$950 million investment positions Canada for an innovative boom in high-growth sectors

Kavita Pahwa | The Voice of Canada News

Ms. Ruby Sahota, Member of Parliament for Brampton North believes that when small, medium-sized and large companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations come together to generate bold ideas, Canadians benefit

from more well-paying jobs, ground-breaking research and a world-leading innovation economy. That’s why the Government of Canada is investing up to $950 million under the Innovation Superclusters Initiative.

The investment, which will be matched dollar for dollar by the private sector, is expected

to create more than 50,000 middle-class jobs and grow Canada’s economy by $50 billion

over the next 10 years.

In 2017, the Government of Canada challenged Canadian businesses of all sizes to

collaborate with other innovation actors, including post-secondary and research

institutions, to propose bold and ambitious strategies that would transform regional

economies and develop job-creating superclusters of innovation, like Silicon Valley.

Recently, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic

Development, announced Canada’s five superclusters:

. The Ocean Supercluster (based in Atlantic Canada) will use innovation to improve

competitiveness in Canada’s ocean-based industries, including fisheries, oil and gas,

and clean energy

. The SCALE.AI Supercluster (based in Quebec) will make Canada a world leading

exporter by building intelligent supply chains through artificial intelligence and

robotics

. The Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster (based in Ontario) will connect Canada’s

technology strengths to our manufacturing industry to make us a world

manufacturing leader in the economy of tomorrow

. The Protein Industries Supercluster (based in the Prairies) will make Canada a

leading source for plant proteins and help feed the world

. The Digital Technology Supercluster (based in British Columbia) will use big data

and digital technologies to unlock new potential in important sectors like healthcare,

forestry, and manufacturing.

The Innovation Superclusters Initiative is a centrepiece of the Government of Canada’s

Innovation and Skills Plan, a multi-year strategy to prepare Canada for the innovative jobs

of today and tomorrow.

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“Today we are investing in five superclusters so that tomorrow we will be more than

50,000 jobs richer and benefit from an even stronger economy—an innovation economy.

With the Superclusters Initiative, we bet on Canadians. We looked at what we did well

across our great nation, and we asked industry, academia and NGOs how we could do it

better. The response was impressive and the ideas were remarkable.”

 -The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic

Development

“I am excited that the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster bid received funding under

the Innovation Superclusters Initiative as this will have a real and long standing impact on

Brampton and its future role within the Innovation Corridor. This is great news for our

economy, for Canadian innovation and for our local community.”

– Ruby Sahota, Member of Parliament for Brampton North