INTRODUCTION of Canada

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories
extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million
square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's second-largest country by total
area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi),
is the world's longest bi-national land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest
metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Canada’s economy
The economy of Canada is a highly developed market economy. It is the 9th largest GDP by nominal
and 15th largest GDP by PPP in the world. As with other developed nations, the country's economy is
dominated by the service industry which employs about three quarters of Canadians. Canada has
the third highest total estimated value of natural resources, valued at US$33.2 trillion in 2019. It has
the world's third largest proven petroleum reserves and is the fourth largest exporter of petroleum.
It is also the fourth largest exporter of natural gas. Canada is considered an "energy superpower"
due to its abundant natural resources and a small population of 37 million inhabitants relative to its
land area.

Canada is the world's tenth-largest economy as of 2018, with a nominal GDP of approximately
US$1.73 trillion. It is one of the least corrupt countries in the world, and is one of the world's top ten
trading nations, with a highly globalized economy. Canada has a mixed economy ranking above the
U.S. and most western European nations on The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom,
and experiencing a relatively low level of income disparity. The country's average household
disposable income per capita is "well above" the OECD average. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the
ninth-largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization, listing over 1,500 companies with
a combined market capitalization of over US$2 trillion.

In 2018, Canadian trade in goods and services reached CA$1.5 trillion. Canada's exports total over
CA$585 billion, while its imported goods were worth over CA$607 billion, of which approximately
CA$391 billion originated from the United States, CA$216 billion from non-U.S. sources.

The effect of covid 19 on canada

The COVID-19 pandemic had a deep impact on the Canadian economy, leading it into a recession.
The governments' social distancing rules had the effect of limiting economic activity in the country.
Companies started considering mass-layoffs of workers, which was largely prevented by the Canada
Emergency Wage Subsidy. But despite these efforts, Canada's unemployment rate was 13.5% in May
2020, the highest it has been since 1976.

Many large-scale events that planned to take place in 2020 in Canada were cancelled or delayed.
This includes all major sporting and artistic events. Canada's tourism and air travel sectors were hit
especially hard due to travel restrictions. Some farmers feared a Labour shortfall and bankruptcy.

The COVID-19 affected consumer behaviours . In the early stages of the pandemic, Canadian grocery
stores were the site of large-scale panic buying which lead to many empty shelves. By the end of
March, most stores were closed to walk-in customers with the exception of grocery stores and
pharmacies, which implemented strong social distancing rules in their premises. These rules were
also implemented in other Canadian businesses as they began to re-open in the following months.

The covid-19 pandemic had a lot of impact on various sectors, lets see some of them

AIR-LINE INDUSTRY
Air Canada cancelled all flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Rome; and cut back on flights to Hong Kong,
Tokyo, and Seoul.

On 18 March, Porter Airlines announced that it would suspend all flights until June.

All The six connections at London, Paris, Frankfurt, Delhi, Tokyo and Hong Kong airports would allow
Canadians to return home. These measures are expected to last until at least 30 April.

Air Canada announced because of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, it would re-hire backdated
to 15 March 16,000 airline staff that were laid off due to the pandemic.

On 21 April, Air Canada announced a suspension of all scheduled flights to the U.S. from 27 April to
22 May, subject to any further government restrictions beyond that date.

On 14 May, Lufthansa said it would resume flights between Toronto and Frankfurt as of 3 June. The
airline plans three weekly flights between the cities, and may add Vancouver and Montreal to its
post-lockdown rote later on this summer. Flights are banned on all international non-essential travel
between Canada and the European Union since 17 March, but citizens are allowed to return to
either location. Prior to the pandemic, Lufthansa operated 64 weekly flights between the two
countries.
Stock market:-
Canada is one of the world's top ten trading nations, with a highly globalized economy. Canada
historically ranks above the U.S. and most western European nations on The Heritage Foundation's
index of economic freedom, and experiencing a relatively low level of income disparity. The
country's average household disposable income per capita is "well above" the OECD average. The
Toronto Stock Exchange is the eighth-largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization,
listing over 1,500 companies with a combined market capitalization of over US$3 trillion.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) was affected strongly by the 2020 stock market crash, with an
overall 12 percent decline on 12 March of the S&P/TSX Composite Index, its biggest single-day
decline since 1940, twice triggering market circuit breakers. The week of 9–13 March was the TSX's
worst week on record. The fall, which capped two weeks of steady declines, was exacerbated by an
oil output war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost another 10 percent on 16 March, causing trading to halt a 3rd
time in a span of eight days. The index closed at 12,360.40 points on 16 March, down 31 percent
from before the crash at 17,944 recorded on 20 February. By 17 April, the index had recovered some
of its losses, closing at 14,359.98, still down 20 percent from the 20 February close.
HEALTH
From the discovery of insulin to the invention of the pacemaker, Canada has had a strong record of
health innovation. In a time of rapid technological change and global interconnectedness, we have
an opportunity to leverage our health-care system and to achieve even greater impact through our
advances in the life sciences. With commitment and bold action, Canada can be a destination for
investment and talent, growing our health and biosciences firms to support a more sustainable
health system while advancing Canada’s prosperity.

