Science advice in the public interest

Business Innovation
in Canada

From imagination to reality, innovation is the manifestation of human potential and creativity. While invention may be seen as the creation of a new idea or product, innovation is the substantial implementation of these related inventions.

Innovation allows society to solve problems and seize new opportunities. It allows businesses to thrive because novel products and more efficient processes make businesses more competitive. Innovation also effectively drives our ability to create more economic value from an hour of work, which results in rising wages and incomes, and ultimately leads to a higher standard of living.

But Canadian business is lagging in innovation behind that of the U.S. and other countries. Even though innovation is good for business and increases competitiveness, wages and incomes, Canadian businesses are falling behind. The question is: why?

The Council of Canadian Academies was asked by the Minister of Industry to assess the fundamental factors that influence innovation behaviour and, as a consequence, drive the long-term growth of productivity in Canada.

In April 2009, the Council of Canadian Academies released the report, Innovation and Business Strategy: Why Canada Falls Short. The report linked Canada’s productivity problem to weak business innovation, enticing frank discussions among various stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem about what is needed for Canadian businesses to adopt innovation-based business strategies. As such, the Council is participating in various events across the nation, with the report’s findings being a foundation for these Dialogues on Innovation.

Assessment Question

The Council of Canadian Academies has been asked the following questions by the federal Minister of Industry:

  • How should the innovation performance of Canadian firms be assessed?

  • How innovative are Canadian firms, and what do we know about their innovation performance at a national, regional and sector level?

  • Why is business demand for innovation inputs (for example, research and development, machinery and equipment, and skilled workers) weaker in Canada than in many other OECD countries?

  • What are the contributing factors, and what is the relative importance of these contributing factors?

    Report and Related Material


    Innovation and Business Strategy: Why Canada Falls Short (Full report) (2mb)

    Report in Focus (abridged version of report) (1mb)

    Media Advisory (26kb)

    News Release (22kb)

    Media Backgrounder (43kb)

    Presentation - Canada's Innovation Gap Estimating its Size; Explaining its Causes (2mb)

    The Expert Panel on Business Innovation in Canada

    The Expert Panel on Business Innovation is comprised of the following members:

    •    

    Robert Brown, Chair

    President and Chief Executive Officer, CAE Inc. (Montreal, QC)

    Savvas Chamberlain

    Chairman and Founder, DALSA Corporation (Waterloo, ON)

    Marcel Côté

    Founding Partner, SECOR Inc. (Montreal, QC)

    Natalie Dakers

    Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Drug Research and Development, UBC (Vancouver, BC)

    Meric Gertler (FRSC)

    Acting-Dean, Graduate Education and Research, Faculty of Arts and Science; & Professor, Department of Geography and Program in Planning; & Co-Director, Program on Globalization and Regional Innovation Systems University of Toronto (Toronto, ON)

    Bronwyn Hall

    Professor of Economics of Technology and Innovation, University of Maastricht (Maastricht, The Netherlands) & Professor of the Graduate School University of California at Berkeley (CA, USA)

    André Marcheterre

    Company Director;
    Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Merck-Frosst Canada (Lorraine, QC)

    Arthur May

    President Emeritus, Memorial University & Chairman of the Advisory Board, Atlantic Innovation Fund (St. John’s, NL)

    Brian McFadden

    President and Chief Operating Officer, Prestige Telecom Inc. (Baie d’Urfé, QC)

    Walter Mlynaryk

    Executive Vice-President, Kruger Inc. (Montreal, QC)

    David Pecaut

    Senior Partner and Managing Director, Boston Consulting Group (Toronto, ON)

    Jim Roche

    Company Director; Former President and Chief Executive Officer, CMC Microsystems (Ottawa, ON)

    Charles Ruigrok

    Former Chief Executive Officer, Syncrude Canada Ltd. (Calgary AB)

    Andrew Sharpe

    Executive Director, Centre for the Study of Living Standards (Ottawa, ON)

    Jim Stanford

    Economist, Canadian Auto Workers (Toronto, ON)

    Guthrie Stewart

    Partner, Equity Fund, Edgestone Capital Partners (Montreal, QC)

    Alexandre Taillefer

    Co-Founder, Stingray Digital Group Inc. (Montreal, QC)

    John Thompson

    Chairman, TD Financial Bank Group (Toronto, ON)

     

    		  

    PUBLIC CALL FOR COMMENTS (Download PDF)

    The Expert Panel on Business Innovation arranged for a Public Call for Comments to solicit answers from a variety of stakeholders and interested parties to a specific set of questions. Responses were received until August 2008. For further details on the Public Call for Comments, please download the PDF.

    (09/09)