Health tech companies face too many challenges breaking into Canada: Entrepreneurs
BNN Bloomberg
This chief executive at Waterloo, Ont. innovation hub Communitech has spent much of the pandemic hearing about hospitals worried about dwindling inventories of COVID-19 tests, while companies less than 80 kilometres away have the ability to make more.
TORONTO -- Chris Albinson is frustrated. The chief executive at Waterloo, Ont. innovation hub Communitech has spent much of the pandemic hearing about hospitals worried about dwindling inventories of COVID-19 tests, while companies less than 80 kilometres away have the ability to make more.
"When we can't get those things together, that drives me nuts," Albinson said. "We should be able to solve these problems."
However, the situation is not a surprise for Albinson. He and others have spent decades watching Canadian health tech companies be neglected on home soil.
They say these companies often have to take their innovations across the U.S. border before the Canadian market even bats an eye.
Those that take their chances at home say breaking into the market in a meaningful way is tough because procurement processes vary wildly across provinces, hospitals, long-term care homes and other medical facilities.
The processes can also be hard to navigate. In 2016, the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario found 76 per cent of its 23 members identified policies, directives and procurement rules as "major barriers" to innovation adoption within their organization.
