VANCOUVER — As B.C.’s growing number of business accelerators and incubators jostle for financial support, the regional development agency responsible for the province has asked an advisory group to help decide how it should divide up limited public funding.

“A coordinated approach is required as there are a significant number of [business accelerators and incubators, or BAIs] in B.C. and funding demands far exceed funding available,” according to documents prepared in December 2020 ahead of the group’s first meeting. The Logic obtained the documents through an access-to-information request.

B.C. is home to 42 of Western Canada’s 76 active accelerators and incubators, according to the documents. While one federal regional development agency, Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD), had been responsible for funding business and innovation across all of Western Canada, the federal government created a B.C.-specific agency, Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan), in the 2021 federal budget. Since the Canadian Accelerator and Incubator Program expired in March 2019, WD had contributed $16.5 million to 16 BAI projects. It also offered an additional $2.95 million through an Innovate BC program. With no formal funding policy in place, it “addressed each funding request on a case-by-case basis,” the documents state.

Dylan Jones, now president of PacifiCan, was previously deputy minister for Western Economic Diversification. While at WD, he convened an informal advisory committee made up of some of the province’s industry insiders: AbCellera CFO Andrew Booth, Business Council of British Columbia executive vice-president Jock Finlayson, Genome BC CEO Pascal Spothelfer, Innovate BC CEO Raghwa Gopal and Digital Technology Supercluster CEO Sue Paish. Their mandate was “to provide advice and information … for consideration in the development of a strategic and co-ordinated approach to supporting B.C.’s innovation ecosystem, and BAIs in particular.”

Work on the framework is now “ongoing” at PacifiCan and is a priority for the agency, spokesperson Ben Letts wrote in an email to The Logic. PacifiCan declined an interview request, citing the election caretaker convention, even though the sitting federal party was re-elected on Sept. 20.

“In considering how best to support businesses through BAIs, [the agency] sought to consult individuals with expertise in B.C.’s innovation ecosystem and broader economy,” wrote Letts. The committee has met three times so far and “will reconvene as required.”

Paish told The Logic that the group’s discussions centred on “the kinds of issues that those of us that live, work and play in this province are very familiar with.” None of the other members would speak about the advisory group’s work. The committee didn’t draft a formal written proposal for Jones, Paish said. “But [Jones] has a lot of things he could do with his time, and to bring this group together said to me that he wanted to get our input on the strategies that he was developing for the Government of Canada relative to the British Columbia economy.”

Many of the potential strategies that informed the discussion came from a series of reports published in late 2020 by the Deep Centre—a Waterloo, Ont.-based Canadian economic-policy think tank—as part of its study on whether Canadian BAIs could be self-sustaining. A backgrounder prepared for Jones for the first meeting highlighted many of the reports’ recommendations.

Among the Deep Centre proposals in the backgrounder: since “most BAIs will require government funding to remain viable,” governments could assign that funding based on, among other things, “a track record in promoting economic development.” To speed up the metabolism of Canada’s BAIs and to attract “an infusion of entrepreneurial talent,” it suggests using a performance-measurement framework and adjusting its compensation models to attract more “risk-incented executives seeking opportunities.” To increase corporate engagement with BAIs, it suggests Canada replicate the Ignite Sweden model. Sweden’s innovation and energy agencies co-fund the non-profit, which launched in spring 2017. It helps local startups “find their first large customer” and has matched 761 startups with 243 corporations, resulting in more than 230 commercial collaborations since then. The Deep Centre did not respond to an interview request.

Letts did not explain prior to this story’s publication why the agency highlighted the Deep Centre’s recommendations as a premise for the advisory group’s discussions, but said no decisions or recommendations have been made regarding many of its suggestions, including on compensation models or how to rationalize funding.

Paish, who is familiar with the Deep Centre’s reports, said the group “didn’t map our discussions to any particular document or reference framework.” It did discuss some of the issues highlighted in those reports, she said, as well as recommendations from other groups. “But I don’t want you to think that we went through reports and highlighted this page and didn’t highlight that page. It wasn’t that kind of conversation.”

The group wanted to understand the type of model for BAIs that could work in B.C., as well as those that couldn’t, Paish said: “Let’s make sure that we build on the success and not replicate a model that might not be as successful, just because it’s here.”

They discussed the need for any strategy to reflect the province’s regional diversity rather than have “everything anchored in the Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island,” Paish said, and recognized “the importance of picking winners” and investing in them over startups or founders that are struggling or seem disinterested. Among the BAIs in the province the group deemed to have models worth replicating: Innovate BC, the BC Tech Association and the digital supercluster, although Paish acknowledged the conflict of interest among some members.

On the flip side, the group balked at handout models, Paish said, which she characterized as meaning “‘Here’s a grant or here’s a cheque. I hope your idea works. Have a nice day.’” Funding a company with no support or accountability mechanisms won’t magically teach it how to grow, she said.

The discussions weren’t easy, Paish said. “I think every one of the conversations went over time,” she said. “We all read the materials. We debated. We disagreed. We rallied around common objectives.” But she said the level of participation showed how much each member appreciated being involved.

The group hasn’t met in the last several months, said Paish, but remains ready to provide advice as needed. It was one of the first times she experienced the federal government reaching into the province for advice in what she called a “thoughtful and comprehensive manner.”

Discussions with someone listening on the other side “are going to lead to better economic policy than someone writing a policy brief on their own with the doors closed and the curtains drawn,” Paish said.