Is Canada’s life sciences and health tech sector heading toward a code red? In this episode, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt unpack how outdated and fragmented privacy laws are slowing innovation, and why aligning too closely with European regulations could make things even worse. They explore the “Brussels effect,” where the EU’s regulatory power shapes rules far beyond Europe, and how Canada may already be feeling its impact.
The conversation dives into why modern health innovation depends on large-scale data, how Canada’s patchwork of federal and provincial rules creates costly barriers, and what lessons we could learn from countries like Japan and Singapore instead.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:44 The Brussels Effect explained
03:17 Outdated health-data and privacy rules
04:13 Accessing lifescience data
06:00 Safety vs innovation
07:40 Europe lacks tech innovation
08:55 We’re already adopting EU rules
09:28 Asia leads the way in healthtech data regulation
Research:
Health Innovation Doesn’t Have to Be This Hard
https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/health-innovation-doesnt-have-to?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
The Draghi report on EU competitiveness
https://commission.europa.eu/topics/competitiveness/draghi-report_en
Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.
