Council of Canadian Innovators

About

The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) is a business council of Canadian-headquartered, high-growth technology companies that advocates for policies to help them scale globally. It was created in 2015 by a group of Canadian technology CEOs, and its chair is Jim Balsillie, former BlackBerry co-CEO, with John Ruffolo, founder of OMERS Ventures and Maverix Private Equity, as vice chair. It represents more than 175 member companies and works through advocacy, research, executive education on topics such as governance and procurement, and more than 50 events a year. Its early campaigns focused on access to global talent, and it became a referral partner for Category A of the federal Global Talent Stream after that programme launched in 2017. Its site includes Scale Up and CEO directories, and CCI publishes statements and responses on federal and provincial policy, such as Ontario's 2026 Fall Economic Statement.