Tariff Relief Resources
The aggressive tariffs imposed by the United States and the ensuing disruption to trade are of grave concern to OBIO® and our members. OBIO® continues to advocate on our members’ behalf to bring the voice of early-stage life sciences and health tech companies to both the federal and provincial governments.
On this page we have outlined some practical measures you may want to explore to safeguard your business.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at membership@obio.ca.
In the short term:
In the long term:
Access government relief measures
Following the release of Ontario’s 2025 Budget, below are some measures that will be of interest to our members and the life sciences sector:
$50 million for the new Ontario Together Trade Fund (OTTF) to support eligible Ontario companies impacted by trade disruptions to enhance resilience, strengthen capacity, build local supply chains in Ontario, and expand market reach.
$40 million for the new Trade-Impacted Communities Program (TICP) to help communities and local businesses disproportionally impacted by trade disruption. It supports local projects that align with Ontario’s key economic priorities.
$40 million in VC funding through Venture Ontario that will help life sciences companies and biomanufacturers innovate and grow.
$15 million to renew the Life Sciences Innovation Fund (LSIF) to help entrepreneurs and innovators bring their ideas and prototypes from the lab to the marketplace.
$207 million over three years through the Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure (ORF-RI) to provide Ontario institutions with funding to acquire infrastructure and engage in global R&D.
The Government of Ontario is:
Deferring select provincially administered taxes for six months from April 1, 2025, to October 1, 2025, giving businesses and job creators approximately $9 billion worth of cash flow they need to keep workers employed and weather the economic turmoil.
Through the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), issuing a further $2 billion rebate for safe employers to support businesses and help keep workers on the job, in addition to the previous $2 billion rebate distributed in March.
Export Development Canada (EDC) is deploying $5 billion to support Canadian exporters to reach new markets and help companies affected by non-payments, currency fluctuations, and other impacts of the U.S. tariffs.
Full details here
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is bringing $500 million in new financing, advisory services, and strategic insights to help businesses pivot and mitigate the impacts of uncertainty around U.S. tariffs.
Full details here
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is enabling employers experiencing a decline in business activity attributable to the threat or potential realization of U.S. tariffs to apply for Work-Sharing special measures.
Full details here
Seek expert advice
On January 21, OBIO® hosted our member Mammoth Health Innovation to discuss “Levelling the playing field: how Canadian health tech innovators can compete with U.S. companies during a time of protectionism”. The recording of the webinar is available to our members here (login required).
Check out advice from other OBIO® Members:
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP: Latest Cross-Border Tariff Insights
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP: International Trade Hub
RBC: The Trade Hub
On April 28, OBIO® hosted a breakfast event on the "Benefits of Being a Canadian-controlled Private Corporation", with guest speakers Gary Marshall and Jennifer Humphrey from Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. To view a recording of this session, please contact us at membership@obio.ca.
Build a beachhead in Canada
Since 2019, OBIO® has been supporting Canadian innovators to help them establish a beachhead in our publicly-funded healthcare systems. We launched our Early Adopter Health Network (EAHN™) to support health technology companies and healthcare organizations to evaluate technologies in the real-world setting, widely disseminate technologies that prove value-producing, and create showcase sites to demonstrate successful Canadian technologies to the global market. Through EAHN™, OBIO® built an integrated marketplace consisting of 80+ healthcare organizations across Canada to enable the adoption of Canadian market-ready innovation. This includes a streamlined entry to acute care, home and community care, long-term care and primary care.
We continue to collaborate with both provincial and federal governments to make innovation procurement a widespread practice. In Ontario we are working with Supply Ontario to make the Government’s Health Innovation Pathway a reality as quickly as possible.
Read this Globe and Mail opinion piece, penned by P.J. Devereaux, Dr. Maura Campbell, and David Conen, on the importance of fostering homegrown innovation and supporting Canadian businesses. The authors propose targeted strategies, including funding for clinical trials, tax incentives to retain biotechnology companies, and fostering collaboration between biotech firms, researchers, and investors.
Diversify target markets
OBIO® works closely with the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service and Ontario’s International Trade and Investment Offices.
Both groups run trade missions throughout the year to foreign markets and you will find these listed in the OBIO® Newsletter. Sign up to stay in touch!
Learn about efforts to diversify trade for Canada and access the Trade Commissioner Service’s updated resources for Canadian exporters.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at membership@obio.ca.