Over the past week, Canadian government officials and the startup community have been working to strengthen ties with innovation hubs and convince the world to invest in Canada’s tech ecosystem. Here’s a roundup on a busy week including meet-and-greets and memorandums.
Norwegian royals oversee Memorandum of Understanding signing with MaRS and Oslo Medtech
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway are spending the week in Canada visiting innovation hubs and listening in on panels tackling topics like medtech, oil and gas, and diversity in the Canadian innovation ecosystem — and looking at ways that Norway and Canada can work more closely together.
During their stop at the MaRS Discovery District yesterday, Oslo Medtech, a healthtech cluster, and MaRS signed a collaborative agreement meant to help Canadian medical innovators explore market opportunities in Norway, and vice versa.
“It’s not every day you get the chance to sit down with monarchs and share dialogue around innovation and collaboration. Taking part in a roundtable discussion with the Crown Prince and Princess of Norway offered a unique opportunity to talk about larger topics of community building and the importance of support networks for entrepreneurs,” said DMZ community engagement lead Danielle Smith. Smith sat on a panel about emerging startup communities across the world, and how hubs like the DMZ support them.
As northern nations, Canada and Norway have a lot in common. Today we had fruitful discussions. #NorwayinCanada pic.twitter.com/W8wJG2yAP1
— David Johnston (@GGDavidJohnston) November 7, 2016
“I’m certain their visit will uncover even more similarities between Norway and Canada in terms of our entrepreneurial ambition and potential, especially in the fields of medtech and social innovation. We’ll definitely be exploring a range of opportunities for our startup ecosystems to collaborate and exchange resources going forward.”
"Social innovation is about change, opening doors, and solving global issues." @MaayanZiv and @sosofancy speak at #NorwayInCanada pic.twitter.com/nQN2LVCoyM
— The DMZ (@RyersonDMZ) November 8, 2016
Five Norwegian medtech companies also arrived in Toronto to explore Canadian market opportunities through a workshop program delivered by MaRS. During the visit, the royals had the chance to meet medtech startups like Bresotec, Myndtec, and Synaptive Medical.
Minister Navdeep Bains visits Bengaluru, India
Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Navdeep Bains visited ICT hub Bengalaru, India — considered to be India’s Silicon Valley. During the visit, Bains visited the Raman Research Institute, a partner of the University of Waterloo.
A pleasure to meet our dedicated Consulate staff today in #Bengaluru – thank you for all your hard work! pic.twitter.com/Mx3qcuzg0Q
— Navdeep Bains (@NavdeepSBains) November 9, 2016
The visit is part of a delegation to foster business relationships between Canada and India. At the Raman Institute, Bains spoke about collaboration between Canada and India on research into quantum computing, which uses the laws of quantum mechanics to process vast amounts of information simultaneously.
“Bengaluru and Kitchener–Waterloo are leading centres of technology research and are economic drivers of prosperity and growth for the middle class in their respective countries. The partnership between the knowledge institutions from these two cities will drive advances in quantum computing,” said Bains, who said that Canada is ready to be a world leader in quantum computing. “This field of computing has the potential to completely transform the scale, speed and complexity of what even the most powerful computers today can do. And it has the potential to upend everything we know about the science of computing.”
Minister Bains also met A.S. Kiran Kumar, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization.
Ontario Securities Commission signs FinTech agreement with Australian Securities and Investments Commission
According to a report from Canadian Underwriter, The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have signed a FinTech agreement allowing Australian and Ontario companies to support each other.
The agreement will allow Australian companies to be referred to the OSC should they wish to enter the Ontario market, and vice versa. “The regulators may provide support to innovative businesses before, during and after authorization to help reduce regulatory uncertainty and time to market,” the OSC said.
To qualify, businesses must meet the eligibility criteria of their home regulator. Once referred by the regulator, and before applying for authorization to operate in the new market, the business will have access to dedicated staff that will help them to understand the regulatory framework in the market they plan to join.