Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
Thank you for inviting me to discuss the future of the nuclear sector.
In the course of your study, you have already heard from many of our colleagues in the nuclear sector. You've heard about how nuclear power provides 15% of Canada's electricity, using a safe, reliable, and low-carbon technology. You've heard that the nuclear sector provides 60,000 high-quality jobs in Canada, and you've heard how Canada's nuclear knowledge is a strategic capability providing Canadians and our partner nations with long-term energy security, and giving us a seat at the international table for important topics like nuclear non-proliferation.
Since you've already heard about these benefits, I would like to spend my time with the committee today discussing Canada's nuclear sector in a broader sense, specifically focusing on the innovation and nuclear expertise that resides in Canada outside of the traditional nuclear power industry. My hope is that this slightly different perspective will underscore how investments in the nuclear sector can have positive effects on Canada's innovation capacity in many adjacent sectors, including defence, counter-terrorism, space research, and medicine.
Our company, Bubble Technology Industries, is a direct example of how government investment in nuclear research can yield long-term economic benefits to Canada. In 1988 our company was formed as the very first commercial spinoff from the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, or AECL. We were created to commercialize a new type of radiation detector, called the Bubble Detector, which was invented by my father, Dr. Harry Ing, while he was working as a research scientist at AECL.
Radiation detectors are, of course, important in the traditional nuclear power sector, but they are also important in many other sectors where radiation can be found. In defence and security applications, we need to detect, track, and, when needed, intercept nuclear materials that could pose a potential security threat. In addition, we can use radiation to help find other types of security threats such as explosives, concealed weapons, and contraband.
There are also many other applications where radiation is used, such as medical diagnostics and life-saving nuclear medicine procedures; industrial sterilization and packaging processes; density gauges used in the construction industry; inspection techniques used to check the quality of welds in the aerospace industry; disease control for crops in the agriculture industry; and well-logging techniques in the oil industry. As a result, when we talk about the broader nuclear sector, we are in fact talking about nuclear technologies that intersect with many other industries that are vital to Canada's economy.
As part of that broader nuclear sector, our company started with just seven employees and a single radiation detection product. The spinoff process was new to AECL and new to my father. There were many sleepless nights in those early days, trying to figure out how to keep a small spinoff company afloat.
Fortunately, we survived it. In the intervening 27 years that we've been in business, we've grown to about 50 employees, we now have more than two dozen products that are successfully exported to 25 countries, we've been awarded more than 20 patents, and we've conducted over 200 innovative contract research programs for customers around the world.
Our cutting-edge technology has been used in counter-terrorism applications to protect people and infrastructure at some of the world's largest events, including multiple U.S. presidential inaugurations, multiple Super Bowls, World Series events, the Olympics, and major international political summits.
Our technology has also flown on over two dozen space missions to support research aimed at protecting astronauts from radiation hazards, and understanding the radiation environment in space a little bit better. Astronaut Chris Hadfield conducted experiments on board the international space station using our radiation detection technology, and he personally spoke about how radiation in space is a serious concern for astronauts, particularly as we look ahead to longer-manned missions to Mars.
Our company's accomplishments have been made possible by a creative, dedicated, and highly skilled staff. Within our company we have the ability to generate innovative ideas and then carry those ideas through all stages of research, development, production, and worldwide deployment.
When we started back in 1988, as a tiny spinoff company from a government lab, I don't think anyone could have predicted the evolution of our company. When you start a company, the odds are not good. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada tracks small business statistics: 50% of small businesses in Canada fail after five years; less than 12% of small businesses in Canada export their goods or services, and when they do, they typically export to a single country, usually the United States. Yet even with those somewhat discouraging statistics, small and medium enterprises, or SMEs, continue to be the backbone of the Canadian private sector. SMEs employ over 90% of the private sector workforce in Canada, and they created more than 95% of the net new jobs in Canada between 2005 and 2015. Those two figures alone make it imperative for Canada to nurture and invest in its small businesses, as they truly are the engine of the Canadian economy.
When you invest in nuclear research and innovation in Canada, and when you support small businesses in Canada through programs like the SR and ED tax incentives, NRC's industrial research assistance program, and PSPC's build in canada innovation program, you open the door for a group of small businesses that can beat the odds. You create companies like Bubble Tech, and others in our sector, that can beat the 50% failure rate for start-ups, that can scale from seven employees to 50 employees in a sustainable way and provide high-quality, knowledge-based jobs, and that can export to 25 countries instead of one country or no countries.
Beating the odds is possible, because with the right focus and sustained government investment, Canada is well positioned to be a world leader in the nuclear sector, not only in the traditional nuclear power segment but also in the broader nuclear sector, which intersects with defence, security, medicine, construction, aerospace, agriculture, and the oil industry.
The government can help small businesses like ours beat the odds by supporting the full spectrum of nuclear research, innovation, and commercialization activities in Canada. We need to educate and train highly skilled personnel in the nuclear sector. We need to encourage Canadian research by implementing a small business innovation research program in Canada, similar to programs used in more than a dozen countries, including the United States. We need to encourage the Canadian government to lead by example, by buying innovative Canadian technologies, and by considering Canadian content in its purchases. And we need to further incentivize large companies doing business in Canada to partner with small Canadian companies.
More than anything, we need to recognize that small Canadian companies can be world class. When they are, they warrant our support, because they represent our country's best chance at job creation and economic growth. Thank you.
Thank you for your time.