How bold innovation in biomanufacturing will save the Canadian Economy

The story of Canada’s agri-food sector is one of untapped potential and missed opportunities. For decades, Canada has settled for exporting raw commodities, whether oil, minerals or crops, allowing other countries to benefit from the rewards of value-added processing. Consider this: 90% of our canola (1) and 80% of our prairie-grown pulses (2) are shipped abroad, only to be transformed into higher-value products elsewhere, yet adding value can be as simple as splitting and grinding base crops. Meanwhile, we import most of our food, sometimes even re-importing our own processed commodities at inflated prices. This cycle has left Canada vulnerable to global market fluctuations and supply chain disruptions, undermining its food security and economic potential.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have emphasized the fragility of global food systems and the need to strengthen local domestic food production and processing capabilities. For instance, in Canada, these events caused significant increases in food prices, which have not been seen in 40 years (3), demonstrating the interconnectedness of global food systems and the importance of developing more resilient local supply chains. 

Canada has struggled to become a leader in value-added agri-food and biomanufacturing despite having abundant natural resources, access to international markets, strong research and development capacity, and a global reputation for producing safe, high-quality food (4). This failure can be attributed, in part, to a reactive rather than proactive approach to innovation and industry development.

The pandemic revealed critical deficiencies in Canada’s innovation ecosystem. Despite its historical strengths in vaccine development and biomanufacturing, such as the Connaught Laboratories at the University of Toronto (5) and North America’s largest publicly owned fermentation facilities in Edmonton (6), the country’s inability to produce COVID-19 vaccines domestically and to respond to a global emergency underscored the need for a long-term life sciences innovation strategy. Case in point, Canada was the only G7 country without its own domestic vaccine programme during the pandemic (7). In response, the government allocated significant funds to create the Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy in 2021 (8). However, this strategy is primarily focused on the healthcare sector, overlooking the potential of biomanufacturing to address other pressing challenges such as food security, climate change, and supply chain resilience.

Biomanufacturing 4.0: Our Next Food Frontier

As we stand on the cusp of the next agricultural revolution, it is clear that embracing change is not just an option but a necessity. The concept of “biomanufacturing 4.0” (9), which emerged in the early 2000s, offers a promising solution for producing a wide range of products from a diverse and sustainable variety of cells. This approach extends far beyond its application in the health sector, with the convergence between food and medical biomanufacturing becoming increasingly evident in recent years. For instance, using tissue engineering to produce meat products or programming microbes to express bioequivalent dairy molecules have become among the most innovative interdisciplinary approaches to producing food products.

The United States has recognized the broader potential of biotechnology and biomanufacturing, as demonstrated by their “Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy,” announced in September 2022 (10). This holistic strategy aims “to coordinate a whole-of-government approach to address challenges in health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture, supply chain resilience, and national and economic security” (10). In contrast, Canada’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy (8) has failed to acknowledge the potential of biomanufacturing to resolve food sovereignty and supply chain risks exacerbated by climate volatility and a declining number of agricultural workers (11).

A comprehensive Food Biomanufacturing Strategy that leverages Canada’s strong agricultural sector could be transformative. It could allow farmers to diversify crop production, incentivize circularity, mitigate the risks of climate change, and reduce our reliance on processed food imports. Such a strategy would enhance our food security and create new business opportunities, boosting the efficiency, productivity, and profit margin of our agricultural resource sector. Imagine a future where the Canadian Prairies are home to world-leading biorefineries, producing globally recognized bioproducts known for their quality, innovation, and sustainability. This vision is not just aspirational; it is essential for the long-term success and survival of our agri-food sector and overall economy. Canada must seize this opportunity to become a leader in agri-food innovation before others do, and the same old story repeats itself.

Shock-proofing our food system requires a fundamental shift in mindset, recognizing food independence and security as national priorities. Fortunately, Canada is not starting from scratch. We possess many key elements needed for a thriving agri-food biomanufacturing sector: innovative SMEs betting on their potential, post-secondary institutions developing talent and conducting foundational research, and abundant natural resources. To build on these strengths and create a sustainable, innovative ecosystem, we must develop long-term policies and strategies to sustain an innovative and entrepreneurial biomanufacturing ecosystem focused on the following key areas:

• Empowering Biomanufacturing Canadian Entrepreneurs: This includes creating “patient capital” funding mechanisms tailored to deep-tech SMEs, adapting traditional metrics to accommodate the unique R&D-intensive nature of these startups, and strengthening mechanisms for commercializing academic research.
• Fostering a Culture of Risk-Taking and Embracing the Unknown: We need to encourage officials within public institutions to experiment and learn by doing, create regulatory sandboxes for catalyzing food biomanufacturing innovation, and empower citizens to request the update of outdated risk-averse policies that constrain innovation.
• Aligning Incentives for Innovation Growth: This involves ensuring government support leads to developing and retaining intellectual property within Canada, transitioning the government’s role beyond grant and tax credit provider to become a co-investor (12), and prioritizing partnerships with SMEs rather than larger, incumbent firms for long-term impact (13).
• Encouraging Healthy Competition: We should support the decentralized growth of SMEs in Canada rather than promoting mergers and acquisitions led by foreign multinationals or entrenched national corporate interests (14) and learn from sectors like microbreweries in driving open competition through product differentiation, technological innovation, consumer engagement, and knowledge sharing (15).

Canada possesses all the ingredients necessary to be a global leader, yet we have fallen short of our potential. For too long, Canadians have undervalued their assets and abilities, content with being mere exporters of raw commodities and talent. We’ve watched foreign multinationals profit from Canadian-created intellectual property and benefit from our branch economics approach (14). However, this complacency is unsustainable and should be unacceptable to Canadian taxpayers, policymakers and business leaders alike.

Our natural resources are finite, and our privileged position is increasingly precarious as the world grapples with unprecedented challenges in food security, climate change, population growth, and geopolitical instability. We stand at a crossroads: we can continue as a laggard, naively waiting for the next global crisis before we take action or proactively shape the future of our country.

It’s time for Canada to think strategically. We need to establish a new compass that can guide our country to the leading position it deserves. We can transform Canada from a passive global resource provider into a dynamic, innovative powerhouse by leveraging our strengths and addressing our weaknesses. The choice is ours: remain comfortable in mediocrity or strive for excellence that is within our grasp.

REFERENCES

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10. The White House [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2024 Sep 15]. Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy. Available from: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/09/12/executive-order-on-advancing-biotechnology-and-biomanufacturing-innovation-for-a-sustainable-safe-and-secure-american-bioeconomy/
11. Farmer 4.0: How the Coming Skills Revolution Can Transform Agriculture [Internet]. RBC; 2019 Aug [cited 2023 Jan 25]. (RBC Thought Leadership). Available from: https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/farmer-4-0-how-the-coming-skills-revolution-can-transform-agriculture/
12. Mazzucato M. Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2024 Oct 2]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uTNPSCaMmU
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