Although wide-spread interest in biotechnology issues is a recent phenomenon, the Government of Canada first identified biotechnology as an important economic sector and a key enabling technology to support economic growth and international competitiveness in the 1970s.
The Government of Canada adopted the first National Biotechnology Strategy in 1983. It refocused its policies in 1993, with a revised Federal Regulatory Framework for Biotechnology. Now the Government's approach has been redefined once more to address a much broader range of emerging issues in a new Canadian Biotechnology Strategy (CBS).
Biotechnology is an umbrella term that covers a broad spectrum of scientific tools and techniques, ranging from traditional uses of living organisms such as yeast in bread or bacteria in yoghurt to more advanced techniques such as genetic engineering. Biotechnology uses living organisms, or parts of living organisms, to make new products or provide new methods of production.
Like many countries that began investing in biotechnology research in the 1980s, Canada can now build on its strengths. But worldwide investment in biotechnology is growing rapidly and the pace of development is accelerating. The faster pace of change has also brought many ethical, social and environmental issues to the forefront. Canadians want to realise the potential benefits from biotechnology, especially in the areas of personal health, quality of life, and the promotion of a sustainable environment. The Government of Canada wants to ensure that this new strategy reflects Canadian values and Canadian standards.
In addition to the promise of advances in the areas of health care and the environment, biotechnology offers economic opportunities. The Canadian biotechnology industry today generates almost $2 billion a year in revenues, including $750 million in exports. With over 500 firms, most of which are small companies, Canada has generated more biotechnology companies per capita than any other country. Every region of Canada shares in the growth of the biotechnology industry, which employs 25,000 people, typically in high-quality jobs. About 60 percent of Canadian firms are in the area of healthcare with most of the remaining activity in agriculture.
Canada ranks third in the world after the United States and the United Kingdom in a $20 billion industry that is expected to grow to $50 billion by 2005. The Government of Canada has consistently made biotechnology a priority, in the Science and Technology Strategy, the Jobs and Growth Strategy, and, most recently, in the 1997 Speech from the Throne.