On January 20th, CQDM’s President and CEO, Diane Gosselin, participated in the pre-budget consultations held by the team of Finance Minister Eric Girard.
This exercise allowed us to share our thoughts and submit our proposals for the next Quebec government budget.
To view the brief: click here.
In the wake of the pandemic, we have measured the price of being reactive rather than proactive. This prompted us to demonstrate the vital importance of supporting health innovations that foster solutions that will ultimately drive the post-pandemic recovery of COVID-19, while strengthening our provincial health care system and improving Quebec’s agility and autonomy in response to future health crises.
CQDM provides businesses with significant financial leverage. We have invested $190M in 100 highly innovative R&D projects, supported 75 SMEs with their innovative projects and facilitated 335 public-private partnerships.
To drive economic recovery and position Quebec as a leader in the life sciences sector, we submitted three proposals to the Government of Quebec.
CQDM urged the Government to increase funding for collaborative research to $10M/year for 3 years in order to boost our economy, manage the current crisis, address urgent health needs and support new projects in health innovation sectors.
CQDM recommended that the government invest $20M/year for three years via the Fonds d’accélération des collaborations en santé (FACS) to support large-scale projects focusing on the development of highly structuring technologies that accelerate the discovery of vaccines and drugs or that make it possible to manufacture priority health products rapidly and locally. This collaborative effort across Quebec will call upon the participation of all public and private stakeholders in our ecosystem. Benefits of such an investment also include:
- A more proficient management of future health crises;
- Immediate impacts on current health issues;
- Growth opportunities for Quebec companies.
CQDM’s funding programs support collaborative research conducted in academic laboratories. However, we must imperatively help start-ups derisk their early-stage technologies and bridge the funding gap between discovery and private capital.
By investing $10M/year for three years, the Government could generate financial leverage that attracts private investors in series A financing rounds.
With these funds, CQDM could broaden its impact by financing budding Quebec companies whose high-potential technologies are at a development stage considered too risky by investors.
It is our profound belief that the proposals submitted to the Government will give Quebec the means to build on its achievements and create the necessary momentum to become a leader in the life sciences sectors, while generating significant economic benefits.
Furthermore, we believe that collaborative research and the creation of financial leverage to attract private investments represent the most effective course of action for the Government, with the added benefit of creating wealth.
We reiterated to the Government of Québec our willingness to work closely with the institutional stakeholders involved.
