Innovating Canada
Rob Henderson
President & CEO, BioTalent Canada
As Canada expands its biomanufacturing capacity, employers must build talent pipelines capable of supporting new facilities and future growth.
The Canadian biomanufacturing industry marked a significant milestone this September, when Sanofi inaugurated the Charles Best building, a new $925-million flu vaccine manufacturing facility with industrial-scale capacity in Toronto. Days later, the Government of Canada announced $67 million in investment in the life sciences sector to advance Canada’s dual-use industrial capacity.
The message is clear. The Canadian bio-economy is ready to scale, and increasing manufacturing capacity, from factory floors to cleanrooms, and bioprocessing suites, is at the heart of this growth.
With new facilities and further expansion to come, an important question remains: where will the workforce come from to keep the industrial machine running? BioTalent Canada’s own labour market research first flagged this in 2021, projecting Canada’s bio-economy would need 65,000 additional workers by 2029, including more than 16,000 in biomanufacturing alone. Four years on, the gap is now evident.
BioTalent Canada is prepared to help the sector close this gap. Since 2017, it has funded over 20,000 paid placements with over 3,200 employers. 99 per cent say working with BioTalent Canada benefited their business.
The facilities are coming online. Employers who build their workforce now, not just their floor space, will be running at full capacity while others are still hiring.
Work-integrated learning is one of the best ways to build your talent pipeline. Find out if your organization qualifies for BioTalent Canada funding at biotalent.ca/GrowWithWIL.
