Alberta is setting up a dedicated intellectual property office, with the goal of keeping more homegrown innovation in the province rather than watching it generate jobs and economic growth elsewhere.

The Alberta IP Office, which will operate under Alberta Innovates with $8 million in provincial funding, is designed to help researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators protect and commercialize their ideas in Alberta. The province points to a significant gap: more than 40 per cent of Canadian inventions are currently owned by foreign firms, with little commercialization activity happening in Canada.

Alberta has research strengths in areas like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, energy transition, agriculture, and health sciences — but the province says gaps in IP awareness and commercialization have limited how much of that innovation actually translates into economic benefit for Albertans.

The office will provide support across the full IP lifecycle, from building awareness to legal support and market analysis, and will work with post-secondary institutions, technology transfer offices, and public funding programs across the province.