Economic Development in Winnipeg

Winnipeg’s life sciences cluster is the fastest growing in Canada.

The biotechnology and health research sector is a key area of growth in the city of Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba. The life sciences sector broadly represents the various activities and capabilities within biotechnology and health research which are heavily concentrated in Winnipeg. Based on Statistics Canada data, estimates for this sector (including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, health research and medical devices) is over 4,000 jobs in Winnipeg.

Manitoba is home to 8% of national biotech activity, more than double its share of Canada’s population. Winnipeg has the fifth largest biotech and health research cluster in Canada and one of the fastest growing. In an independently sponsored analysis, three of Canada’s “Top 10 Emerging Biotechnology Companies” are based in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg’s key benefits in biotechnology and life sciences include: excellent research and education facilities; relatively low occupancy and operating costs; generous federal and provincial research and development tax credits; highly skilled and educated workforce; and high quality of life. Additionally, the Province of Manitoba is formulating an Integrated Technology Commercialization Strategy to enable life science industries to advance commercial product development.

The foundation of Winnipeg’s biotech and health research sector is our strong research infrastructure comprised of the University of Manitoba and 30 research and development institutions in the Winnipeg region.

Winnipeg’s strong health research infrastructure is anchored by the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health, Canada’s only Level 4 biocontainment laboratory. Other institutions, such as the St. Boniface General Hospital Research Centre and the University of Manitoba, provide world expertise in cardiovascular and clinical research.

Winnipeg is one of the main pillars of the new Public Health Agency of Canada, and is home to the International Centre for Infectious Diseases. The Public Health Agency of Canada creates pan-Canadian approaches and a more effective response to public health emergencies. Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer is based in Winnipeg.

The National Research Council Institute for Biodiagnostics is the most advanced facility in Canada for studying and developing noninvasive diagnostic tools such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Magnetic Resonance Imaging technologies.

Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre is the largest health care referral, teaching and research centre in Manitoba and one of the largest facilities of its kind in Canada. It is affiliated with the University of Manitoba and CancerCare Manitoba.

As Canada’s agri-business centre, Winnipeg also has many synergies between biotech and research done in agricultural and life sciences disciplines. The Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine and  Cereal Research Centre at the University of Manitoba, is Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s lead centre for cereal genomics. Winnipeg’s growing functional foods industry is led by the new Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals at the University of Manitoba’s Smartpark. Recent tri-national collaborations between the centre and facilities in the U.S. and Mexico are breaking ground on functional foods focused on Type 2 diabetes.

Winnipeg is Western Canada’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturing centre. Cangene Corporation is a world-leading pharmaceutical company in specialty hyper-immune plasma and biotech products. Apotex Fermentation’s facility in Winnipeg is the largest fermentation based production facility in Canada. Bioval Corporation’s Steinbach facility, southeast of Winnipeg, has recently undergone an expansion and holds the world manufacturing mandate for a number of oral controlled-released drug products.