2. Limited Institutional Investor Support ● Institutional Participation Gap : Canadian VC depends more heavily on government support than U.S. counterparts ● Asset Allocation Disparities : Canadian institutions maintain lower allocations to domestic venture capital ● Scale Limitation : Smaller size of Canadian institutional investors limits meaningful allocations ● Risk Perception : Canadian institutions often perceive domestic VC as higher risk with lower returns ● Expertise Gap : Many Canadian institutions lack specialized knowledge in venture investing 3. Structural Weaknesses in Pre-Seed Ecosystem ● Fragmented Organization : Loosely-defined collection of independent investors and organizations ● Professionalization Gap : Mix of nonprofit and for-profit entities, many managed by volunteers ● Regional Disparities : Vast differences in resources available across regions ● Limited Policy Focus : Less coordinated policy attention to strengthening angel investment ● Insufficient Scale : Individual angels lack scale to support companies through multiple financing rounds 9. Policy Implications and Recommendations In policy analysis, “access to capital” is often measured by the total amount of investment deployed in a given period. But for founders—especially those outside major hubs or established networks—access has dimensions that go beyond aggregate investment figures. To be accessible, capital must not only exist in sufficient quantity; it must be reachable within reasonable timeframes and through a diversity of viable funding channels. Capital that is too administratively burdensome to access—due to complexity, delays, or rigid criteria—can be just as out of reach as capital that doesn’t exist. While this consultation focuses on increasing the supply of capital—particularly private capital—it’s important to recognize that efforts to expand supply must also consider the journey required to access funding opportunities.
For a more detailed explanation, see Appendix: Access to Capital Framework.
19
Powered by FlippingBook