Canada doesn’t have an innovation gap—it has a support gap.
For decades, this country has produced globally competitive tech firms, groundbreaking research, and some of the world’s best engineers and entrepreneurs. And yet, we’ve also watched our biggest homegrown success stories—Nortel, BlackBerry, Corel, Entrust, D-Wave, MDA—be sidelined, sold off, or quietly eclipsed by foreign competitors.
Not because they lacked vision.
But because they lacked support from the one place that should’ve had their backs: their own government.
It’s a pattern we’ve seen too many times:
- No meaningful procurement policy for Canadian tech
- No strategic investment at critical growth stages
- No protection against predatory foreign acquisition
- No policy courage when it mattered most
Even our biggest recent success, Shopify, didn’t rely on Ottawa. It grew in spite of the system, not because of it.
Let’s Stop Waiting for Government to “Get It”
We can’t keep hoping that the federal government will suddenly become a bold, strategic partner in tech. History tells us otherwise.
But what if we empowered individual Canadians—investors, professionals, and everyday citizens—to step in where government has consistently failed?
That’s the idea behind extending Flow-Through Shares to technology startups.
Flow-Through Shares Work. Just Not for Tech—Yet.
Flow-through shares have been used for decades in Canada’s resource sector to de-risk investment in mining, oil, and gas exploration. They allow early-stage companies to pass tax deductions along to investors, making capital easier to raise and more attractive to deploy.
It’s one of the most successful financing tools in Canadian policy history.
But while we’ve used flow-through shares to drill holes in the ground, we’ve never extended them to companies trying to build the future—AI, clean tech, cybersecurity, quantum, health tech, and more.
That makes no sense.
It’s Time to Back Our Builders
Canada can’t compete globally if our best innovators keep getting outspent, under-supported, or bought out.
By extending flow-through shares to technology companies, we can:
- Unlock billions in private capital for high-potential startups
- Give Canadian investors a powerful incentive to back innovation
- Help founders raise funds without giving up control or ownership too early
- Create a nationwide pipeline of support, owned and driven by Canadians—not just VCs or government gatekeepers
Take Action: Support Flow-Through Shares for Tech
If you’re a founder, investor, policymaker, or anyone who believes Canadian innovation deserves better, join the growing call for change.
Visit www.CanFlowthrough.com to learn more about the campaign to extend flow-through shares to the technology sector.
Sign the letter. Spread the word. Push for policy that actually empowers the people building Canada’s future.
Because if Ottawa won’t back our tech economy, it’s time Canadians did it ourselves.
