Ontario’s Innovation Future Hangs in the Balance – A Call to Action for Canada’s Startup Ecosystem 

This may be the most important message I’ve written as Chair of Angel Investors Ontario (AIO). For nearly two decades, AIO has been the backbone of Ontario’s early-stage innovation ecosystem. Our investors have personally funded over $800 million into our innovation startups. We are the bridge between billions of dollars of taxpayer-funded research at universities and institutions, and the commercialization pathways that lead to thriving companies, jobs, and prosperity. 

But today, we face an urgent crisis: our core infrastructure funding ends on September 30, 2025. Without renewal, Ontario will stand alone globally as a jurisdiction that walks away from sustaining its angel investor infrastructure. 

This is not just an “angel investor” issue. It is an innovation ecosystem issue, a jobs issue, and a competitiveness issue. 

Why This Matters 

1. The Valley of Death is Real 
Startups born out of university labs, incubators, and accelerators depend on angel investors as their first serious source of capital. Without angels, the funnel of companies ready for venture capital simply dries up. Billions of dollars invested annually in Canadian R&D risk going to waste if companies cannot cross this critical gap. 

2. Global Best Practices Show the Way 
Québec: Investissement Québec provides both operating support for Anges Québec and a co-investment fund. 
British Columbia: 30% investor tax credit has sustained angel groups for 20+ years. 
UK and Europe: Governments fund their angel associations directly and offer rich investor tax credits. 
Singapore: A dual model of operating support + Startup SG Equity co-investment has made it Asia’s startup hub. 
Ontario: Once a leader, now risks becoming an outlier with zero provincial support.

3. Capital Market Uncertainty is Shrinking the Pie 
Venture capital deployment in Canada dropped sharply in 2023–2024. Corporate cutbacks are expected to displace as much as 20% of knowledge workers in the coming year. These individuals could be the next generation of founders — but only if angel infrastructure is there to support them. 

4. The Job Creation Engine 
For the first ten years of provincial funding, AIO turned every single dollar of core AIO funding into $90 of angel investor funding into startups. Thereafter, every $1 invested by angels has historically leveraged $7–$9 in follow-on capital. Startups backed by angels create thousands of jobs annually, jobs that are sticky, high-value, and rooted in Ontario. When these companies succeed, they not only employ, but they also export, they pay taxes, and they anchor talent. 

5. A Fragile Ecosystem at Risk 
Ontario’s 18 angel groups, consolidated under AIO, represent thousands of investors and hundreds of startups annually. Without funding, this infrastructure collapses. Angels will continue to invest — but in fragmented, less efficient ways, with fewer entrepreneurs supported and less due diligence shared. Entrepreneurs will spend much more time funding. The result: fewer startups, more failures, and more intellectual property leaving Ontario for the U.S. 

The Ask 

• We call on both the Ontario government and the federal government to act.
  Ontario: Restore operational support for AIO, following the Québec and UK models.
  Federal government: Extend and expand FedDev’s support beyond September 2025, ensuring continuity while provincial support ramps up.
  Both levels of government: Work with us to create a made-in-Ontario solution — blending operational funding, tax incentives, and a co-investment fund — to secure the province’s innovation future. 

 The Cost of Doing Nothing 

If governments choose inaction, the consequences will be immediate and severe:  AIO, after 18 years of success, will be forced to reduce its activities. Ontario will send a clear message to entrepreneurs: “Scale your ideas elsewhere.” Corporate cutbacks will not translate into new founder creation — instead, displaced knowledge workers will head south. Billions in federal and provincial R&D funding will fail to produce the companies, jobs, and industries that justify the investment. Ontario has worked for 18 years to build a fragile but powerful innovation ecosystem. Allowing angel infrastructure to wither now would mean throwing away those hard-won gains. 

Now Is the Time 

We cannot afford to silo government supports only into “vulnerable industries” while neglecting the broader innovation economy. Our entrepreneurs need a stable bridge from lab bench to global markets — and angel investors are that bridge. 

With proper support, we can: 
Turn displaced talent into the next generation of founders. 
Build more companies that scale internationally. 
Keep Ontario’s intellectual property, jobs, and prosperity at home. 

Without it, Ontario risks becoming a farm team for Silicon Valley. 

A Final Word 

This is not a problem for AIO alone. This is our collective challenge as a community of entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, accelerators, and partners. 

We ask you — our 3,000+ newsletter readers across the ecosystem — to raise your voices with us. Share this message. Write to your elected officials. Make it clear that letting angel infrastructure collapse in Ontario would be an anomaly globally, a mistake domestically, and a tragedy for the next generation of innovators. 

Ontario’s innovation future hangs in the balance. Let’s not let it slip away.