An Innovative Economy Needs An Innovative Government.

Senator Colin Deacon

What motivates our office

We are dedicated to finding creative ways for government to empower Canada’s entrepreneurs and innovators to solve important national problems and implement globally competitive solutions. We believe that by addressing certain challenges, Canada can begin to unlock the ability of Canadian innovators to improve the quality of life and prosperity of all Canadians. Click here to read our full mission.

  • Climate Innovation.

    Senator Deacon is committed to championing policies that catalyze groundbreaking technologies and processes designed to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

  • Digital Government.

    Digital Government—a new frontier in value creation for individuals and institutions around the world. Innovative technologies enable individuals to unlock capabilities and benefits as they interact with governments, the private sector and society.

  • Regulatory Modernization

    Regulatory stagnation stifles innovation, competition, and productivity in our economy. Senator Deacon advocates for a whole-of-government approach to an agile, modernized regulatory system that accelerates a pro-competitive, innovative, economy while still protecting consumers from risks and harms.

  • Senate Net Zero Project.

    The Senate of Canada is committed to reduce the Senate's carbon footprint to net-zero by 2030 and to implement sustainable practices in its operations.

  • Open Banking.

    Senator Deacon is a strong advocate for the adoption of open banking - a regulatory and systemic change that shifts control and ownership of data from institutions to consumers - in Canada.

  • Other Projects.

    Interested in learning more? Click here for detailed information about our other projects, including past projects.

The Latest.

See the latest from Senator Colin Deacon, including his most recent interviews, speeches, special project updates, and all other endeavours.

  • June 12th, 2025

    In this speech, Senator Deacon suggests four key areas of importance that this new government could focus on to boldly transform Canada’s economy: modernizing competition policies, reforming the regulatory system, improving procurement and catalyzing investment and support to innovators. Click here to see his full remarks.

  • June 12th, 2025

    In this Op-Ed co-written with Ari Pandes (Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School Business), Senator Deacon and Mr. Pandes make the case for why years of banking and financial sector consolidation has negatively impacted Canada’s economic competitiveness. Click here to read the full opinion piece.

  • June 12th, 2025

    Procurement remains one of the biggest barriers for innovative companies. Senator Deacon asks the Government Representative of the Senate about what the new government plans to do about fixing procurement programs for innovation. Click here to see the entire exchange.

  • June 10th, 2025

    Senator Deacon celebrates DeNova, a Nova-Scotia based company that produces a high-value protein ingredient from methanol. The Senator also urges the government to prioritize catalyzing innovative companies such as DeNova that cut across multiple national priorities. Click to see the entire speech.

  • May 29th 2025

    Technology has become a disruptive, cross-cutting force that shapes every corner of our society. As a result, it’s important that legislators learn to understand and know how to effectively legislate and regulate it. For this reason, Senator Deacon introduced Motion 3 in the Chamber, to encourage Senators to actively deliberate on the impacts and influences of technology in any study that is undertaken in committee. In this speech, Senator Deacon makes the case for why Senators need the skill sets to effectively legislate, investigate and advise on this ubiquitous, disruptive force. Click here to see the speech.

  • May 7th, 2025

    In this two-part series with the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC), Senator Deacon speaks about the causes of Canada’s economic declines. He provides ideas on incentives for growing Canadian companies and how to rethink an industrial policy that reflects the reality of a knowledge and data-driven economy.

    Click here to listen to Part 1 of the conversation.

    Click here to listen to Part 2 of the conversation.