A cross-Canada collaboration between more than a dozen organizations nationwide seeks to strengthen education and awareness around intellectual property for businesses and entrepreneurs.
Konstantinos Georgaras, who heads the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, says that “Strong IP knowledge helps turn ideas into economic impact.”
The agreement between CIPO and 13 others brings together federal and provincial agencies, technology accelerators, and innovation-support organizations from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and Atlantic Canada to develop a more coordinated ecosystem to help innovators better understand and leverage intellectual property.
“Canada’s strength depends on our ability to develop, protect, and scale the ideas and technologies that drive our economy,” posits federal minister of industry Mélanie Joly.
“Through this agreement, IP stakeholders have committed to collaborating in the advancement of available, accessible IP education tools,” Joly said.
“By working together, aligning around shared priorities, and drawing on the unique strengths and needs of our regions, we can create a more connected IP ecosystem and help ensure Canadian innovation contributes to Canada’s long-term prosperity, resilience, and competitiveness,” the minister remarked.
Local participating entities include New Ventures BC Society, Innovate BC, and DIGITAL.
“Canada’s ability to compete globally depends not only on developing breakthrough innovations, but on ensuring innovators understand how to protect and leverage the intellectual property behind them,” says Innovate BC chief executive officer Peter Cowan.
“By strengthening IP education and strategy across the country, we can help more Canadian companies capture and retain the value they create, scale with confidence, and build globally competitive businesses rooted in Canada,” he said.
“This collaboration is an important step toward creating a more coordinated innovation ecosystem that equips entrepreneurs with the tools they need to turn ideas into lasting economic impact,” Cowan believes.
Other participants in the project include Intellectual Property Ontario, Axelys, Communitech, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, MAIN Accélérer l’innovation au Québec, Innovate Calgary, Springboard Atlantic, North Forge, DIGITAL, Invest Ottawa, Research Manitoba, and the Innovation Asset Collective.
Angie Schick, Executive Director of New Ventures BC, is “excited to collaborate across Canada to build a stronger, IP-ready startup ecosystem.”
“By sharing our resources, we’re creating a unified education pathway that empowers Canadian businesses to ideate, scale, and lead,” she said.
Through the agreement, participating organizations will collaborate to develop a “common approach” to IP education; establish a shared “national competency framework” to organize content consistently; and share best practices and other insights.
“To compete globally, Canadian innovators need more than awareness,” argues Rhonda Barnet, Interim CEO at DIGITAL. “They need a strong foundation of practical IP capability.”
“This collaborative partnership strengthens IP maturity across the ecosystem and aligns with our commitment to fostering strong IP and data capabilities so that innovators can build, protect, and leverage their intangible assets, compete globally, and ensure the benefits of innovation stay here in Canada,” Barnet said.
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