Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to the committee for this important opportunity, at a fairly critical time for this industry, to provide testimony.
By way of introduction, BIOTECanada is the national trade association representing Canada's biotech industry. That includes the large multinational pharmaceuticals, but the vast majority of our over 200 members are small to medium-sized start-up companies that are taking innovations and trying to move them forward.
The innovations are addressing some of the challenges we're facing as a global society. When you think about a planet whose population is rapidly moving from 7 billion to 9 billion, we need to find new ways to grow, to feed, to fuel, and to heal, and biotechnology is one of the ways in which we'll be able to do that.
Thankfully, in Canada we have a long and proud history of bringing forward innovation in this space to the global marketplace, dating back to some of the earliest days, including the development of penicillin, insulin, and even the technology that went into making canola seed, one of the biggest crops for this country. As a result, we have fantastic science and scientists right across the country. They are housed and located in clusters that exist right across the country. You'd expect to see some in the big urban centres like Montreal and Toronto, and of course that's where very significant clusters are. But when you look at the biotechnology industry, it's in every single province in every region.
Indeed, even the City of Sherbrooke, along with Sherbrooke Innopole, supports the industry.
Last week I was out in Prince Edward Island, Mr. Chairman, where I participated in the opening of the expansion of BioVectra, a very successful company that I know you're well aware of. We see huge clusters right across the country, and they're supporting companies that are bringing forward some remarkable innovation. There are companies that are taking mustard seed and turning it into jet fuel. Other companies, in parts of the country like the Okanagan Valley, are taking fruits and stopping them from turning brown. We have other companies that are looking at things like shrew saliva and turning that into a therapy for rare forms of cancer. Other companies are turning other remarkable innovations into solutions for some of these rare diseases that we're now seeing emerge into our space.
These are fantastic innovations, but the key that's actually going to make them successful is their ability to attract investment and talent, without which they are not going to be able to proceed. It requires a very special investor and very special talent to make these companies and their innovations successful.
The reason this is an important opportunity for us as BIOTECanada is that we're able to highlight the ability of government to put in place the policy and hosting conditions that will allow companies to track the investment and talent they need to be commercially successful.
For that reason, we've submitted some recommendations to the committee. There's nothing earth-shattering, but certainly they are ones we think are important and that recognize the importance of being able to track those key components to allow the industry to succeed.
First and foremost is the scientific research and experimental development tax incentive program. It has been absolutely paramount in the success of this industry. We encourage the committee to recommend that this, at a minimum, be kept in place, if not broadened. Indeed, there are some challenges for companies that have investment from outside of this country in terms of their ability to access these SR and ED tax credits. Expansion of that, to allow for some of those companies whose investors are outside of the country, would be very useful.
We would also encourage the committee to look at what we call an innovation or a patent box, which is an ability for companies to earn income from their patents at a reduced tax rate. It's being used in other jurisdictions, and we would encourage the committee to look into that and recommend that as well.
Finally, for an industry that is so important to the transformation of people's lives and of other industries in this country, we don't really measure it all that well. There was a survey that was in place many years ago that was discontinued, I think, in 2005. It was the biotechnology use and development survey, out of then Industry Canada. We would like to see the reinstatement of that survey, just to be able to figure out where we are as a country and where we need to go, because we have to keep up with other jurisdictions.
I will leave it at that, Mr. Chairman, in the interest of time, and I thank the committee for its time.