Research and innovation are key to providing solutions to the major problems that we face today including, but not limited to climate change, sustainable energy and resources, pandemic preparedness, and global population shifts. Countries that want their economies to be ready for a changing world have to invest in technologies for the future and not rely on their traditional manufacturing industrial roots. Investing in EV battery plants may generate jobs today but does not position us to be leaders in discovery and implementation of the next sustainable energy solution. Without nurturing and investing in the entire innovation pipeline from discovery to application, we will always be playing catchup to our counterparts in other countries.

Canada is practically alone among the top OECD countries in having a downward trend in investment in Research and Development.  This is usually explained by weak business investment in R&D, not by low Government investment in academic research and National labs. Whatever the answer, there is clearly a disconnect between the two halves of the R and D equation.  Governments must continue to invest in underlying science and technology discovery platforms- these are the essential underpinning of a knowledge-based economy. But how can government work with businesses to enhance innovation in our industrial sector and bridge the discovery to application divide?

As early as 1994, the Auditor General of Canada reported that “ an effective, highly focused, national science and technology strategy is critical to survival and growth in today’s high technology economic environment”.  That message resonates even more strongly today. And yet it is hard to discern a clear coordinated strategic vision for Canada’s research and innovation ecosystem. Canada needs a national R&D strategy that defines areas where there is a true global need, where Canada has recognized expertise and can play an international leadership role and where all stages of the innovation pipeline can be supported.  It is not enough to declare priorities like climate change, AI and sustainable energy- these are or should be priorities for every country. Canada cannot be a leader in everything and needs to make some tough choices if it wants to succeed in the future economy.

We must not only create new knowledge but mobilize it and ensure ideas can be implemented in the real-world economy. This requires an organized, interdisciplinary approach to defining key goals, bringing together the right players to develop new ideas, the technologies to implement them at scale and the receptor community to bring them into reality in Canada and around the world.  The Government of Canada can and should play a major convening role and provide appropriate funding at key stress points in the pipeline. Unfortunately when we look at the funding mechanisms for both academic research and industry development, we find a fragmented system with multiple agencies whose plethora of acronyms only serve to generate confusion, not strategic direction.

During the discussions of the Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System, aka the Bouchard Report 2023, we focused on fragmentation of research funding in Canada. We proposed a number of mechanisms to streamline current research support mechanisms and to develop a new centralized approach to funding mission-driven, interdisciplinary research.

From the report: The Government of Canada should create a new organization, the Canadian Knowledge and Science Foundation (CKSF); it would handle interdisciplinary research competitions, international collaboration and mission-driven research. It would work with but not replace the Granting Councils and with the new Canadian Innovation and Investment Agency (business facing) to better translate University Research into innovation. Its board would provide overall strategic advice to Government on future research and innovation priorities.

In one paragraph this delineates a pathway forward for Canada’s R&D ecosystem that could break down barriers, link components of the current dispersed system and provide a mechanism to define current and future strategic priorities for Canada. Budget 2024 supported the overall recommendations of the Bouchard report, renamed the CKSF as the ‘capstone agency’ and began an open consultation process on implementation of the report. However, there is one glaring omission from the current proposal- integration of a business-facing innovation component into the overall vision. What is named as the Canadian Innovation and Investment Agency in the Bouchard report is now renamed the Canada Innovation Corporation. It was announced in the 2022 budget but has yet to be implemented. Current timelines indicate activation in 2026/7, resulting in a missed opportunity to develop a truly integrated innovation strategy for Canada.

There are still many other component parts needed for a successful innovation strategy. Interdisciplinary approaches including social sciences and humanities are essential to the development of ethically appropriate new technologies that actually respond to underlying socioeconomic factors.  Successful uptake of new technologies requires integration of behavioral science, indigenous ways of knowing and community engagement into any implementation plan.  Building a great widget that will save humanity is no good if the recipients of the widget don’t trust the science, the government or the company that delivers the widget.  The rise of vaccine hesitancy post-COVID is a case in point.

International collaborations are also important. Solving big problems requires Canadians to work synergistically with expertise globally.  Joining Horizon Europe is a good first step in promoting Canada as a valued partner in the research and innovation space.

Moving forward, government funding needs to be deployed in areas where Canada has a comparative advantage internationally, Universities, Colleges and Institutes need to remove internal impediments to commercialization of academic research, and businesses need to increase their own investments in R&D to enhance the innovation pipeline.

1. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/panel-federal-research-support/en/report-advisory-panel-federal-research-support-system