Over half of the billions paid out under a corporate subsidy program to support “innovative projects” in Canada will not be recovered, according to a written submission to the Senate national finance committee.
In its submission on June 19, the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) told senators that more than half of the $7 billion spent under its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) was “non-repayable.”
“To date, of the total SIF investments, approximately 40 percent are repayable, and nearly 60 percent are non-repayable,” said the department, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The SIF was launched in 2017 by then-ISED Minister Navdeep Bains to provide “major investments in innovative projects that will help grow Canada’s economy for the well-being of all Canadians.”…