Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'm just going to highlight my statement because you already have it in your hands. I'll just add a few things.
I want to thank you very much for inviting me back. Some of you probably won't remember this, but I was here two years ago, talking about the need for venture capital and the crisis we're facing.
I'm pleased to tell you that two years later, we are now 30% lower in the amount of venture capital available in the country, and the crisis is very significant right across the country. We have, on average, two to three venture capital groups having available capital to invest in each of the provinces across the country, with the exception of Quebec. So it is a very desperate time, in particular for start-up technology companies and life sciences companies.
We're an organization that operates right across the country. We're in seven of ten provinces. The only province we don't operate in that has retail venture capital is the province of Quebec, which is, I think everyone knows, very well served by the two funds there.
I'll get to the recommendations in just a couple of minutes. The key for most of the folks in this room, quite honestly, is that the government has made some very strong forward movement in the amount of money that's been spent in basic research and development. Over $13 billion has been spent in the last 10 years in research and development. The key to that is to capture that and to commercialize it. Most of the universities are getting to the point now where they are able to figure out which companies have the opportunity for commercialization, but there is no venture capital available for them.
On a per capita basis, the United States has more than 45% venture capital compared to Canada. And the United States is our major competitor. Many companies leave this country to find venture capital in the United States because there is so much more capital available.
We have been very active, as an organization, going to the U.S. and trying to bring that venture capital to Canada as well, but as most of you know, that line between Canada and the United States is more than just a line on the map. Most American venture capitalists would prefer their companies move to the United States where they understand all the laws and the regulations. It's only because of strong venture capital groups in Canada that we're able to attract venture capital to the country and maintain those companies here. Otherwise the U.S. venture capitalists would move the companies south, and that's a key issue for us.
Venture capital supply has fallen, as you can see. From 2001 it dropped from $4.5 billion a year down to $1.4 billion, and in this province it's now dropped to less than $300 million. So it's a very serious issue here.
It's interesting, because one of the things we do very successfully, as a retail venture group, is that we are able, through government incentives through the tax credits, to raise money from the public. That incentive is approximately 30%, and I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute. That incentive is about 50% less than what you would get if you invested in oil and gas or in mining in this country because the incentive there is a full 40% to 44% tax savings for individuals who invest in oil and gas and in mining, depending on which province you're in.
My suggestion to you is that we seriously consider the need to give our technology industries and our life sciences industries and our alternative energy industries the same incentive. We're not even asking for that, but I think it's time we gave them the same incentive that we give our oil and gas sectors and our mining sector in this country.
Since 1985 there has been almost no adjustment to this program at the federal level. Tax credits that were maxed at the federal level at $750 per $5,000 investment, and the maximum RSP contribution, which has now gone to $21,000 in comparison to ours, have remained unchanged at $5,000 since the beginning of the program. So in 1984, when the program began, we had a $5,000 cap and 30 years later we have the same cap.
My recommendation to the committee is really just to match what the provinces have been doing now over the last few years. In British Columbia, the cap is now $13,000. Saskatchewan has increased its tax credit from 15% to 20%. Manitoba has increased its size from $5,000 to $12,000. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador all increased their tax credit and the amount available for investment. And Quebec has gone as high as 25% for one of the funds in that province.
This is a program that's been proven to work. It's a program that, with matching funding already in place from provinces, will allow us to raise up to $1 billion more at a cost of only $100 million per year for the next three years across the country.
Thank you.