Message sent to Minister Fitzgibbon's office regarding federal government programs that allow salaries to be subsidized up to 75%
Here is a copy of the message sent by Anie Perrault, BIOQuébec’s Executive Director, to Minister Fitzgibbon's office on March 30. It was also sent to our colleagues at BIOTECanada, who are in contact with the federal government. More than ever, BIOQuébec has the interests of its members at heart!
The federal government announced a program subsidizing up to 75% of salaries last week, and further details were provided this morning. We are pleased to see that the program will now apply to all businesses, not just SMEs. Indeed, some large clinical research companies will be affected by the loss of clinical and pre-clinical studies due to the pandemic. However, the notion of eligibility is of great concern to us. The information made available seems to indicate that the federal government's intention with respect to eligibility is based on the company's "loss of revenue." This does, in fact, eliminate all biotech companies. The impact on them is obviously not measured in terms of loss of revenue (as they do not have any) but rather in their inability to return to the markets, whether private or public, for financing. They will inevitably have to take steps to make their cash flow last, and that means layoffs. This, in turn, will delay the time it takes them to achieve the scientific results that catalyze their financing rounds. We understand the federal government's intention of ensuring that it supports only legitimate companies, but in the case of biotechs, the revenue criterion is ill-advised. We can’t take the risk of undermining years of support for the life sciences industry, such as the R&D credits program.
Please make sure this message gets to Ottawa so that the necessary changes to this program’s guidelines are made so that our biotechs can also benefit.