It’s been a year of big transitions: A moment of reckoning for Facebook. A family struggle for control of one of Canada’s biggest telecom companies. And a jump start for NFTs, thanks to the Canadian company behind NBA Top Shot collectibles.

As 2021 comes to a close, here are the newsmakers of the year, as chosen by The Logic’s newsroom:

AbCellera

What they did: The Vancouver-based biotech entered 2021 hot on the heels of a record-breaking initial public offering, and with Canadian and American authorities authorizing the COVID-19 antibody therapy it co-developed with Eli Lilly for emergency use. With hundreds of millions of dollars in its coffers, and purchase agreements for bamlanivimab from both countries, AbCellera pursued a rapid expansion plan. It set down roots in Vancouver, committing to add a manufacturing facility and expand its headquarters by hundreds of thousands of square feet. It embarked on a hiring spree, aiming to one day employ 1,000 people.

Why it mattered: Bamlanivimab received lukewarm reception in Canada. In the U.S., on the other hand, it was widely used first on its own and later as a combination treatment. AbCellera said bamlanivimab “proved” its tech and business model both work. Since then, Eli Lilly has started Phase 2 clinical trials for its second co-developed COVID-19 antibody therapy, bebtelovimab, and AbCellera had 155 antibody-discovery programs with 35 partners as of its third quarter. AbCellera’s decision to grow in Vancouver is a win in a province where complaints about startups’ ability to scale up abound. That’s not to say AbCellera’s found it easy. The company has been asking for a patent-box regime in Canada and B.C., which would favour an intellectual property-heavy company like itself. – Aleksandra

Paul Desmarais III, chair of Sagard Holdings

What he did: No investor had a greater role in shaping the Canadian fintech market throughout 2021 than Desmarais, whose venture fund has backed some of the country’s largest startups, including Clearco and Wealthsimple.

Why it mattered: This year, both of those Toronto-based companies hired hundreds of new employees, placing them among the most rapidly growing fintechs in Canada. Portage Ventures, where Desmarais is the executive chair, also made new investments at a rapid clip in 2021, announcing 21 deals as it expanded its reach across the globe. But it also assembled an even larger treasury to pursue bigger deals in the months ahead. Portage launched a new $600-million fund, its third fintech-focused venture fund, which it will use to pursue even larger investments with a greater emphasis on crypto and Latin America. And it raised US$240 million for a fintech SPAC, at a time when the outlook for blank-cheque companies is becoming more uncertain. – Jon

The displaced energy worker

What they did: The Canadian oil and gas sector shed over 20,000 jobs in 2020, and was expected to contract again in 2021. That retrenchment came after massive layoffs between 2015 and mid-2017, when 52,000 people directly lost their jobs—many of whom were not expected to find work again in the traditional oil and gas sector, according to a Petroleum Labour Market Information study.

Why it mattered: The layoffs, with their sometimes devastating social consequences, have in turn prompted efforts to help workers across the country transition toward cleaner industries, like solar. Some have already made the leap. Canada’s oil and gas sector in particular boasts a highly skilled workforce of engineers, geologists and other professionals, who could play a vital role in building out next-generation tech. The federal government, for its part, has promised “just transition” legislation to ensure that the Canadian workforce is “equipped with the range of skills required” to meet the country’s climate targets. That legislation has not yet been tabled. The Alberta government has also introduced some supports for displaced workers, including the Coal Workforce Transition Program, which aims to educate laid-off workers or help them relocate for new job opportunities. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has said that the province’s ability to attract skilled workers is the “missing piece” in achieving sustained economic growth. – Jesse

Roham Gharegozlou, co-founder and CEO of Dapper Labs

What he did: Collins Dictionary named “NFT” the word of the year, and that’s largely thanks to Gharegozlou and his company, Vancouver-based Dapper Labs. In January, Dapper’s blockchain-based collectible basketball-highlight platform, NBA Top Shot, was just starting to take off, with media coverage focused on the curious concept of “owning” and trading videos that were often also available on YouTube. 

Why it mattered: Undeterred by “right-click, save-as” jokes, NFT sales reached US$10.7 billion in the third quarter. As of its latest fundraise in September, Dapper itself is valued at US$7.6 billion, with a platform similar to Top Shot in partnership with the NFL in the works. The staying power of NFTs isn’t certain, but despite a few dips, they’ve smashed high after unbelievable high all year long and are still going strong. Love the craze or hate it, Gharegozlou led the way. – Claire 

Frances Haugen, Meta whistleblower

What she did: The former Facebook product manager leaked internal company documents to media outlets starting with The Wall Street Journal. The first headline—that the firm knows Instagram can be toxic for teenage girls—set off a deluge, including allegations of failures to tackle misinformation and adequately moderate content in countries like India, Egypt and Myanmar. Haugen testified before lawmakers in the EU, U.S. and U.K., calling for the technology giant to declare “moral bankruptcy,” but not for it to be broken up. Meta has pushed back on reporting based on the documents.

