The Canadian Liberal government has been spending taxpayer money in a useful fashion for once by opening the taps on public funding for the country’s medical technology firms.
Kardium, a heart disorder treatment tech specialist based in British Columbia, stands to receive up to C$31.25 million from the federal Strategic Response Fund. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly made the announcement on Aug. 27. It remains subject to a formal contribution agreement, with the exact amount and any repayment terms still to be finalised.
The sum forms part of the company’s own C$125 million plan to expand its cleanroom manufacturing space in the Vancouver area. Officials say the larger facility should raise annual output from about 500 units to as many as 30,000 devices and help create or retain roughly 1,000 skilled jobs while keeping IP in Canada.
The company has already raised hundreds of millions from private investors, many of them foreign, and has also signalled plans for additional production capacity outside Canada in the coming years. Kardium’s most recent funding round in mid-2025 pulled roughly C$340 million together.
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How the Globe system works
Kardium’s Globe Pulsed Field System treats atrial fibrillation, a common irregular heartbeat. Doctors guide a single catheter into the heart. The device maps the heart’s electrical signals in detail and then delivers short bursts of electrical energy that carefully scar the small areas causing the problem. This stops the faulty signals without harming nearby healthy tissue.
Health Canada just approved the system in early August following earlier clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration. The approval opens the door for Canadian physicians and patients to use the technology.
The same government fund is also supporting Evonik Canada with up to C$68 million toward a project worth more than C$150 million. This was also announced last week. The firm plans a new centre in British Columbia to develop and produce materials for next-generation mRNA vaccines and therapies. Earlier this year, Vancouver’s Aspect Biosystems received C$79 million from the same federal fund to push forward its bioprinted tissue work.
These moves underline Ottawa’s recent pattern of backing British Columbia’s medtech and life sciences companies.
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