Overview

Ontario is home to Canada's largest life sciences cluster, with top-tier research institutions, academic hospitals and life sciences companies generating over half of the sector’s economic activity in the nation. Graduating more than 70,000 STEM students annually from postsecondary programs across the province, Ontario produces a strong pipeline of innovators and entrepreneurs and one of the most highly skilled workforces in the world, ready to fill in-demand jobs across key sectors.

The sector is undergoing rapid growth worldwide. Faced with an increasing need for innovative solutions to respond to health-care challenges and new diseases, set against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty — Ontario has a significant opportunity to leverage core strengths and grow the life sciences sector while boosting competitiveness on the world stage.

We are focusing on building a strong, competitive and resilient life sciences sector for the long term, driving economic growth and creating good-paying jobs for the people of Ontario – both now and in the future.

This strategy will establish Ontario as a global biomanufacturing and life sciences hub, improving responsiveness to current and future health challenges, promoting better patient outcomes for Ontarians and driving innovation in Canada’s health-care sector.

Vision for life sciences

By driving the development, commercialization and early adoption of made-in-Ontario solutions and improving access to new health products and services, the province will grow employment in the sector to 85,000 high-value jobs by 2030, a 25 per cent boost from 2020.

Through the Health Innovation Pathway, the province is making it faster and easier to bring new, innovative technologies into Ontario’s health-care system.

This initiative will enable Ontario-made solutions to grow and succeed at home, by enhancing the experience of patients and health-care providers and accelerating access to next-generation innovation to improve health and economic outcomes.

Phase 1, launched March 2022, focused on addressing immediate challenges faced in the sector including building resilience in domestic supply chains by ensuring access to critical medical products like personal protective equipment.

Phase 2 will build on the successes of Phase 1 with a focus on advancing research and development, unlocking new streams of capital, supporting the existing life sciences ecosystem and adopting a culture of innovation.

Key goals of Phase 2 include scaling up Ontario’s biomanufacturing footprint, boosting commercialization capacity of Ontario companies and adopting Ontario-made innovations to improve health care.

These actions are critical to advancing the development of Ontario’s life sciences ecosystem, enabling entrepreneurs and researchers to embrace innovation and capitalize on emerging opportunities in the biotechnology, medical devices and digital health sectors.

Ontario’s Life Sciences Council

Ontario’s life sciences strategy has been developed in consultation with experts from business, health care, academia, and research communities, with regional representation from across the province.

Led by Dr. Jason Field, CEO and President of Life Sciences Ontario, Ontario’s Life Sciences Council was created to provide insight into the challenges and opportunities facing Ontario’s life sciences sector and to inform the development of Phase 2 of the strategy.

A message from the Minister

The life sciences sector is a key contributor to Ontario’s economy, employing more than 72,000 people in high-value jobs across 2,000 firms. Which is why in 2022, our government introduced Taking Life Sciences to the Next Level, Ontario’s first life sciences strategy in over a decade.

Rooted in a vision to establish Ontario as a leading global biomanufacturing and life sciences hub, the Strategy presents an all-of-government approach to addressing barriers to growth, positioning both our province and companies who invest in it for success.

Over the course of Phase 1, our government sought to create an environment that encouraged innovation, fostered job creation and emphasized Ontario’s competitiveness and economic resilience. In addition to being recognized as the largest life sciences jurisdiction in Canada, Ontario is a central hub for health research talent, regarded for both is its unparalleled concentration of clinical trial sites and annual production of one of the most highly skilled life sciences workforces.

This is an incredible feat considering how years of inaction from previous governments left us with outdated policies, drove up the cost of doing business and increased our dependence on external procurement and supply. Our system was one of barriers, leaving domestic companies and technology incubators to commercialize in external jurisdictions, hollowing out domestic production and impeding improved patient outcomes.

We understood that this was not the path forward and took over 500 actions to tackle the unnecessary red tape burdens being faced. We reduced the cost of doing business by $8 billion annually, launched a $15 million Life Sciences Innovation Fund to support entrepreneurs and help innovators bring their ideas from lab to market and dedicated approximately $40 million from the Venture Ontario Fund to help the province’s companies develop the life-saving medicines and technologies of tomorrow.

Make no mistake, the world is already taking notice. Our approach has attracted over $5 billion in new investments in the last six years from global biomanufacturers and life sciences companies, including AstraZeneca, Roche, Sanofi, and Siemens Healthineers.

