the nearest wastebasket. For all its deliciousness, the ubiquitous apple has a problem – it turns brown within minutes of its delicate inner flesh being exposed to air or handled too roughly.
