Doubling down on Canadian science and tech
The time has come for humble Canada to embrace its strengths. Michael Serbinis, entrepreneur and chair of Perimeter Institute’s Board of Directors, believes Canada “punches significantly above its weight” in science and technology – and that, with the right investments in fundamental science research, we can accelerate that trend.
“We Canadians have a reputation for quiet humility, quick to apologize and reluctant to boast,” Serbinis writes in an op-ed published in the Calgary Herald. “Well, I am a Canadian entrepreneur who got his start in Silicon Valley, and I am now going to boast about Canada. And I’m not sorry.”
Serbinis, who worked alongside Elon Musk at Zip2, has extensive experience leveraging technology to build platforms across several industries. He founded and helped build Kobo, Critical Path, and DocSpace. Serbinis is currently CEO and founder of League, a technology-focused health company powering the digital transformation of healthcare.
In the October 28 opinion piece, Serbinis describes how the critical mass of innovation capital drew him back to Canada after spending years in California: “Canada is a magnet for very smart people, and that is turning the country into a powerhouse for science and tech.”
The piece was inspired by the 2021 CBRE Tech Talent Report, which shows that two of the top three cities in North America for “brain gain” are Canadian.
“Pioneering science and tech will be the resources that increasingly drive Canada’s economy through the 21st century,” writes Serbinis.
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About PI
Perimeter Institute is the world’s largest research hub devoted to theoretical physics. The independent Institute was founded in 1999 to foster breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos. Research at Perimeter is motivated by the understanding that fundamental science advances human knowledge and catalyzes innovation, and that today’s theoretical physics is tomorrow’s technology. Located in the Region of Waterloo, the not-for-profit Institute is a unique public-private endeavour, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada, that enables cutting-edge research, trains the next generation of scientific pioneers, and shares the power of physics through award-winning educational outreach and public engagement.
