On the last day of Web Summit Vancouver, Innovate BC president Peter Cowan announced a renewed $30 million commitment to the provincial Crown agency’s Integrated Marketplace program, designed to help de-risk the adoption of technology services from across BC. The initiative is being funded in collaboration with PacifiCan after a successful three-year pilot.
Local entrepreneurs Jessica Yip and Scott Beatty joined Cowan at the announcement, alongside Diana Gibson, BC’s new minister of Jobs, Economic Development, and Innovation (JEDI).
Gibson was named to the role in November 2024, taking over from Brenda Bailey. Now six months into her tenure, BetaKit caught up with Minister Gibson after the press conference to talk about upcoming policies, dismantling trade barriers, BC’s slipping venture numbers, and her thoughts on the first-ever Web Summit Vancouver.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What feedback have you received from the tech ecosystem so far, and how is that shaping your mandate?
The data shows our tech sector has been thriving. Its growth has outpaced inflation for the last ten years, and we have over 180,000 people working in that sector now.
We’ve heard that the talent pool is rich here and that it is attracting investment and business. We’ve invested to deepen that talent pool and continue to work with our research universities and our tech sector to ensure that ecosystem support is there.
We’ve also heard that the richness of the ecosystem, moving from early R&D through to big anchor companies, is starting to [take root]. The diversity of size and scale really puts you on a jumping-off point to grow to the next level.
Is there a specific piece of innovation policy you are excited about?
Today, the thing I’m most excited about is the Integrated Marketplace program.
The program is showing incredible results. First, it delivers for the startup that’s given a reference customer and the opportunity to jump onto the national and world stage. Second, it helps the industry partner that’s looking to solve a problem—whether that’s a port, or an airport, or the health sector delivering in rural and remote communities. And it helps them be at the forefront of innovation, too. They can pick up early tech and innovation and be competitive.
And it helps the government problem-solve. The 30 startups we’ve been supporting are showing incredible results.
Your predecessor was thanked by CEO Paddy Cosgrave for her help in bringing Web Summit to Vancouver. What policies from her time as JEDI minister are you looking to continue?
Minister Bailey leaves really big shoes to fill, and had such ambition. It’s a testament to her legacy that the tech sector is in such a strong and resilient place at this moment, where we are all facing such headwinds.
We share a real passion for continuing to see our tech sector on the world stage, growing and thriving. She worked hard to bring Web Summit here, and it is really the moment for Web Summit to be here in Vancouver while we profile the incredible innovation in BC.
We are looking to continue to ensure the framework is there with the investments we’ve had in talent and the new talent spaces we’ve invested in. [With the] Innovate BC and InBC Crown corporations that are working to support the ecosystem, whether that’s through investment, or whether that’s through IP mentorship.
So, continuing to build out the supports around our tech sector so that it can thrive to continue to grow the legacy Minister Bailey left.
Last year, the federal, provincial, and municipal governments offered a combined $14.8 million CAD to bring Web Summit to Vancouver. Has the event been worth the investment so far?
Every penny. The relationships I’ve seen built already, the feedback we’ve heard is that the partnerships are here. The energy is here.
It’s so important that we’re here in Vancouver showcasing the innovation. The over 12,000 companies here [across BC] that are able to be on the world stage and what our government is doing to be at the table is a real indicator of that priority.
A recent CVCA report showed that BC fell behind Alberta in Q1 capital deployment. Is that alarming, and what can BC do to regain ground?
We were ahead of the game on VC, and there may be others playing some catch-up there, but I’m not worried. BC continues to invest, to engage, and to partner. Our ecosystem is rich, and thriving, and resilient. We will continue to grow together.
Programs like Integrated Marketplace, our Manufacturing Jobs Fund, and our new digital sector tax credit show that our government is at the table to work with our partners across the tech ecosystem to see them supported to thrive and grow.
We’ve also seen a dearth of early-stage venture funding across the country. What policy steps are you taking to help venture funds and early-stage startups in BC?
I think that’s part of what we are doing with our Integrated Marketplace and with InBC. We are working with InBC to work with our venture capital funds and angel investors to support that gap.
We are doing a review of our innovate programs right now so we can identify specific gaps where we can better support the tech ecosystem. We will also be coming out with additional actions later.
The new prime minister has committed to eliminating interprovincial trade barriers. Which areas of BC tech will benefit most, and which barriers are you fighting to eliminate?
We know it can be challenging, particularly when we are facing headwinds, and our government is looking to ensure it is as easy as possible to do business here in BC. That is why I have an ease of doing business review in my ministry mandate and why we are looking to unlock interprovincial trade barriers and internal trade barriers to doing business.
What we see is a multiplicity of layering. For example, layered regulation and duplication, and that is what I am looking to tackle.
In the midst of US trade tensions, is BC procuring more Canadian tech, and will that continue?
That is really what Integrated Marketplace does. It allows us to buy BC while we profile the success of our BC innovation through proof cases, real problem solving, and real-world examples, while they can show their results with the reference customer and jump to the world stage.
It gives us the opportunity to unlock that BC opportunity.
Feature image courtesy Innovate BC.