BC Place, home venue for the Vancouver Whitecaps and the BC Lions, announced this month that it is “rolling out several new food and beverage innovations,” including launching Canada’s first stadium-wide reusable cup program. All draft beer, wine, cocktails and mocktails are now being served in cups from ShareWares, shifting tens of thousands of cups […]
UBC
Genome BC Funds Research as UBC and SFU Study Impacts of Wildfire Smoke Exposure
Genome BC is funding three research projects oriented around genetic-level impacts of wildfire smoke exposure. The not-for-profit organization, which supports genomics innovation in British Columbia, says the projects aim to help vulnerable populations. Suzanne Gill, who serves Genome BC as chief executive officer, says the projects are “specifically designed to uncover what makes our vulnerable […]
Genome BC Launches Collaborative Research Project to Boost Resilience of Wine Industry
British Columbia’s wine industry employs more than 14,000 workers in the province, contributing nearly $4 billion to the economy per annum. However, shifts in climate typicalities are challenging wine producers in the region. Genome British Columbia points to “rising temperatures, changing rainfall and frost patterns, and smoke from wildfires” among potential factors causing “catastrophic crop […]
Turning Research into Innovation: SFU, UBC Help Launch Lab2Market Pacific Hub
In 2020, Dalhousie University partnered with Toronto Metropolitan University to pilot Lab2Market. Over the four-year pilot, Lab2Market delivered the program to participants from every province, reaching over 1,000 participants from 40 academic institutions across Canada, with more than 125 companies started by participants after completing the program. Post-pilot, Lab2Market has been awarded more than $32 […]
Why the Cleantech Industry Dominated Headlines in B.C. Through 2024
British Columbia continues to be a hotspot for innovation in the clean technology field. The province is anchored by the Vancouver area, which KPMG regards as a world-class cleantech cluster. There are hundreds of cleantech firms across the region. And we’ll mention dozens in this article alone as we highlight some of the year’s top […]
Canada Pours $12M into Six B.C. Projects Advancing Local Cleantech Innovation
Carbon management technologies and alternative clean fuel sources play an important role in the decarbonization and competitiveness of Canada’s economy, the federal government believes, and says it is working to strengthen the country’s advantages in these areas. Canada announced $12 million in investments targeting clean technology projects in British Columbia, including $5M for Squamish-based Carbon […]
Circular Biotech Startup Mycofoundry is Growing Furniture from Mushrooms
A studio based in Vancouver is building a business around growing furniture rather than manufacturing it. Mycofoundry combines a “deep knowledge of spatial design” with modern bio-technology to build “enduring furnishings in partnership with nature.” The B.C. startup creates its products out of mycelium, which it describes as “an organism rooted in circularity.” More specifically, […]
Immersion Week at UBC: Innovators and Storytellers Unite to Drive Change
Immersion Week, powered by Innovation UBC, is coming up September 24-25 at UBC Robson Square. This annual celebration promises to bring together storytellers and movement builders from across the Vancouver ecosystem to share their insights on the strategies and tactics that helped them transform their innovation and ideas to impact. This year’s theme is Translating Inventions […]
UBC Receives $9M from PacifiCan to Launch Two State-of-the-Art Innovation Spaces
The Government of Canada is supporting collaboration between industry and academia in an effort to bring more B.C.-made products to global markets. Through the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada’s Regional Innovation Ecosystems program, federal minister Harjit Sajjan this week announced nearly $9 million in funding for two projects based out of the University of […]
Powered by Government Funding, UBC to Add 800 Spaces Across Tech, Science
The University of British Columbia is adding nearly 800 new spaces for its technology-related programs, the post-secondary institution announced this month. The significant expansion of UBC’s tech talent pipeline is partially powered by funding from the B.C. government. A grand total of $23 million was promised by the government, which will contribute to the addition […]