Vision

By 2025, Canada will double the size of the health and biosciences sector and become a top-three
global hub by: leveraging and advancing innovative technologies; attracting and retaining capital,
skills and talent; and ensuring a vibrant ecosystem that will unleash the full potential of the sector
and lead to improved health outcomes.

Canada needs to unlock the full potential of its innovations and accelerate the pace of
commercialization to ensure a sustainable, globally competitive health ecosystem with a robust
innovation economy and improved health outcomes.

Karimah Es Sabar, Chair, Health and Biosciences

Economic Strategy Table

Aiming for the top three

Canada ranks fourth in global health and biosciences hubs, according to measures identified by the
U.K. BioIndustry Association. That puts Canada behind the U.S., U.K. and Germany. To double the
sector and break into the top three, we’ll need strategic action to strengthen every facet of the
sector.

Targets

Double health and biosciences exports to $26B

Double the number of health and bioscience firms to 1,800

Double the number of health and bioscience high-growth firms to 80

The Canadian health and biosciences sector’s historical growth rate of 4% leads us to predict that
business as usual will lead to annual exports of approximately $17 billion by 2025. However, we
believe that by rejecting the status quo and taking ambitious steps, we can change our trajectory
and double our exports to $26 billion by 2025, which is equivalent to a 9% annual growth rate.

The ecosystem currently consists of some 900 firms. This encompasses pharmaceutical multinational
enterprises, generics firms, biopharmaceutical SMEs, contract research and manufacturing
organizations and medical technology manufacturers. With bold actions that eliminate barriers and
drive growth, our 2025 target is to double this number to 1,800 firms, with each creating knowledge-
intensive jobs. Within this total, we have a particular focus on high-growth firms. Canada currently
boasts 40 such firms, and we believe that the proposals in these pages will enable us to create twice
as many. These high-growth firms will commercialize innovations, penetrate new markets and serve
as regional leaders.
Figure 1: Total Exports

Description of figure 1

What we need to overcome

Addressing processes that stifle innovation and hinder the adoption of promising innovations in the
health-care system is key to advancing Canada’s global competitiveness and meeting our growth
targets. The following barriers stand in the way of us achieving our health and biosciences goals:

• Complex regulatory, reimbursement and procurement processes impede the adoption of

innovations

• A risk-averse procurement culture prioritizes short-term focus on cost rather than broader
considerations of value

• Disconnected digital health systems inhibit the collection, connection and analysis of data
needed to inform innovation decision making

• Skills shortages and lack of access to executive level talent hinder the sector’s
competitiveness

• Limited access to capital leads many Canadian firms to exit the market through mergers or
acquisitions rather than accrue value domestically

What we need to become

Bold ambitions have to be supported by more than just good intentions. A number of structural and
cultural conditions must be in place to enable the transformative growth we are seeking:

• A health policy environment that sees the health-care of Canadians and economic growth of
the health and biosciences sector as mutually reinforcing

• A public health-care system that is an early adopter and is incentivized to support innovation
adoption

• Agile and streamlined regulatory and procurement approaches to support access to value-
based innovations

• Nationally robust, digitalized, interconnected and patient-centred health data infrastructure

• A large and vibrant life sciences capital market that invests significantly in Canadian
companies

• A knowledge-intensive sector that fosters futureoriented skill development and delivers

world-class research and development (R&D)

We need to strengthen the entire ecosystem to get Canada on the trajectory to become a world
leader.

Economic growth and improved health outcomes are not mutually exclusive. They should go hand in
hand.

The actions we propose

We propose sector-wide actions that will unleash Canadian innovation and place our health and
biosciences firms on a higher trajectory. Based on research, global best practices and insights from
Table members and our industry peers, we propose five areas of focus to transform the life science
ecosystem in Canada:

Accelerate Innovation Adoption

By employing value-based procurement across Canada’s health systems and establishing a

procurement innovation agency

Design Agile Regulations

By adopting international best practices, eliminating duplication across jurisdictions and decreasing
review times

Harness Digital Technology

By creating a national digital health strategy featuring an interoperable digital health platform

Develop & Attract Talent

By equipping Canadians for highly skilled jobs, eliminating hiring barriers and streamlining
government skills programs

Create Anchor Firms

By mobilizing late stage capital, scaling up high-potential firms, and broadening research and
development tax incentives