The federal government is hoping to capture a bit of Shopify’s magic.
The Ottawa e-commerce firm announced today that CEO Tobi Lütke will lead Canada’s digital industries strategy table.
Over the next six months, Lütke and a group of 15 members will meet to discuss and form policy recommendations to support Canada’s digital economy.
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Lütke joins five other chairs from different industries, each of whom will guide their own table, as part of the federal government’s Economic Strategy Tables program. Sectors such as agri-food, advanced manufacturing and life sciences are all represented, with their chairs tasked with guiding federal efforts to improve the Canadian economy.
For his part, Lütke would like to increase the number of tech firms traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and encourage the country’s tech sector to break from convention.
“It’s funny to think of a country as a startup, but Canada feels like one,” Lütke said in a statement.
“We’re still a very young country, full of raw potential. If we play our cards right, the future will be bright. I accepted this role because I want to help the government to get this right and share some of the lessons we’ve learned at Shopify.”
Lütke and his fellow chairs were each selected on the advice of industry leaders, associations and federal departments.
A release states that the program is meant to stimulate the Canadian economy in an effort to double the number of high-growth firms to 28,000 from 14,000 by 2025.
Each of the government’s strategy tables will report their recommendations in June 2018.
