Life Sciences Phase 2

Earlier this week, the Ontario government unveiled phase two of its Life Sciences Strategy, which aims to solidify the province’s position as a global leader in biomanufacturing and life sciences.

Phase one of the Life Sciences Strategy, launched in March 2022, focused on addressing immediate challenges faced in the sector, including building resilience in domestic supply chains by ensuring access to critical medical products and PPE. Phase two will shift its focus to scaling up Ontario’s biomanufacturing footprint, boosting commercialization capacity of Ontario companies and adopting Ontario-made innovations to improve health care.

What is Outlined in Phase Two?

Phase two of the strategy includes a $146 million investment to help boost Ontario’s capacity. This funding includes:

• Up to $46 million for Ontario Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund, to boost research capacity for universities and affiliated research hospitals.
• 40 million for Venture Ontario Fund specifically for life sciences venture capital companies that will help Ontario-based companies grow.
• $24 million for a Life Sciences Scale-Up Fund to help Ontario companies expand production capacity and scale up.
• $15 million for a new wet labs program to reduce time and barriers to development.
• $5 million to support Clinical Trials Ontario to speed up new health trials.
• Launching the Health Innovation Pathway, designed to streamline access for health care organizations to adopt transformative technologies.

What Does This Mean

Minister Fedeli and Premier Ford have publicly and repeatedly committed to shifting their economic development focus away from electric vehicles and towards life sciences. Ontario is very well positioned to become a global leader in this space, given the province’s competitive advantage in radioisotope production and our highly skilled workforce. The province is well positioned to tap into the US$2.83 trillion life sciences industry and the unveiling of phase two of the Life Sciences Strategy is a clear signal to industry leaders that Ontario is the right place to invest and grow.

We can expect to hear a lot more from Minister Fedeli and Premier Ford on life sciences in the coming months as the government shifts its efforts towards growing this sector to be able to point to it as a success story ahead of the next election. As the government continues to explore opportunities to support this sector, they will increasingly be looking to stakeholders for solutions, and this provides an excellent opportunity to engage with government to shape the future of life sciences in Ontario.