Province commits funds to Kitchener Innovation Arena
The Ontario government has announced plans to invest $7.5 million to help build a state-of-the-art Innovation Arena at the University of Waterloo.
The $35-million facility will be a hub for innovation in Ontario’s life sciences sector in Kitchener and Waterloo, supporting the development of new health technology and the commercialization of intellectual property and encouraging investment and job creation.
“As we continue to grow our province’s life sciences sector, the new arena will accelerate the development and commercialization of made-in-Ontario innovations, create new jobs and help to attract investments to Kitchener and Waterloo,” said Premier Doug Ford.
The University of Waterloo and the City of Kitchener are partnering to build the new 90,000-square-foot Innovation Arena. Located in Kitchener’s innovation district, the facility will include a health-tech incubator and a small-business centre with a shared wet lab for local entrepreneurs and start-ups.
The site at the corner of Victoria and Joseph streets currently houses a warehouse.
Run in partnership with the City of Kitchener, and with startup incubator Velocity, the new collaboration space will streamline commercialization pathways for businesses, fast-track delivery of health technologies and drive Canada’s next wave of economic growth.
“Ontario has a long history of innovation in the life sciences sector, and the Innovation Arena will help many more Ontario start-ups, entrepreneurs and innovations bring their ideas to life and to market,” said Minister Fedeli. “With this investment, we’re ensuring that Ontario remains a global leader in innovation and the life sciences sector now and for generations to come.”
Over the last two-and-a-half years, Ontario has attracted nearly $3 billion in investments by global biomanufacturers. The Innovation Arena will build on this success by supporting the discovery of innovative new health technologies.
Ontario is the largest life sciences jurisdiction in Canada, generating 59 percent of overall Canadian revenue. There are approximately 1,900 life sciences firms across the province, and the human health life sciences sector employs more than 70,100 people in Ontario.
The med-tech industry generated about $18.7 billion in revenue in 2020 and employs about 30,200 people in Ontario. It includes globally significant companies like GE Healthcare, Medtronic and domestic success stories like Trudell Medical and Synaptive Medical.
The world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies by revenue conduct clinical trials in Ontario. These include Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Novartis, Merck & Co, Pfizer, Bayer, AbbVie, GSK, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi.
The Innovation Arena project has already received funding commitments from the federal government, the City of Kitchener and local entrepreneur and angel investor Mike Stork.