“We’re stronger when we work together”

Amid trade tension and economic uncertainty, new MaRS CEO Grace Lee Reynolds is keeping the focus on the fundamentals startups need.

Grace Lee Reynolds was officially appointed as CEO of MaRS on February 4, the day Canadians breathed a collective sigh of relief as the trade war that had seemed imminent just 24 hours prior was put on hold — albeit briefly. In the two months since then, of course, that fragile détente has buckled, and our country’s economic (and psychic) equilibrium has been thrown off by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the market fluctuations, policy decisions and countertariffs that have ensued.

That precarity is challenging for any senior business leader, let alone one just stepping into a role at the helm of North America’s largest urban innovation hub. But Reynolds, who has spent most of the past 14 years as a MaRSian (save for a stint as the CEO of Artscape), remains unfazed. Over nearly a decade and a half, she has witnessed tremendous growth within the organization and the broader Canadian innovation ecosystem. And while the current landscape may be dominated by an overarching sense of uncertainty, what’s most critical for entrepreneurs remains the same, Reynolds says: “Capital to grow your business and the ability to connect to customers.”

The challenge, as always, involves how to make those elements accessible to the country’s most promising ventures — and Reynolds is committed to furthering the role of MaRS as a catalyst in forging those connections. Especially now, toppling the barriers that prevent Canadian innovators from achieving their full potential will require creative solutions and strategic collaboration, she says. “What we need to remember is that we’re stronger when we work together.”

So, what’s it like being back?

Since I was last here, MaRS has changed a lot. When I left MaRS, it was 2021. The pandemic certainly shifted a lot for everybody — from an ecosystem perspective, too. I think MaRS did well — I observed a lot of strength in the way we supported entrepreneurs, the way the building supported its tenants. MaRS is able to rally around a cause when it needs to.

What prompted you to return after three years away?

In January 2024, I was wrapping up some work related to Artscape, and I’d hung up my shingle; I was doing a couple of contracts. Because I had a strong relationship with MaRSians and was still on the real estate committee, I was hanging out and working right in the MaRS space with my old Hubs team. That’s when Alison Nankivell was hired. Her vision around MaRS coming back to its roots in health, and about a one-factor-at-a-time approach made a lot of sense to me. That was the reflection: OK, let’s get back to some of these core principles. How do we make those things happen? I came back in May 2024 for what was initially a short consulting assignment to help Alison and the rest of the SLT develop that renewed vision and strategy.

How does it feel now, to step into the CEO role after a period of upheaval?

On a micro level, yes, MaRS had to go through some existential stuff last year. But now we’re much steadier — and the steadier we can be, the better we can do our work, which is to support others. I am grateful for the opportunity. I have a lot of MaRS context, so this feels very different than when I stepped into Artscape. And because I had a CEO role at Artscape, I have the benefit of the lessons I learned there. So… I feel ready. It doesn’t mean I have all the answers, but I’m working on it.

Are there lessons from Artscape you’re bringing back to MaRS?

I’d always felt that the arts are important, but it further validated that sense. And to the extent that we can pull the arts and science together — I don’t know what this means in the MaRS context yet, if it just means that we put more things that are creative in nature to animate the space, but maybe there’s more we can do. One of the things that had drawn me to Artscape was working at the Artscape Daniels Launchpad at the waterfront — it was supposed to be a creative business incubator. It was really, really tough. When I got there, we tried to transform it into more of a creative tech incubator hub — there was desire, and there was community that was interested in engaging with it, and we attracted funding partners. But we just couldn’t make it work — there was too much debt. But that’s an interesting angle, where you can see a more tangible connection between arts and science, rather than just a philosophical connection.

It also really deepened that idea of what place-making could look like. There’s a difference between animating and actually programming in a way where you’re using the space to achieve particular outcomes and goals. As an example: we have a large roster of research institutional tenants in our space, but how do we optimize the relationships with all the people who are closest to us?

Speaking of optimizing relationships: We’ve seen a surge of Canadian solidarity recently — one recent MaRS Morning panellist commented that it feels like the tariffs have shaken us out of a sense of complacency. Is there a role for MaRS to play in harnessing that momentum?

We have the capacity to harness that momentum. But here’s where I’m a big believer in learning from what’s come before — don’t start with a huge, aspirational thing. Let’s focus on fundamentals. The fact is, many ventures fail to scale because they struggle to land that first big customer. Procurement is such a powerful tool for economic growth and innovation adoption.

MaRS has had different programs and initiatives where we partner with a funder that wants to work on something specifically around procurement. To me, that’s a very tangible way of framing everything around tech adoption. If what we’re trying to do is create the path for our companies, it’s “Buy Canadian” — that’s what we’re doing, not so much B2C but more as a B2B kind of idea — that’s the foundation to expose our companies to potential customers. Supporting small- and medium-sized companies — especially those in tech and innovation — will be key to not only solving Canada’s productivity and competitiveness challenges but also protecting our sovereignty.

What other priorities are top of mind?

We absolutely need to continue to support ventures; we need to bolster our role as a place and place maker. In supporting ventures, it’s also about being able to pull in partners who will engage in innovation. Because innovation doesn’t happen in isolation — it requires connections, funding, lab space and long-term support. MaRS has a special role to play to help make it easier for innovators to take a promising solution to market.

One of the things that has always set MaRS apart is the sense that it’s not just about profit or buzz, but about social impact. It can be tricky to maintain that as a priority in a time of so much uncertainty, when investments can be very precarious and so many people are focused on the bottom line. I do think a lot of our work has to be about doing more to help bolster commercialization around scientific discovery, but at the same time, humanity. The question will be: How do you bring back that sense of art and science into ideas around creativity and innovation?

Given that economic volatility can make investors even more focused on the bottom line, how do you ensure that MaRS continues to centre its core values — like social impact?

That’s always been a hard thing for MaRS to reconcile — even when money was better and we had very direct funding for social impact initiatives. Canada’s in a different state right now, but we need to look at how to build longer-term resilience. Our role is to represent our entrepreneurs while also having a critical eye for collaborating with public benefit funders. On a higher level, we have impact areas and initiatives — cleantech and health. And we start from the idea of public benefit — we’re not here just trying to pump out unicorns. This isn’t about the quick win; these are intergenerational technologies and innovations we need to support. We can partner with the government to support the greater good through companies that are developing higher-potential technologies in these areas.

On a lighter note: Do you have any quirks or qualities that might surprise your colleagues?

I feel like I have no secrets at all. People know I’m not afraid to work hard. Maybe they don’t realize how much I love music, and I love the arts, in my soul. I have very eclectic taste in music. My treat is that I’ll just let whatever cute YouTube playlist run, like all those Tiny Desk Concerts — they’re just fun.

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