The Canadian Biotechnology Industry

April 2002
Innovation Profile

The Industry

• Biotechnology is an enabling technology that is being applied in many traditional economic sectors, including health care, agriculture, environment, aquaculture, forestry and mining.



• The latest data from Statistics Canada indicate that Canada's 358 biotechnology companies in 1999 had revenues of $1.9 billion and employed 7,695 people in biotechnology-related jobs. About 70% of the Canadian companies are located in the health or agri-food sectors, and one-quarter are publicly traded. More than 75% are small but rapidly growing companies with 50 or fewer employees.



• Of the 17,000 biotechnology products and processes at various stages of development or on the market in 1999, about half were at the research and development (R&D;) stage. This helps explain why Canada ranked first in the world in terms of biotechnology R&D; expenditures per employee. Although Canada ranked second in the number of companies devoted to biotechnology, many of these firms are small start-ups.

Innovation

• The Canadian biotechnology community has undergone remarkable growth and invests significantly in R&D; but Canadian biotechnology companies are still young. They face competition from other industrialized countries that are heavily investing in this technology.



• Canadian biotechnology companies invested over $827 million in R&D.; Of this amount, 84% took place within the health sector. The firms included in the 1999 Statistics Canada Survey exported $718 million and imported $258 million in biotechnology products and services. BIOTECanada indicates that there are more than 2,500 biotechnology patent applications every year in Canada.



• The federal government is active in biotechnology research and development. Excluding regulatory activities and the $300 million allocated to Genome Canada, federal expenditures on biotechnology R&D; in 1999–2000 reached $380 million, about 10.2% of overall federal R&D.;



• The industry could encounter skill shortages of highly qualified and skilled people such as specialized scientists, engineers, technicians, business managers and regulatory specialists.

Contact:
Neil MacIntosh
(613) 954-3124
macintosh.neil@ic.gc.ca