Canada can certainly lay claim to being a major global player in the biotechnology industry. After all, history can argue that the biotechnology revolution began here in 1921, when the two Canadian researchers who discovered insulin showed that a protein could be used as a new therapeutic. Throughout the years similar scientific discoveries have continued to emerge.
     Today's Canadian biotech industry generates the third-most revenue internationally, boasts the second-highest number of companies, and spends the most on R&D per employee. "Canada has made a name for itself in the biotechnology industry. We have research going on in all sectors," says Janet Lambert, president of the industry's major trade association, BIOTECanada. "We're building on our established research capacity, charting a course for small-, medium-, and large-sized biotech companies to capitalize on the vast social and economic potential biotechnology offers."
     Nearly 20,000 biotech products and processes are currently under development here. In 2004 alone, 375 core biotech firms are projecting $1.5 billion of R&D activity and $3.6 billion in revenues. The country's maturing, vast biotech industry is clustered around three centers: Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Toronto, Ontario. The latest data show that in 2002, Quebec easily led the other provinces in the number of biotechs created and the amount of venture capital raised.
     Diversity rules when it comes to the types of biotechnology projects in the country's portfolio. According to Statistics Canada's Biotechnology Use and Development Survey 2001, Canada's biotech industry can be subdivided into seven dynamic sectors, as seen in the chart below.
     The federal government is a strong supporter of the sector's growth. Its National Research Council — with an annual budget of more than $100 million and 1,500 research staffers — has a biotech program helping companies in multiple sectors with next-generation technologies. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has 13 "virtual" institutes. They fund 6,000 researchers across Canada, and command a $650 million annual budget. And Genome Canada recently secured more than $350 million for significant projects in five major centers.

Human Health Biotech
Biotechnology is revolutionizing health care. Every day, researchers find new ways to better understand and treat a wide variety of diseases and conditions. New drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and diagnostics prolong lives and improve their quality. Already, Canada has approved biotech-born insulin for diabetes; treatments for AIDS, hepatitis, and other diseases; and diagnostic kits for a type of breast cancer.
     The human-health sector is the healthiest in Canada's booming biotech industry. The new Canadian Biotechnology Industry Report 2003, published by Canadian Biotech News, an industry newsletter, asserts that more than 70 percent of the core biotech firms focus on therapeutics and diagnostic product development.
     Human-health companies represented 52 percent of all the country's biotechs in 2001; up from 42 percent in 1999. Specifically, from 1997 to 2001 the sector grew from 150 to 197 firms, according to government statistics. More than 13,000 employees produced human-health exports in 2002 estimated to be worth $1.12 billion. Focusing on biopharmaceuticals, microbial and mammalian cell biologies for large-molecule therapies represent a $1.5 billion market growing at least 15 percent annually.
     Canada has 12 major health biotech clusters: Halifax (Nova Scotia); Quebec City and Montreal (Quebec); Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, and London (Ontario); Edmonton and Calgary (Alberta); Vancouver and Victoria (British Columbia); and Winnipeg (Manitoba).
     Ontario has the largest concentration of biotech activity, with more than 100 biotech firms and 21 research institutions. Toronto ranks as the fourth-largest medical community in North America, with almost 100 hospitals and research institutions. It is also one of North America's most desirable locations for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
      Quebec represents 40 percent of Canada's biotech industry, and employs 3,000 workers in the field. Close to 80 firms are engaged in health biotech here. Montreal is home to the Biotechnology Research Institute, a keystone of that region's cluster and the nation's largest biotech R&D center. Biopharmaceuticals are contributing to the growth of the province's pharmaceutical sector, which includes multinationals such as Merck Frosst, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wyeth, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca.

Agricultural Biotech
     In Ontario, the overall agrifood industry represents a $63 billion value chain; second in size only to the auto industry. For ag-bio, Guelph is a hotspot, as it is for general biotech and environmental projects.
     Manitoba's cost-effective R&D environment supports innovative biotech activity within the agricultural and health sectors. Many of the world's largest seed companies have established facilities in the province to further their worldwide breeding programs. Winnipeg in particular is renowned as one of Canada's ag-bio clusters.

