Canada is home to some of the most innovative entrepreneurs in the world, and the federal government has their backs. Today at the Kauffman Fellows Summit in Montréal, the Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business, emphasized the positive impact that the Government of Canada's venture capital (VC) investments have made on the Canadian VC ecosystem.
The federal government's Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI) has successfully enabled VC fund managers to leverage federal investments to raise private sector and other public investments and invest in innovative Canadian businesses. Since 2016, the federal government has invested over $820 million in the Canadian VC ecosystem to support Canadian founders and innovation, creating a monumental impact of $3.4 billion on the Canadian VC ecosystem. Consequentially, the VCCI has supported the creation of more than 20,000 jobs across Canada.
Building on this momentum, the government's latest budget is devoting $200 million to renewing the VCCI, with a goal of supporting VC for entrepreneurs who are part of equity-deserving groups, and to investing in underserved communities and outside key metropolitan areas.
Through the VCCI, the federal government is helping ensure that more firms owned by women or members of Black, 2SLGBTQI+ and Indigenous communities in the small and medium-sized enterprise space have access to the capital they need to start up and scale up, strengthening Canada's economy. This is key to growing and supporting startups with high growth potential.
The VCCI is more than a financial investment, it's about reimaging Canada's VC landscape in a way that empowers people from all backgrounds to pursue their entrepreneurial goals through increased investment and access to capital-a key priority of the federal government.
