Innovation is Canada’s strongest economic defense, but BC must act now work to be competitive. While Canadian industries and provinces are mobilizing to strengthen global trade relationships and drive investment into tech and emerging sectors, BC has a unique opportunity to position itself as a leader in AI, biotech, clean tech, and frontier technologies. The question is: will we seize this moment, or historically let it slip away as usual?
Who would’ve thought Trump would unite Canadians? The recent tariffs have brought a divided country closer together in recognizing the urgent need to strengthen our innovation economy. While this national solidarity is inspiring, it also throws into sharp relief a painful truth: British Columbia, despite its immense potential, has spent decades trapped in the amber of institutional resistance to change. As the CEO of Frontier Collective, I’ve watched our province repeatedly squander its natural advantages while an entrenched old guard and gatekeepers continue to prioritize the status quo over progress.
Make no mistake – Canada’s innovation spirit has strong pockets, from Alberta’s rapid rise to going all-in on innovation to Montreal’s AI ecosystem. But here in BC, we face a unique paradox: we possess world-class talent, strategic Pacific Rim positioning, and cutting-edge capabilities in AI, climate tech, and robotics, yet we remain shackled by decades of institutional timidity, lack of risk-taking and gatekeeping that has consistently undermined our potential to lead not just provincially, but nationally and globally.
While Trump’s tariffs threaten traditional industries, they’ve revealed a critical strategic opportunity: innovation capital and technology partnerships remain untouched by these trade barriers. The U.S. still holds the world’s deepest pools of risk capital, with Silicon Valley’s venture funds, strategic corporate investors, and innovation partnerships continuing to flow freely across the border. This is precisely why our innovation mission is doubling down on U.S. relationships even as we expand globally – creating lasting partnerships that transcend trade tensions. BC’s unique advantage lies in our ability to be a bridge between U.S. innovation capital and global markets, especially as we’ve seen venture investment in Canadian technology companies hit record highs despite broader economic uncertainties. The key is leveraging these relationships to fund not just local growth, but our global expansion into European and Indo-Pacific innovation ecosystems.
The harsh reality is that while other Canadian provinces have modernized their approach to innovation and economic growth, BC has maintained power structures that actively resist change. A small circle of institutional gatekeepers – from government to traditional industry groups – have effectively created a permission-based innovation culture that stifles progress. This isn’t just bureaucratic inefficiency; it’s a systematic resistance to the very changes needed to secure our economic future.
However, this moment of national unity in the face of trade pressures presents an unprecedented opportunity. We can finally confront the decades of inaction that have held BC back while simultaneously positioning our province as a crucial driver of Canadian innovation leadership. At Frontier Collective, we’ve proven that BC can compete globally – our programs and scrappiness have helped bring over $800 million (including helping bring Web Summit Vancouver to our city) into BC’s economy despite institutional headwinds.
The evidence of our province’s potential is overwhelming. Vancouver’s innovation sector has flourished not because of institutional support, but despite its absence. Our research institutions produce world-class talent that too often leaves for more welcoming innovation ecosystems. This brain drain isn’t inevitable – it’s the direct result of outdated power structures that have remained unchanged for decades while the global innovation economy has transformed around us.
Consider the stark contrast: While some major regions across North America, Europe, and Asia have dismantled old barriers and aggressively invested in their innovation ecosystems, BC’s established institutions continue to operate from playbooks written in the last century. The same gatekeepers who resisted the tech industry’s growth in the 1990s are still influencing policy today, creating a permission-based culture that drives away investment and talent.
This isn’t just about updating a few policies or launching another government program. We need a fundamental reimagining of how BC approaches innovation – one that breaks free from the gravitational pull of institutional inertia. At Frontier Collective, we’re already building this future, creating bridges across the global innovation ecosystem from Silicon Valley to London, Tokyo to Seoul. In March 2025, we’re taking BC’s innovation story to SXSW in Austin, demonstrating what’s possible when we bypass traditional gatekeepers and engage directly with the global innovation community.
To truly lead, we need to:
- First, dismantle the permission-based culture that has stifled BC’s innovation potential for decades. This means creating a landmark BC Innovation Risk Capital Investment Fund that operates independently of traditional power structures, ensuring our most promising companies can scale without being held back.
- Second, modernize our regulatory framework to match the speed of innovation. The status-quo pace of change might have worked in the 20th century, but it’s devastating in the age of AI. We need regulations that enable innovation, not control it.
- Third, build a truly inclusive innovation ecosystem that welcomes new voices and ideas. The current system of institutional gatekeepers has created barriers that disproportionately impact new entrants and underrepresented groups. Breaking down these barriers isn’t just about fairness – it’s about unleashing BC’s full innovative potential.
- Fourth, position BC as a crucial pillar in Canada’s innovation future. While Ontario, Alberta and Quebec have carved out their niches, BC’s unique combination of talent, location, and technological capability makes us essential to Canada’s global competitiveness. However, we can only fulfill this role by breaking free from the institutional paralysis that has held us back.
At Frontier Collective, we’re already moving forward with this vision. Our new Innovation Mission is expanding BC’s global reach, building partnerships that create direct connections to global innovation networks. We’ve got a vision of creating a world-class innovation hub (physical centre-of-gravity) and corporate innovation studios that demonstrate what’s possible when we prioritize progress.
The choice before us is stark: we can continue to let the government and/or institutional gatekeepers determine our economic future, or we can embrace bold leadership that positions BC at the forefront of innovation. The world isn’t waiting for BC’s old guard to catch up, and neither should we.
We have everything needed to lead the next wave of global innovation – exceptional talent, strategic advantages, and transformative technologies. What we need now is the courage to break free from decades of institutional inertia and embrace our role as a leader in Canada’s innovation future.
Beyond addressing our internal barriers, BC must aggressively scale our international trade relationships and infrastructure investments. The opportunity is clear: while U.S. partnerships remain crucial for risk capital, diversifying our global innovation footprint is essential for long-term resilience.
This means making bold moves in three critical areas:
- First, we must significantly increase foreign direct investment into BC’s frontier tech ecosystem. This isn’t just about attracting capital – it’s about creating lasting partnerships with innovation hubs from Europe to the Indo-Pacific. We need to position Vancouver as the natural headquarters for international companies looking to bridge North American and Asian markets. The recent success of securing Web Summit demonstrates global recognition of our potential, but we need to build the infrastructure to capitalize on this momentum.
- Second, we must invest heavily in the physical and digital infrastructure that powers frontier technology development. This means creating advanced research facilities, testing environments for autonomous systems, AI capabilities, and climate tech demonstration sites. We’re envisioning a world-class innovation hub that serves as both a center of gravity for the ecosystem and a showcase of BC’s technological capabilities. This isn’t just about buildings – it’s about creating collaborative spaces where breakthrough innovations and ideas can happen.
- Third, we must transform how we approach business development and international partnerships. The old model of trade missions and memorandums of understanding isn’t enough. We need to create permanent innovation bridges – sustained relationships that facilitate continuous flow of talent, technology, and capital. This means establishing innovation liaison offices in key global markets, creating joint venture funds with international partners, and building acceleration programs that help BC companies scale globally from day one.
The economic impact of getting this right is transformative. Our analysis suggests that proper investment in BC’s innovation infrastructure and international trade relationships could generate over $5 billion in new economic activity over the next five years. But this potential will only be realized if we move decisively and at scale. The same institutional inertia that has held back our domestic innovation could cripple our international ambitions if we don’t act now.
Dan Burgar is the CEO of Frontier Collective, the innovation ecosystem builder dedicated to advancing British Columbia’s position in the global innovation economy.
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