Kelly DeRidder on Canada's Innovation Capital

tawa, and I want you to know: I carry it with pride, with purpose, and with a determination that only grows stronger. This year, I’ve seen the best of who we are. I’ve met people rebuilding their lives with grit that could move mountains. I’ve met families fighting for their loved ones with a love that refuses to quit. I’ve met innovators, dreamers, and everyday heroes who remind me that our community isn’t just part of Canada’s future, we’re shaping it. And let me be clear: I’m not here to sit quietly in the back row. I’m here to push. To advocate. To make sure our community is seen, heard, and respected as the innovation capital of this country. I’m here to fight for real supports for people struggling with addiction and mental health challenges, because every single person deserves a chance to come home happy, healthy and drug free. We are not a community that waits for change. We make it. We build it. We demand it. And we do it together. So as we step into a new year, I want you to know this: I believe in you. I believe in us. And I believe in what we can accomplish when we stand shoulder to shoulder, refusing to leave anyone behind. Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your strength. Thank you for reminding me every day why this work matters. Now let’s take this momentum into the new year, and let’s show Canada exactly what this community can do.

anadian innovation. Grateful for your confidence and trust. Together, we’ll keep building a stronger, safer Kitchener Centre. #kitchener #kitchenercentre #parliament

illions of dollars in commercialized innovation here at home. But without a strategy to keep the innovation outcomes from taxpayer dollar investments here in Canada, we will continue to see IP and research talent flow south of the border. The government’s investments mean nothing without conditions or a strategy. #kitchener #innovation #ip

nds in stark contrast to what the Minister of AI and Digital Innovation recently told us: “Guardrails” exist to ensure Canadians see the economic return on these investments. However, he couldn’t point to a single concrete example. Instead, we continue to see the same policy pattern of ‘investment’ announcements but no real strategy to ensure ownership and commercialization stays here in Canada. #innovation #kitchener

nnovation capital, but we do not monetize and commercialize here in Canada. We're losing our IP. We're losing our data. It's going to the States or abroad. What is your strategy to make sure it stays here in Canada?

avoid detection in various operational environments. Their commitment to staying rooted in our community while securing major funding is a huge win for local innovation, jobs, and economic growth. This is what it looks like when vision meets opportunity. Congratulations to the entire Alchemy team, we’re proud to have you building the future right here at home.

al investment, are driving economic opportunity out of our region. That’s not just a missed chance at growth, it’s a risk to our future. #kitchener #innovation #community

ries. Their work is a powerful example of how local innovation can drive global impact. Proud to support visionary entrepreneurs like Innovative Carbon Technologies Inc. who are building a cleaner, more sustainable future, right from the heart of our community.

h centres like Kitchener Centre?

are too high. Although I agree with incubating these start-ups, what can this government do better to make sure that they can also commercialize, stay here in Canada and not leave?

d no definition of what we want to retain, with both our innovation and our talent, but the money seems to be flowing. There are already hundreds of millions of dollars being spent. It seems to me that this government is running with their eyes closed. Do you believe there are guardrails or plans in place to ensure that the almost $1.3 billion in innovation funding goes to tech companies in Kitchener, for example, for us to retain our innovation and talent instead of leaving it to foreign entities that are taking our innovation and talent?

to hosting you in Kitchener in the New Year! 🇨🇦🇱🇹 #kitchener #AI #innovation #canada #lithuania

, manufacture and capture the jobs and the wealth. From your experience, what are the biggest systematic barriers—like high taxes, inflationary pressures or slow approvals—that are pushing biotech commercialization and our talent to the U.S. instead of keeping it here in Canada?

d data through our research funding and tax credits in Canada?

in this country, because that's the economic growth out of all of our start-ups. What is this current government doing to ensure that we are retaining our intellectual property and data within our start-up ecosystem?

nity. The problem I see, though, is that we do a very good job of incubating and educating, but because of the current climate—high taxes and red tape—scaling-up isn't happening, so B and C funding isn't available to these start-ups. We're paying taxes to promote and incubate these companies, but then they're leaving Canada because it's easier to scale up in, say, the United States. What do you think would be a solution to that? How can we make more of an investment climate for scalability here in Canada so there isn't a negative net return on our investments, as things stand today?

universities and your foundation to develop policy. You also gave $10 million to our Perimeter Institute, which helped it open. It is literally one of our driving forces of local innovation and tech in Kitchener. On top of that, you've supported our cancer centre at Grand River Hospital and our Waterloo Regional Children's Museum. You are the example of success when the IP stays in Canada. You can innovate, monetize and scale in the communities where this innovation is developed. What has changed or has not been done in the national landscape that causes companies to no longer be able to monetize and scale here, and what causes them to head south instead?

recommended building capacity for a knowledge-based, data-driven economy. Since then, almost three years later, not one policy has been created to meet the needs of a strategic orientation. On top of that, your warning of $100 billion lost annually from unowned IP really hits home. It hits home because Kitchener start-ups are directly impacted by red tape, high taxes, no IP strategy and a lack of policy, which is preventing investment. Where is this failure coming from? What can be done to fully unleash Kitchener's innovation engine and reverse the damage of this lost decade?

mes from my home riding, being an innovative joint replacement technology, but they can't monetize. They're having trouble scaling because of red tape bureaucracies. It's hard to scale here in Canada. Also, there was an article that came out today from CTV that said, “Warren Lovely, managing director with National Bank Financial, told BNN Bloomberg...the private sector has already lost confidence in the federal government, and the country is dependent on the U.S.” Current policy, in the past 10 years, has not been in the form to create innovation and technology in Canada, and we've lost investor confidence in this country. This has been over the past 10 years. To me, these are policy and bureaucracy problems. You even said that it's not something to throw money at. It's how we create investment. In terms of policy, what can we do to create investment here in Canada and to support our innovation and technology sector?

AI investment, but 75% of that has now gone abroad to companies not here in Canada, so our public tax dollars are funding, as you said, the futures of someone else. What specific competition-focused policies could reverse Liberal oversight, incentivize private investment and prevent IP leakage to ensure that our youth who are driving our innovation as well as our next workforce have a bright future here in Canada?