Through the launch of Phase 2 of the Strategy, we will continue to build on this momentum and further advance our bold vision to establish Ontario as a leader in the next generation of life sciences discoveries and technologies.

As we continue to foster the right conditions for innovation to thrive, this next phase of the Strategy offers a unique opportunity to harness the economic potential of this fast-growing industry, ensuring that the future of life sciences innovation has a home in Ontario.

Sincerely,

Vic Fedeli
Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

Goal: Advancing research and development

By boosting capacity for research and commercialization, Ontario is in a better position to bring groundbreaking goods and services to global markets, capitalizing on the economic potential of industry-leading research and ideas coming out of the life sciences sector.

Our goal is a 25 per cent increase to the number of patent applications filed. This goal will be supported through targeted measures that include:

  • launching a new Wet Labs program to address the critical shortage of wet lab space in Ontario, expanding access for companies and entrepreneurs to bring their health solutions to market.
  • matching the funding provided by the federal government’s Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund Stage 2 to strengthen Ontario’s biomanufacturing capacity
  • working with Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO) to reduce the time needed to launch clinical trials to help get new innovative technologies and products to market faster
  • expanding the eligible priority sectors for Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON) to help capitalize on the commercial potential of the research coming out of the life sciences sector

Supporting Ontario’s biomanufacturing capacity

Enhancing Ontario’s biomanufacturing capacity is critical to our innovation economy and creates an environment that fosters growth and development. We aim to help our already world-class institutions with additional supports.

  • The federal government, through the Canada Foundation for Innovation, invests in the Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF) to support postsecondary institutions and research hospitals by providing high-performance tools, innovative research spaces, and biocontainment facilities.
  • Ontario research institutions that recently secured BRIF Stage 2 funding will be eligible for further funding from the province through the Ontario Research Fund (ORF). This ensures that Ontario institutions can enhance their biomanufacturing capacity and support research and commercialization in the province.

What are wet labs and why we need them

A wet lab is a specialized laboratory space designed to meet all the unique needs for conducting, testing and refining pre-clinical research while meeting the latest safety and environmental regulations.

By increasing the availability of wet lab space in the province for fast-growing firms, more domestic life sciences companies can conduct innovative experiments while scaling up their operations in Ontario. This will:

  • advance new research to develop more products and services
  • retain Ontario talent and intellectual property in the province
  • increase access to innovative health solutions for Ontarians
  • attract additional investment in the life sciences sector
  • create more good-paying jobs for Ontarians.

Goal: Unlocking new streams of capital

Innovative entrepreneurs and companies in Ontario need access to capital to attract talent and bring innovative products to market that will allow them to rapidly scale up operations in the province.

By 2030, the province intends to double venture capital investment in the life science sector to $725 million per year. The plan to unlock additional capital includes:

  • leveraging the Venture Ontario Fund to accelerate growth in the life sciences sector
  • launching a new Life Sciences Scale-Up Fund to support small and medium-sized businesses to quickly scale up and enhance manufacturing and procurement ability

The Venture Ontario Fund

Venture Ontario manages the province’s venture capital portfolio and invests in funds either based in or focused on Ontario. The Venture Ontario Fund (VOF) invests in funds with a specific focus on in-demand, high-growth areas where Ontario demonstrates a competitive advantage, such as in life sciences, medical devices, clean technology, information technology and artificial intelligence.

On top of the approximately $40 million invested into the life sciences sector through the Venture Ontario Fund, an additional $40 million from the VOF will be dedicated to helping Ontario life sciences companies and biomanufacturers develop the life-saving medicines and technologies of the future and help them grow and compete in global markets.

Helping Ontario entrepreneurs succeed

Phase 1 launched the $15 million Life Sciences Innovation Fund (LSIF) to help life sciences entrepreneurs and innovators advance their ideas and prototypes from the lab to the marketplace.

Building on that foundation, Phase 2 introduces the new Life Sciences Scale-Up Fund (LSSUF). This fund will enhance the ability for innovators to boost domestic manufacturing capacity and prepare them for future procurement opportunities in Ontario and beyond.

The LSSUF will complement the Health Technology Accelerator Fund (HTAF) which enables service providers to procure and adopt innovative health technologies.

Goal: Supporting the existing ecosystem

By leveraging our partnership with Invest Ontario, we will continue to promote Ontario as a premier global destination for business growth and investment. The future of our life sciences sector depends on attracting new investments and maximizing the ability of Ontario-based companies to sell their innovative technologies and products to global markets.

