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Alberta is making a strategic move to ensure the ideas born within its borders stay there—fueling local companies, jobs and long-term economic growth.
The province has announced the creation of a new Intellectual Property (IP) Office, designed to help Alberta innovators protect, manage and commercialize what they create. The initiative aims to close a long-standing gap in the innovation ecosystem, where too many homegrown ideas have historically been developed in Alberta but owned and monetized elsewhere.
“Alberta has world-class researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators, but too often we give our IP away to other jurisdictions,” said Nate Glubish, Minister of Technology and Innovation. “The Alberta IP Office will help ensure that when great ideas are developed here, the IP is created, protected and commercialized here.”
Operating under Alberta Innovates, the new office will act as a central hub for intellectual property expertise in the province. Its role will span the full IP lifecycle—from early-stage awareness and strategy to protection and commercialization—helping transform research breakthroughs into viable products, startups and growing companies.
The move comes as Alberta continues to build momentum in key sectors such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, energy transition, agriculture, health sciences and advanced materials. While the province has developed a strong reputation for research excellence, translating those innovations into economic returns has remained a challenge.
Michael Mahon, CEO of Alberta Innovates, said the new office is part of a broader effort to make Alberta a leading destination for building and scaling IP-rich companies.
“We look forward to engaging our community of post-secondary institutions, founders, investors and inventors to design and deliver a high-impact suite of resources,” Mahon said. “This is about strengthening the role of innovation in diversifying Alberta’s economy and improving quality of life.”
Industry voices have welcomed the announcement, noting the growing importance of intellectual property in a knowledge-driven global economy.
Jess Sinclair, director of government affairs for the Prairies with the Council of Canadian Innovators, said stronger IP policy is essential for long-term prosperity.
“Intellectual property like patents, trade secrets and data are increasingly valuable assets, especially in the AI age,” Sinclair said. “Ensuring those assets are developed and retained in Alberta is key to building competitive, domestic companies.”
The Alberta IP Office will be guided by a board of directors and supported by input from national and international IP experts. Its services will include province-wide IP intelligence, legal and strategic support, and tools to help innovators better understand and leverage their intellectual property.
The province has committed $8 million to establish and operate the office, which will work closely with entrepreneurs, researchers, post-secondary institutions and technology transfer organizations. It will also integrate IP strategy into public funding programs to strengthen outcomes across the innovation pipeline.
The stakes are significant. Globally, IP-intensive industries account for more than 40 per cent of both GDP and employment in the United States, underscoring the economic power of intangible assets. Yet in Canada, only a small fraction of businesses actively file patents, and more than 40 per cent of Canadian inventions are ultimately owned by foreign firms.
By addressing these gaps, Alberta is aiming to keep more of its innovation-driven wealth at home.
With the launch of the Alberta IP Office, the province is not just supporting innovation—it’s working to ensure that the value created from that innovation stays in Alberta, turning ideas into lasting economic opportunity.
For more information about Alberta Innovates, visit their website at albertainnovates.ca.
Information for this article was sourced from the Government of Alberta website.
