To finish off very quickly, we're recommending that the government support the installation of a GMP-compliant manufacturing unit, which will serve all Canadians, public sector Canadians as well as those in the private sector. This can happen, obviously, in our facility. We have some wonderful infrastructure, but our facility is also partnered with other manufacturers across the country.
In addition, if this is set up, we are recommending that the government provide operating funding to cover the first five years of the facility as well as critical systems compliance if we need level three work, or high-level containment.
We believe that if this happens, it will ensure the health of Canadians, and in particular underserved communities that are susceptible to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, who can benefit from the rapid deployment of vaccines.
Furthermore, it is going to increase the competitiveness of Canadian business. We've seen the collapse of the Canadian biotech sector as it relates to vaccines since 2008, and we need to rebuild that. I would add in the vaccine space that return on investment is about 25:1, so it makes good business sense. Most of it goes south of the border right now.
Finally, in the agriculture sector, we need to proactively mitigate the threat of infectious diseases, and in particular the non-tariff trade barriers that we've seen with things like influenza, BSE, etc., but as well, to reduce the impact on rural communities.
I will stop there.