2 minute read
Nurturing B.C. life sciences
Strategy, investment and collaboration part of plan to support sector
RAVI KAHLON
Our province has been through a challenging two years and our life sciences industry has been at the forefront: Virtually every vaccine candidate that reached late-stage development in 2020 used components that were initiated, developed or manufactured in B.C. I am immensely proud of the hard work done by the incredibly talented people in the B.C. life sciences sector, and the work that continues to be done amid global conflicts and supply chain difficulties.
B.C. is home to one of the fastest growing life sciences sectors in Canada, with more than 2,000 companies employing close to 20,000 British Columbians.
That’s why this year, the province committed nearly $195 million in grant funding to Michael Smith Health Research BC and Genome BC. This funding is another significant step toward solidifying a life sciences hub to support the sector’s continued growth, and to anchor B.C. as a global leader in developing new talent, research capacity and life-changing innovation.
That’s not all. As outlined in the StrongerBC Economic Plan, clean and inclusive growth are our priorities, and the province is taking the next steps in developing a life sciences and biomanufacturing strategy. This would nurture continued innovation by leveraging the research capacity of B.C.’s post-secondary institutions, and support employment across the sector.
We know B.C. will have more than one million job openings this decade. Our investments in life sciences will attract, develop and retain the people needed to fill these jobs and bring about the next life-saving innovations in fields such as health care and agriculture by developing clean technology and solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Collaboration is at the heart of progress in B.C. and the reason we partner with our post-secondary institutions as they train the leaders of tomorrow across the life sciences. B.C. recently contributed $25 million towards a new five-storey biomedical engineering building with learning spaces and research labs to give University of British Columbia students a new environment in which to hone their skills.
I look forward to watching the B.C. life sciences sector continue to grow and to find more ways to collaborate and create good-paying jobs for British Columbians. We are building a new economy in B.C. and, as the premier says, an economy built for all is an economy built to succeed. ç
Ravi Kahlon is B.C.’s minister of jobs, economic recovery and innovation.
THANK YOU
Life Sciences BC would like to thank our generous supporters for their ongoing commitment this year.
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