Federal government investing $13 million in GTA health tech, promising about 500 jobs

The federal government is investing more than $13 million in four organizations in the Greater Toronto Area to help boost the region’s health technology sector.

The government hopes this will help companies come up with innovative technological solutions to the pandemic while also creating nearly 500 jobs in the region. The money is being invested through FedDev Ontario, a regional development agency for southern Ontario.

The common thread among the four organizations is their focus on using cutting-edge technology to develop health-care solutions.

The announcement was made Friday morning in a digital press conference by Mélanie Joly, minister of economic development.

“Supporting made-in-Canada health solutions is critical to solving the challenges we are facing today, while helping our economy recover,” said Joly, who is also the minister responsible for FedDev, in a news release.

“These investments from FedDev Ontario will help some of our most promising health companies advance their innovative technologies, while creating good jobs for Canadians and helping Canada stay at the forefront of health-care innovation as we work to build back better and stronger.”

Nearly half of the new money ($6.5 million) will go toward the Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners, an organization composed of three universities, nine teaching hospitals and two research institutes. They will use the money to advance different health science technologies. The goal is to take ideas that are in the early stage and provide an avenue for them to be developed for the market.

The government says this investment will create 400 highly skilled jobs and support at least six companies to become anchor firms in the southern Ontario life sciences sector.

Mindbeacon Holdings, a company that delivers digital health care and therapy, will receive a $4 million repayable contribution. The government says it chose this company based on Canadians increasingly embracing digital health care and therapy due to the pandemic.

Cyclica, an artificial technology business looking at the process of discovering drugs and how that can be done more effectively, will receive a $2 million repayable contribution. They will use this money to commercialize a new drug design tool to help scientists develop, screen and personalize medicines for patients.

Finally, Healthism Systems, also known as Input Health, will receive a $900,000 repayable contribution. The company offers a cloud-based suite of software products to enhance patient engagement, co-ordination of care and health data analytics.

Healthism Systems expects the investment to create 20 highly skilled positions in Toronto.

The government says it chose these companies because they’re some of the region’s most promising and the pandemic has shown a need to leverage technology and invest in innovative and novel health-care solutions.

The money is also aimed at helping to boost the economy as it faces continued challenges due to the pandemic.

Correction – Oct. 9, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that misidentified the day the announcement was made. In fact, it was made on Friday.

Omar Mosleh is an Edmonton-based reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: