Toronto’s Creative Destruction Lab receives $25 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund

The Government of Canada is investing $25 million in the University of Toronto’s Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a non-profit project to pair science-based startups with business expertise. The investment comes through the Strategic Innovation Fund, a $1.26 billion federal program to spur innovation in Canada’s industrial and technological sectors, with a focus on large projects that request more than $10 million in contribution. With this investment, CDL will launch a research project using AI tools to help startups that employ emerging technologies. CDL says it “will create and maintain 125 jobs, attract more investments in Canadian businesses, and see more intellectual property developed and retained in Canada.” Through this project, CDL anticipates helping more than 1,300 science-based ventures and estimates that its growing network of companies could create up to 22,000 new jobs.