Food Processing Biotech
More than 3,000 establishments throughout the country are engaged in food processing, one of Canada's largest manufacturing industries. Companies in food processing biotechnology invent or improve methods of processing food (including genetically modified food) for humans using various biotechnology techniques.
     In Canada, this sector's core businesses increased in size from 29 to 48 firms between 1997 and 2001, according to a 2003 Statistics Canada report.
     One such firm is Ice Biotech Inc. of Flamborough, Ontario. It has developed an ice-structuring protein which inhibits ice crystal growth, keeping ice cream and similar foods in their peak quality states. The firm's natural compounds were identified using biotechnology research.

Environmental Biotech
Canada's environmental biotech sector produced an estimated $13 million in exports in 2002. Most of the firms are clustered in four cities: Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; Toronto, Ontario; and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
     Since the 1950s Canada has been converting waste materials from its mining, forestry, oil, and agriculture industries into valuable products called "bioproducts" and "renewable biomass resources." They are expected to account for $100 billion of Canada's GDP by 2020.
     Applying biotechnology to the environment has lead to countless new highly beneficial discoveries. For example, bioremediation uses bacteria or plants to break down pollutants and toxic waste. Often this method is safer and/or less expensive than other methods. Bacteria are also used to treat chemicals found in waste water and septic areas, making them cleaner or even reusable. Some organisms are used to extract precious metals from abandoned mine sites, as well as remove unwanted waste-water products from mining operations. Moreover, environmental biotech research is developing renewable "biofuels" using microorganisms and enzymes.
     Logen Corporation of Ottawa, Ontario, is one sector company. Its BioBrite xylanase product line helps pulp and paper firms produce high-quality products with less chlorine bleach and a reduction in harmful chlorinated byproducts. This decreases the release of toxic dioxins known to pollute rivers and streams.

Aquaculture & Marine Biotech
As earth's population continues to increase and fisheries stocks approach their biological limits, aquaculture is helping to meet the growing global demand for fisheries products. According to the World Aquaculture Society, industry production reached an all-time high of 28.8 million metric tons valued at $45.4 billion in 1997. But such production needs to expand at least two-fold to meet world demand for fisheries products by the year 2025.
     Modern biotechnology is proving to be a boon to aquaculture. Already it has been used to improve the health, reproduction, development, growth, and overall well-being of cultivated aquatic fin fish and shellfish.
     More than two dozen companies serve the aquacultural biotech arena in Canada. It's part of the country's much larger, world-famous marine biotechnology sector, which cuts across multiple disciplines. Core companies and research institutions support marine biotech objectives through diverse projects involving aquaculture, healthcare and industrial applications, genomics, bioinformatics, and proteomics.
     In 2005, for the first time ever, Canada will host 500 delegates from 35 countries attending the prestigious International Marine Biotechnology Conference. The host city is St. John's in Newfoundland & Labrador, a province renowned as an international marine biotechnology trailblazer. A driving force behind the region's biotech industry is Bio-East, a division of the commercialization arm of Memorial University of Newfoundland. Bio-East comprises a network of more than 50 members from business, government, and academic institutions supporting innovative biotech growth in the province.
     St. John's is the epicenter of a growing regional aquaculture biotech cluster with numerous emerging companies, university/government researchers, and a supportive industry infrastructure. For example, A/F Protein Inc.'s Aqua Bounty Farms division in St. John's has re-engineered the fish growth hormone gene and developed AquAdvantage salmon, trout, and tilapia. These fish grow 400 to 600 percent faster than existing varieties, offering significant economic advantage in commercial aquaculture.
     The Ocean Sciences Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland is headquarters for AquaNet, a multimillion-dollar research network for aquaculture and marine biotechnology research. One of Canada's 21 national Networks of Centers of Excellence, AquaNet's core facility on the Pacific Coast is the internationally famous Centre for Aquaculture and the Environment at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. This facility's mission is to conduct leading-edge research and education critical to environmental protection and sustainable aquaculture.
     Nova Scotia is a leader in offshore and oceanographic research and aquaculture. While it's the principal fishing province in Canada — producing salmon, trout, mussels, scallops, and oysters via aquaculture — the region is also engaged in ongoing aquaculture work with halibut, flounder, quahogs, and eels. The province's Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth is the largest center for ocean research in the nation, and the first major federal center devoted to oceanography.
     In Halifax, the distinguished Institute of Marine Biosciences (IMB) applies new knowledge in marine biosciences and biotechnology, and is recognized globally in the areas of aquaculture, natural toxins, and advanced technology development. Halifax's young biocluster is known for firms engaged in aquacultural and human health activity. One recent KPMG report stated that the city is one of the most cost-effective areas for manufacturing biotech products in the world. Last year The Scientist magazine announced that Dalhousie University (a major sector supporter) was ranked by researchers worldwide as the "Best University Outside the U.S." at which to work.
     New Brunswick, a leader in biotechnology innovation, boasts one of the richest, most varied marine environments on earth as well as respected research centers. The province's dynamic aquaculture R&D has produced outstanding results; for example, efforts have helped mitigate problems associated with bacterial kidney disease, an infection that commonly causes high mortality in wild and propagated salmonids. St. Andrews, New Brunswick, is home to the Huntsman Marine Science Centre as well as the St. Andrews Biological Station (which conducts major research in aquaculture and related fields).
     The University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown is a major supporter of Prince Edward Island's aquaculture biotech sector. Many labs here — especially those at its Aquatic Animal Facility — conduct research in aquatic diagnostics services, fish health, pharmacogenetics, and lobster sciences.
     Just fewer than 50 marine research institutions and "marine resources" operate in Canada, including the provinces of Alberta (Edmonton), Ontario (Ottawa), and Quebec. Many conduct aquacultural R&D as well as other forms of marine biotechnology research.

Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics refers to utilizing computers to solve life-sciences problems, and primarily involves creating extensive databases on protein sequences, genomes, and related materials. It also involves techniques such as 3-D modeling of biologic systems and biomolecules. This fascinating technology is used to find new drugs and therapies to improve human health in ways never before thought possible.
     About 20 companies work within Canada's growing bioinformatics sector. Its exports were estimated to be worth $33 million in 2002.
     Ontario is world-renowned for its strengths in bioinformatics and genomics. In particular, Ottawa is a global technology center. Ninety percent of all of Canada's industrial telecommunications R&D is conducted there. This environment promotes the growth of bioinformatics as well as other biotechnology and biomedical activities (e.g., regenerative medicine, drug discovery, medical devices, byproducts, and convergent technologies). Toronto is also world-renowned for bioinformatics and genomics. Its Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Centre for Human Genome Research and Molecular Medicine is the largest of its kind in Canada and one of only a few in the world.
     At the University of Calgary in Alberta, the $6 million "Sun Center of Excellence for Visual Genomics" allows researchers to virtually tour a 3-D human body from the inside, down to the smallest strand of DNA. Scientists hope the technology will help unlock cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and other genetic-based diseases. Only a few such virtual labs exist.
     Launched in 1999, the Canadian Bioinformatics Resource is North America's largest DNA sequence retrieval system. It gives researchers across Canada access to the world's amassed DNA data and allows them to retrieve info about any known gene.

Natural Resources Biotech
The sustainable use of forests and the maintenance of a nation's market of wood and wood products depend highly on the ability to improve the productivity of managed forests.
     With this in mind, Canadian researchers are exploring biotech applications to improve forest regeneration and protection methods, while ensuring that environmental impact considerations are addressed. They themselves have a lot at stake: Canada is the world's largest exporter of forest products, holding 21 percent of the global market and 10 percent of the planet's forests.
     Ongoing sector projects include: identifying genetically superior trees and genetic diversity; tree propagation through tissue culture; tree improvement through genetic engineering; and forest protection using biological pest-control methods. Much of this work is conducted at Canadian Forest Research Centers, located in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick.