For Government
“Bringing Global Innovation Home to British Columbia”
- Emphasises economic development rather than retention
- Positions BC as globally connected
- Technology, investment and expertise returning to the province
A BC + AI thought-leadership portal
Wild Salmon Program
Concept and white paper by Simon Haworth
Returning Talent. Scaling British Columbia.
BC graduates mature in the world's biggest innovation ecosystems. This is the river that brings them home, with the technologies, capital networks and scale-up capability they built out there. Explore the proposal below; the water responds to you.
explore the school below · click or tap to send one home
The economic case
BC doesn’t have a brain drain. It has a salmon run.
British Columbia generates internationally competitive graduates, then watches many of them leave for Boston, San Francisco, London and Singapore. The Wild Salmon Program treats that outward migration the way a river treats its smolts, as the first half of a return journey.
Theory of change
The gap is not raw talent.
A globally distributed network of future returnees, cultivated on purpose, like wild salmon maturing at sea before the run home.
The gap is not raw talent. It is the later-stage river system: capital, commercialization, lab access and trusted paths home.
Framing lens
BC already has
Source waters
University research capability
UBC, SFU and UVic produce internationally competitive talent and research in AI and life sciences.
Early-stage startup creation
BC performs well at creating early-stage startups. The ideas hatch here.
What is missing
Later-stage channel
Scale-up & commercialization
BC’s key structural weakness: comparatively weak scale-up and commercialization performance. This is the gap returnees close.
Late-stage capital depth
Returning founders carry international investment relationships and can anchor government-matched funds.
Wild Salmon builds
The run home
Relocation support, matched capital, fast-track visas, lab access and mentorship: the channel that turns a global career into a BC company.
The diaspora
Where the school swims and what it carries home
Click a hub to see what BC graduates gain in each ecosystem, and what a returnee brings back up the river.
Pilot scenario lab
Shape the pilot with your own hands
The white paper sketches a 3-year pilot of 5–10 returnee-led AI Life Sciences companies with public/private co-funding. Move the levers and watch the success metrics respond.
Pilot rationale
Why AI Life Sciences first
- Artificial intelligence leadership
- Biotechnology and healthcare innovation
- Exportable intellectual property
- High-value employment generation
- Strong university research capability
- Long-term strategic economic value
Program components
What the program would actually provide
- Relocation support for returning founders and senior technical leaders
- Matching investment funds alongside private VC investment
- Fast-track support for incorporation, visas and lab access
- University-linked translational infrastructure access
- Innovation fellowships
- Commercialization and IP support
- AI Life Sciences cluster integration
- Mentorship and investor introductions
The coalition
Who has to swim together
Provincial ministries, innovation agencies, universities, private capital and federal partners each hold one piece of the river. This is the coalition the program has to convene, and the role each partner would play.
Provincial government
Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development & Innovation
Lead policy sponsor for an economic-infrastructure framing.
Ministry of Health
Life-sciences alignment and health-system pathways.
Ministry responsible for AI & innovation
AI ecosystem growth mandate.
Innovation & economic development
Innovate BC
Commercialization and talent program delivery precedent.
Invest British Columbia
Inward investment attraction.
Invest Vancouver
Regional investment promotion.
Digital Technology Supercluster
Cluster integration for AI Life Sciences companies.
Universities
University of British Columbia
Research capability, alumni network, translational infrastructure.
Simon Fraser University
Research capability, alumni network, venture labs.
University of Victoria
Research capability and island ecosystem reach.
Private sector
Venture capital firms
Co-investment alongside matching funds; deal flow upside.
AI & biotech companies
Landing zones, partnerships and anchor demand.
Angel investor groups
Early backing and mentorship for returnee ventures.
Federal alignment
Pacific Economic Development Canada
Federal co-funding alignment.
Innovation, Science & Economic Development Canada
National innovation policy alignment.
National Research Council Canada
Research infrastructure and IRAP-style support.
Open water
This is a draft. Help shape it.
The white paper deliberately leaves hard questions open: economic modelling, selection criteria, Indigenous partnership opportunities, governance. That’s the invitation.
- Economic impact modelling
- Estimated pilot costs and funding structure
- Comparative analysis versus international returnee programs
- Selection criteria for returnee companies
- Immigration and visa pathway analysis
- Governance structure
- Indigenous partnership opportunities
- Gender and diversity considerations
- Risk analysis and mitigation framework
- Success metric methodology
Bring a missing piece into the draft.
If you have lived returnee experience, policy context, life sciences infrastructure knowledge, or a better question, route it to BC + AI so the next version has more signal in it.
One line per audience
For Universities
“A Global Career. A Path Back to BC.”
- Speaks directly to students and alumni identity
- Reinforces the long-term relationship with graduates
- International ambition without permanent departure
For Venture Capital
“Importing Proven Founders, Technologies and Scale-Up Capability”
- Focuses on reduced execution risk
- Maturity and commercial readiness
- Higher-quality deal flow
Brought to you by
Simon Haworth and Kris Krüg.
Simon is driving the Wild Salmon Program forward: a work-in-progress returnee initiative focused first on AI Life Sciences founders, scale-up talent and the ecosystem conditions that would help them build in British Columbia. Kris Krüg and the BC + AI community publish this interactive companion and keep it evolving alongside the draft.
Simon approved launch inclusion on 2026-07-02 with clear attribution and work-in-progress framing.
His May 2026 Vancouver AI talk connects drug discovery, life sciences infrastructure, data security and community trust.
The Life Sciences & AI room gives this program a real BC ecosystem lane instead of a standalone policy artifact.
Provenance
Simon Haworth
Concept and white paper
Wild Salmon Program white paper draft · Vancouver, May 2026
A foundational discussion document for a BC returnee innovation and scale-up initiative focused initially on AI Life Sciences.
A work-in-progress initiative that Simon Haworth is continuing to drive forward, published by BC + AI as an interactive companion for discussion and updates.
All projections on this page are illustrative.