Digital Supercluster obtains $125M in new funding

OTTAWA – The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced that each of Canada’s Global Innovation Clusters will receive renewed support. The Digital Supercluster, headquarted in Vancouver and responsible for developing many healthcare I.T.-related applications, is receiving up to $125 million in renewed funding.

“We are grateful to our members for their tireless commitments to building homegrown digital solutions to some of our planet’s greatest challenges and through this, to create world-leading opportunities for Canadian industry and Canadians,” said Sue Paish (pictured), CEO of the Digital Supercluster.

“The Digital Supercluster team is excited to work with our Members to continue building a better Canada and creating global impact,” she added. “We have only just begun to see the potential of what is possible for all of us in the digital world.”

Other clusters receiving funding include:

• Advanced Manufacturing Cluster – up to $177 million to support the commercialization of transformative projects that develop, scale up and apply advanced technology solutions in manufacturing, attracting talent and investments from within Canada and around the world
• Protein Industries Cluster – up to $150 million to facilitate investment in Canada’s plant-based food and feed ecosystem and in the creation of new products and services, while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with agricultural production and food processing
• Digital Technology Cluster – up to $125 million to mobilize Canadian industry to build world-leading digital technologies that will make Canada a global leader in clean, healthy economic growth and see Canadian companies become digital anchor enterprises
• Scale AI Cluster – up to $125 million to establish Canada as a global hub for artificial intelligence dedicated to business productivity and intelligent supply chains, with Canadian technology setting the world standard and providing a competitive advantage for Canadian businesses
• Ocean Cluster – up to $125 million to accelerate solutions to address global ocean opportunities, building a stronger Canadian economy and a healthier planet

The clusters have adopted the following common missions: expanding their global presence, collaborating among the clusters to deepen their impact, fighting climate change, building more resilient supply chains, and supporting the growth and scale-up of Canadian SMEs. The clusters will also aim to increase industry co-investment by raising their industry match ratio, which will result in further positive impact on job creation and GDP.

“Since their implementation, the clusters have had positive impacts by fostering collaboration across Canada’s innovation ecosystem, supporting hundreds of groundbreaking projects and creating thousands of well-paying jobs. Our government will continue to double down on spurring innovation and strengthen Canada’s position as a global innovation leader,” said Minister Champagne.

Budget 2022 confirmed Canada’s commitment to the clusters, with an additional investment of $750 million through to 2028, to support the further growth and development of Canada’s Global Innovation Clusters, formerly called the Innovation Superclusters Initiative.

As of December 2022, the clusters had supported more than 500 projects worth $2.37 billion, involving more than 2,465 partners and generating over 855 patent applications, copyrights, trademarks or trade secrets.

Clusters are on track to meet or exceed the overall job creation target of 15,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs by 2023 and 50,000 by 2028.

The clusters are also helping to build a skilled and diverse workforce by creating opportunities for women, racialized Canadians, Indigenous communities and other under-represented groups and offering workshops and formalized training in response to industry’s need for members of these groups to develop their talent, learn about topics or gain new skills.

A backgrounder document on Global Innovation Cluster projects can be found here.