Why it mattered: Haugen would be a newsmaker anywhere in the world, but her whistleblowing has particularly perked Canadian ears. Facebook has 24 million users here, as its policy team regularly reminds people. So it’s unsurprising that opposition MPs used Haugen’s assertions to castigate the Liberal government for not following through on a number of Big Tech files, including broadcasting rules and regulations to mitigate online harms. Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne met with Haugen in Paris in November, and told The Logic their discussion on algorithms and protections for children will inform an updated consumer privacy bill he’s planning to introduce next year. – Murad

François Legault, Quebec’s premier 

What he did: Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec remains as popular as it was the day it was elected three years ago, thanks in large part to the government’s handling of the pandemic and relatively snafu-free vaccine rollout. It doesn’t hurt that his province has the country’s “hottest economy.” While he remains an identity-based nationalist with a habit of scapegoating visible and linguistic minorities—and even those Francophones who deign to want to learn English—he isn’t so hidebound that he’s oblivious to the facts on the ground. Much to the delight of the province’s tech sector, the government has actually increased immigration rates, despite promising to do just the opposite. And his government’s made-in-Quebec environmental plan includes banning the sale of new gas-powered automobiles by 2035 and using the province’s bountiful hydroelectric assets to power much of the northeast. 

Why it mattered: Legault has become arguably the most powerful premier in the country. His popularity in the politically crucial province has allowed him to secure some $6 billion in strings-free funding for the province’s daycare system, while the Trudeau government is considering the funding of the “troisième lien,” a carbon-heavy and very possibly useless project to build a commuter tunnel under the St. Lawrence. – Martin

Edward Rogers, chair of Rogers Communications

What he did: Rogers first shook up the Canadian telecom industry with a $26-billion bid for rival Shaw Communications—an offer that was later reported to have been enriched by $6 billion to fend off a rival bid from BCE. The merger of the central and Western Canadian telcos would have been big enough news by itself. Then in September, Ed Rogers’s attempt to replace Rogers CEO Joe Natale with CFO Tony Staffieri flung family grievances into the public square (It’s not like “Succession,” it’s “Game of Thrones,” tweeted Rogers sibling Martha early on) and produced a court fight that ultimately handed the son of founder Ted Rogers control of both the board and the C-suite.

Why it mattered: The CRTC examined whether the Rogers acquisition of Shaw is in Canadians’ interests (albeit strictly from a broadcasting perspective), hearing complaints from telcos like Telus that it will hollow out the business community in the West and create a leviathan that regulations won’t be able to shackle. Meanwhile the boardroom power play illuminated what can happen when a major public company has a share structure that keeps control in the hands of heirs who don’t get along. And in Martha Rogers’ formulation, the White Walkers won. – David R.

Kim Thomassin, executive vice-president and head of stewardship investing at CDPQ

What she did: The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) this year became Canada’s first institutional investor to chart its exit from fossil fuels. With Thomassin leading the strategy, the fund announced in September it would divest from oil production and exploration by the end of 2022, and spend $10 billion to decarbonize emissions-heavy industries. 

Why it mattered: In a year characterized by big net-zero goals and few details for how to achieve them, Thomassin set CDPQ apart from its peers. A lawyer by trade, she had overseen the gradual oil sell-off since taking the lead on the fund’s sustainability strategy in 2020. While divestment remains controversial and rare in Canada, the move aligns with an emerging consensus that reaching net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 requires keeping fossil fuels in the ground. The strategy could set the tone for other banks and investors to follow suit. Thomassin’s influence extends beyond Quebec’s largest pension fund. A year after joining the fund in 2017, she was named one of four members—along with now-Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem—to the federal government’s expert panel on sustainable finance. The group’s final report included sweeping recommendations for how to protect Canada’s financial system from the mounting risks of climate change. – Catherine 

Raquel Urtasun, Waabi founder and CEO

What she did: The autonomous-trucking startup founded by Urtasun, one of Canada’s leading artificial intelligence leaders, came out of stealth in June, raising an US$83.5-million Series A. Waabi aims to improve truck safety and address worker shortages with a self-driving truck that requires less manual tuning and uses more AI.

Why it mattered: Self-driving technology is coming to the fore, and Urtasun is Canada’s best ticket in being a major player on the global stage. Autonomous driving has the promise to alleviate many of the issues that have only become more stark in the pandemic: the precarity of frontline work, the challenges of trade in a globalized supply chain and the rise of e-commerce. Waabi is backed by deep learning leader Geoffrey Hinton, as well as Urtasun’s former employer Uber and rival Aurora Innovation, among others. Tragic accidents involving AVs swept headlines this year. Yet 2021 also saw the startup Gatik raising a major round to expand in Toronto, and Canadian-led Aurora and Embark going public. Urtasun’s new company suggests that there’s still potential for Canadians to forge major improvements in AVs in the coming years. – Anita

Xi Jinping, China’s president 

What he did: Xi, who now heads all branches of China’s Communist Party, has introduced a flurry of crackdowns on the country’s technology and private sector this year. China’s largest ride-hailing firm Didi was forced to stop registering new users just days after its U.S. listing, and eventually announced in December it would remove its shares from the New York Stock Exchange amid Beijing’s pressure. 

Why it mattered: Xi’s unprecedented clampdown has not only fundamentally transformed China’s business environment, but also created ripple effects globally. Canada’s largest institutional investors, for example, have lost billions amid a selloff of U.S.-listed Chinese stocks. The collapse of China’s largest real estate property company, Evergrande, due in part to the lack of government backing amid Xi’s “common prosperity” campaign, sparked a huge market selloff. Meanwhile, Yahoo, LinkedIn as well as Epic Games have all exited China this year amid an increasingly challenging business and legal environment. – Lu