INNOVATION FUNDING
B.C. wants its fair share
B.C.'s new minister in charge of innovation, Ravi Kahlon, has been in the job for less than two weeks, but he has already seen evidence of the “unique challenges” the province's tech ecosystem faces when it comes to federal funding.
It's a problem the BC Tech Association confronted last week when it cleared out of the rented Vancouver space where it housed local startups in its Innovation Hub. It has become a digital-only support service for the region's tech community after it could no longer afford to keep the Hub's doors open.
In an interview with The Logic, Kahlon acknowledged the importance of finding consistent funding to support the province's tech community, saying, “We need to think long term; it can't be short term.” And he says he's already begun work on two other key initiatives: establishing a provincial venture capital fund and an intellectual property strategy.
One of the goals for Kahlon's New Democrats, re-elected last month with a majority government, is ensuring “that we get our fair share of federal funding” for the province's tech sector. He told The Logic he wants to see the same passion from the federal government for investment in B.C. as in Ontario, for example. “So far, we've had great alignment between the federal and provincial governments on many things, and we certainly want to do that with this, as well.”
He said he understands the importance of long-term financial
commitments. “The question for us is: how do we find more stable ways to fund initiatives like this? And it's something we're certainly considering.”
The Innovation Hub's closure was not planned, Jill Tipping, the BC Tech Association's CEO, told The Logic. “It was a closure in reaction to failing to secure continuous, go-forward federal government funding.”
The hub, located in East Vancouver, opened in 2014. It had since housed more than 80 startups and other companies, according to the association, and offered a space for networking, workshops and other events. First funded by the federal government through an accelerator and incubator program, since 2019, it had been funded by Western Economic Diversification Canada (WEDC), one of the federal government's regional development agencies.
Tipping and the association attempted to find funding beyond that time, but she said WEDC told them there was no more money available for the hub and the association's accelerator services.
WEDC “was pleased to assist” the BC Tech Association with several programs in recent years, providing $2.25 million since 2018, spokesperson Amanda Costa wrote in an email to The Logic. She noted that “those projects are now complete,” and the association requested a shortened timeline for some programs, which did not impact funding amounts. The department “is currently focused on ensuring the liquidity of firms affected by the pandemic,” which includes $300,000 that the association will receive through Innovate BC to help tech companies navigate the economic climate.