News That Matters To You

By Mark Lowey
Canada needs a new, clear definition of what qualifies as a Canadian company, says the Canadian Shield Institute. The federal government’s current descriptions of which companies qualify as Canadian aren’t suitable for a global economy dominated by cross-border intangible assets and digital systems, the institute says in a new policy brief. The brief offers an operational rule for strategic policy, funding allocation and differentiation.

By Mark Lowey
Canada’s financial system presents structural barriers that result in persistent funding gaps for SMEs and force many innovative firms to prematurely sell their intellectual property and talent to foreign competitors. A new Senate committee report proposes a national overhaul, including establishing a dedicated SME Office and reformed mandates for Canada's banks and largest institutional investors, to ensure domestic companies can scale and thrive.

By Mark Lowey
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture urges the federal government's fall 2026 budget to prioritize critical infrastructure, workforce stability, and regulatory reform to strengthen Canada's $150-billion agriculture and agri-food system. Bolstering the Advanced Payments Program for farmers and other proposed measures aim to combat rising production costs and supply chain vulnerabilities, ensuring the industry remains globally competitive.

By Mark Lowey
The Canada Organic Trade Association, Canadian Organic Growers, and the Organic Federation of Canada. are calling for federal budget 2026 to establish a national organic growth strategy and a new organic market development fund. They said investments are needed to boost domestic processing, secure food sovereignty, strenghthen resilience and close the competitiveness gap with major international rivals like the U.S. and the EU.

By Mark Lowey
Innovation groups, VC firms and CEOs are callling on Ottawa to adopt a U.S.-style capital gains tax incentive, along with deferring capital gains for Canadian-to-Canadian business investment, to encourage founders and investors to keep their capital and businesses in Canada. The two tax reforms aim to fuel long-term economic prosperity by rewarding the risks taken by entrepreneurs who build and scale companies within the country.

By Mark Lowey
Canada's global leadership in regenerative medicine is threatened as outdated regulations and funding gaps force life-saving innovations abroad. The Stem Cell Network, in a pre-budget submission for this fall's Budget 2026, urges the federal government to implement a prioritized regulatory pathway for advanced therapeutics along with targeted early-stage investment to secure economic growth and faster patient access to domestic therapies.

By Mark Lowey
Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) proposes that this fall's federal budget establish a $1.25-billion National Workforce Strategy to align workforce investments with Major Projects and Canada's economic priorities. Wiithout improved alignment and capacity, federal investments will not deliver the workforce required to support Major Projects and defence priorities, CICan said.

By Danielle Burns
York University and the Centre for International Governance Innovation are launching a pilot program to build essential governance frameworks for AI and neurotechnology. This initiative aims to address the critical lack of legal safeguards for neural data and neurotechnologies in Canada, ensuring that rapidly evolving brain-monitoring devices and other neurotechnologies respect fundamental human rights.

By Mark Lowey
The federal government's Bill C-22, proposed legislation on lawful acces, threatens to expose Canadian businesses and citizens to increased cyberattacks by weakening encryption and mandating insecure backdoors in online systems, say industry and Internet experts. They warn that this legislation will damage Canada's global business reputation and risks driving technology companies and online services providers out of the domestic market.