Our goal is to attract five or more major investments of over $100 million in order to drive that growth and expand Ontario’s biomanufacturing footprint. We will enhance the province’s value proposition by:

  • developing a new life sciences ecosystem asset map to identify opportunities for growth and areas of strengthening emerging domains, such as nuclear and precision medicine, cell and gene therapies, as well as surgical robotics, AI-enabled health technologies and drug discovery
  • establishing a Life Sciences Talent Table, to collaborate with partner ministries as well as industry and academic stakeholders to strengthen the sector’s talent pipeline
  • leading work to eliminate barriers with other provinces and territories to accelerate patient access to new and innovative medicines

Focusing on Ontario’s Nuclear Advantage

Ontario is recognized globally as a leader in radioisotope production and innovation.

Our 12 CANDU reactors and world-class research expertise provide a unique opportunity for the province to become the number one North American supplier in the global nuclear medicines supply chain.

With critical investments by our government in partnership with leading Ontario universities and companies, we will continue to support reliable access to cutting-edge treatments for cancer patients and expand Ontario’s nuclear medicine advantage.

Attracting new investments

The life sciences sector is an important driver of Ontario’s economy, with the potential to contribute even more, by creating and developing high-quality products and services – that will keep people healthy and ensure home-grown solutions are available when Ontarians need them.

Global companies are taking notice. In recent years, Ontario has attracted game-changing investments from leading biomanufacturers including:

  • $500 million from Roche Canada to establish a new site to oversee the company’s global supply chain in Mississauga which will monitor for safety, quality and distribution of pharmaceutical products shipped around the world
  • $925 million from Sanofi for the construction of a state-of-art vaccine facility to meet growing demand for flu vaccines, specifically helping protect populations at greater risk of influenza
  • $580 million by OmniaBio to build a new cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility in Hamilton that will advance innovative medicines with the potential to cure many forms of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, Parkinson’s and diabetes
  • $500 million by AstraZeneca in Mississauga to expand their research and development footprint while creating a new hub that will develop therapeutic drugs and vaccines for rare diseases.

Goal: Adopting a culture of innovation

Ontario needs a strong innovation ecosystem to support the success of the next generation of home-grown companies while taking advantage of the potential to leverage opportunities throughout our health-care system.

By helping local businesses grow and succeed, adoption of made-in-Ontario life science solutions will be faster and easier throughout the health-care system through:

  • developing a practical Health Innovation Pathway to proactively identify, review and implement the most promising technologies across the health-care system
  • establishing a Health Technology Accelerator Fund as part of the Health Innovation Pathway, so service providers are able to buy, use and generate evidence for promising new products
  • creating a Health Innovation Concierge Service, providing companies with all the guidance they need to navigate through new programs

Bringing innovative technologies into our health-care system

Ontario is home to over 2,000 life science companies representing 44 per cent of the industry in Canada.

These companies develop innovative products and services with the potential to transform our health-care system and improve patient outcomes. Through programs like the Health Innovation Pathway and the new $12 million Health Technology Accelerator Fund (HTAF) made-in-Ontario innovations are prioritized for adoption in the health-care system which can:

  • help innovators demonstrate the value of their technologies and grow sales
  • significantly improve health care delivery and patient experience
  • drive health system efficiencies
  • spur greater economic development
  • make Ontario’s health technology sector more competitive

The next step towards a thriving life sciences ecosystem

The global life sciences sector is valued at a combined US$2.83 trillion and represents a significant opportunity for Ontario to leverage its strengths in the sector and harness the economic value of Ontario’s health-care system – the largest publicly funded health-care system in Canada.

Phase 2 of Taking Life Sciences to the Next Level is an all-of-government action plan to unleash the potential to capitalize on the sector’s significant growth prospects, while positioning Ontario as a global leader to respond to current pressures in health care and prepare for emerging threats.

Through a comprehensive approach, this updated strategy sets ambitious goals to advance research and development, strengthen biomanufacturing capacity, accelerate commercialization, unlock capital and attract investments, while supporting our innovation ecosystem and helping Ontario-made products move from the lab to the market and into the hands of those who need them.

Phase 1 set the province on a path to success. Our province has seen significant investments of over $5 billion over the last six years that have helped strengthen the life sciences sector, stimulate innovation and promote economic competitiveness, resilience and job growth.

Phase 2 builds on this momentum, creating the conditions for companies to continue to grow and succeed in Ontario while positioning the province as a leader in the next generation of life science technologies, products and services.