The chair of an embattled federal cleantech funding agency has resigned, days after Ottawa’s ethics watchdog opened an investigation into her role in granting funding to a private company she runs.

Annette Verschuren’s resignation, effective Dec. 1, is the latest blow to Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). The organization, which grants public money to clean technology projects while operating at arm’s length from the federal government, has been under scrutiny for nearly a year, following complaints from a group of former employees that it gave preferential treatment to companies with ties to members of its board.

Verschuren told the House of Commons ethics committee earlier this month that in 2020 and 2021 she participated in approving $217,000 in grants to NRStor, a company she leads as CEO and chair. The testimony prompted Interim Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein to launch an investigation. 

Pressure has been mounting for Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), the federal department that oversees the agency, to fire SDTC leaders facing allegations of mismanagement and conflicts of interest. The agency’s CEO, Leah Lawrence, stepped down last week, leaving SDTC’s vice-president of investments, Ziyad Rahme, as acting CEO. 

In a letter to Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne dated Nov. 19, a copy of which The Logic obtained, Verschuren tendered her resignation, acknowledging the allegations without offering a reason for resigning. In Lawrence’s resignation letter earlier this month, she said her ability to lead SDTC had been compromised “given recent media reports, House of Commons committee testimony, and the surrounding controversy,” and that it was “clear there has been a sustained and malicious campaign to undermine [her] leadership.”  

Verschuren also defended SDTC’s practices and its response to the whistleblowers’ complaints. “Allegations have been investigated by both an independent law firm and fact-finding mission initiated by ISED,” she wrote. “Both exercises have found no clear evidence of wrongdoing or misconduct by SDTC.” 

The third-party investigation ISED ordered did, however, flag concerns with the agency’s conflict-of-interest and human resources practices. The federal department issued corrective measures for SDTC to implement and barred it from granting funding until it addresses the concerns. SDTC has pushed back against that investigation, claiming Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton (RCGT), the accounting firm that carried it out, omitted key evidence in its final report that led to the agency’s suspension. 

In her resignation letter, Verschuren said the agency will respond to the government’s corrective measures by the time she departs on Dec. 1. 

SDTC is a major source of capital for Canada’s early-stage cleantech ecosystem, providing grants for companies from the seed to scale-up phase. The agency’s funding typically draws private investors into companies it supports. Its annual funding was set to double from $157 million last year to $318 million in 2025–26, and its suspension has sparked worry in the country’s nascent cleantech sector. 

Verschuren has chaired SDTC’s board of directors since 2019, and has led NRStor since 2012. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, SDTC gave every firm in its portfolio a relief payment in the form of a five per cent funding increase. However, RCGT found that SDTC had failed to disclose conflicts of interest with companies to which it made these payments. Verschuren confirmed before the federal ethics committee that she did not recuse herself from voting on pandemic relief funding for NRStor. She defended that decision, claiming SDTC had received legal advice that justified it. 

“Continuous improvement is the foundation of any successful organization, and these assessments provided helpful recommendations for procedural improvements, which we wholeheartedly accept,” Verschuren wrote in her resignation letter. “We can always do better.”

In a statement spokesperson Janemary Banigan shared with The Logic, SDTC said its board will meet this week to discuss “next steps until a new chair is appointed by the Government of Canada.”