ONTARIO 🍁🧑🔎 Ontario Driving Homegrown Innovation in Key Sectors 💵

Sunday, 27 April 2025 10:23.AM

- $75 million investment in research and innovation will protect Ontario jobs and workers -

The Ontario government is investing $75 million in 162 research and innovation projects across the province through its competitive research programs, the Early Researcher Awards and the Ontario Research Fund. This investment will protect Ontario’s long-term economic growth, fostering a skilled labour force and enabling discoveries that save and improve residents’ lives.

“Our government is investing in made-in-Ontario research that will protect our economy, jobs and workers,” said Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. “By driving cutting-edge research at our world class postsecondary institutions, hospitals, and research institutions, people in Ontario, Canada and around the world will benefit from discoveries made in our own backyard.”

Today’s investment will help Ontario’s institutions to attract and hire top talent, purchase the latest equipment and technologies and support key industries, such as agriculture, auto manufacturing, information technology and the life sciences.

The Canadian Biomanufacturing Cooperative, an Ontario-led initiative that will significantly enhance biomanufacturing capacity across Canada, received $45 million through this investment. Coordinated through the Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub, this investment in the Canadian Biomanufacturing Cooperative is led by the University of Ottawa and will support expansion of facilities affiliated with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and McMaster University. The work done through the cooperative will help the province protect itself from future pandemics, build a highly skilled biomanufacturing workforce, and expand access to clinical trials for new lifesaving treatments.

“Researchers across Ontario have launched dozens of innovative life sciences companies, but we haven’t had enough local biomanufacturing capacity to support them,” said Dr. Duncan Stewart, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, professor at the University of Ottawa and lead for the Canadian Biomanufacturing Cooperative. “This investment from the Government of Ontario will help to address this critical need, so that our researchers and companies can get to the next level and bring their lifesaving products to people in Ontario and around the world.”

Ontario’s research sector plays a vital role in cementing the province as a global leader and innovator in critical sectors. By investing in Ontario-made research, the government is protecting the province’s workers, innovation, and wellbeing.

Quick Facts

• Since 2018, Ontario has invested $907 million in 1,665 research projects, leveraging nearly $1.5 billion in funding from federal and other third-party contributions. Ontario’s research investments have:
o Supported the creation of more than 120,000 training opportunities for researchers and students across the province.
o Contributed to 406 patents being granted, 76 spin-off companies being created and 594 new jobs at those spin-offs.
• The Ontario government is supporting the province’s innovators in developing, managing and commercializing their intellectual property through Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON), a government agency that was created in 2022.
• The $45 million dollar investment for the Canadian Biomanufacturing Cooperative will provide:
o $27 million for the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute to expand its Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre
o $18 million for McMaster University to expand its Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory

SOURCE: Ontario Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security