Thank you very much. I'm happy to be here this evening with my colleague, Dr. Youssef Bennani.
We're here because Canada has an extraordinary research enterprise that punches well above its weight when measured against our competitors around the world. We're only now just beginning to build a sustainable life sciences industry. We, adMare, exist to do just that, so we play a leadership role in building companies, building ecosystems and building talent. We build companies by finding compelling science in typically Canadian academic settings and bringing it into our own labs to build investable companies.
Our team has a tremendous track record of doing this. We've helped build 27 companies that have attracted 1.4 billion dollars' worth of real risk capital, which are worth about $3 billion today, and which employ about 1,000 Canadians.
We build ecosystems, both physically and virtually. Our innovation centres in Montreal and Vancouver are home to 40 emerging companies employing about 500 Canadians, and our adMare community digital ecosystem is home to about 1,500 active members.
Most pertinent to this discussion is the work we do in building talent. We do this through the adMare Academy, which has five key programs that actively and successfully build the talent that we see is needed in the Canadian life sciences industry. The executive institute is focused on a 10-month gender-balanced program to build the leadership talent required. Our adMare BioInnovations scientist program is focused on the front end, post-doctoral and master's students, and helping them to apply their expertise in a commercial setting. We have a fellowship program for post-doctoral students and a co-op program for undergrads. Finally, the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences, or CASTL, provides the global gold standard in biomanufacturing training.
We are very proud of these programs, and we know they work. Ninety-five per cent of the more than 500 alumni of the adMare Academy work in the Canadian life sciences industry today.
These programs are being developed as a result of the recent record levels of investment from Canada's private sector. We are talking about literally billions of dollars invested over the past few years. And we mustn't forget record investment levels in public policy, from many different standpoints. These major capital investments represent significant job opportunities for Canadians.
Serious investment also means that Canada is facing a serious shortage of life sciences talent to drive that growth. Our friends at BioTalent Canada tell us that during the pandemic, this industry added 8,500 jobs in 2020 and is poised to have 214,000 over the next few years. We doubt that the committee needs reminding that these are high-value, high-paying, sustained jobs, situated at the heart of the economy of the future.
What should we do to help encourage this growth and seize this opportunity? We'd like to suggest five areas of focus.
First, just look around our facilities in Montreal or Vancouver and you will know that Canada is a highly sought-after destination for highly trained international students and seasoned experts. We need to continue the programs to attract these students and experts. We know they're working, including through the express entry program. We can improve them, for sure, but we need more of these students.
Second, tuition subsidies to students and wage subsidies to employers will go a long way toward ensuring the rapid uptake of our existing programs to meet existing demand.
Thirdly, internships, like those in our postdoctoral and co‑op programs, are very effective at contributing to student employment, and they need strong support and encouragement.
Fourth, our universities and colleges do outstanding jobs, and we should ensure that their work and the work of supportive organizations like the tri-council are fully supported.
Fifth, scale is incredibly important. Our global competition is much larger. We cannot afford to take a piecemeal approach across the country. The data show that piecemeal efforts have not worked in the past, and our pan-Canadian effort clearly does.
Many of these jobs cannot be done remotely, because they're in laboratories, but surely the pandemic has shown us that we can do this effectively where remote work is possible. Therefore, ensuring that Canadians have the tools and infrastructure to do this work from anywhere is critical.
We thank you for the invitation and for the ongoing public policy support of our work. We'd be delighted to answer questions, if necessary.