Abstract:
Canada faces no shortage of challenges, nor opportunities. We are internationally recognized for world-class research with the potential for incredible impact, yet our ability to commercialize has lagged behind comparable countries for decades. We also have many unique programs like the invention to Innovation (i2I) programs funded through NSERC’s Lab to Market program, NRC’s IRAP, Mitacs, and more; however, fragmentation and misalignment still hampers our innovation ecosystem. This panel builds on the two preceding panels, adding industry, founder and university reflections and perspectives into mechanisms for future-focused systems change and resilience.

Summary of Conversation

The discussion centered on enhancing resilience and addressing gaps within the Canadian innovation ecosystem. A key focus was the transition of research from world-class academic settings to commercial viability, often referred to as the “Valley of Never Having Lived”. Programs like Invention to Innovation (I2I) were highlighted as a means to train researchers to move between academic and business worlds, addressing the poor deployment of highly skilled graduates. The conversation also stressed the critical need for “transition funding” to bridge the gap between early-stage university research (TRL 1-4) and the technology readiness level (TRL 7-9) sought by industry for adoption. Collaborative models, such as the Digital Supercluster, were presented as effective ways to accelerate technology evolution by bringing innovators, customers, and regulators together. Participants also emphasized the need for a Canadian-centered approach, tackling cultural barriers, and addressing the distinct challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and those in regional centers.

Take Away Messages/Current Status of Challenges

• Under-Deployment of Talent: Canada excels at graduating world-class, highly capable people, but struggles with the poor deployment of this talent, as many are trained for non-existent academic careers.
• The “Valley of Never Having Lived”: There is a substantial gap in the innovation lifecycle where incredible research and people are not successfully “unleashed” to have their potential impact, differentiating it from the traditional “Valley of Death”.
• Need for Transition Funding and Infrastructure: A critical funding gap exists for deep-tech innovations at the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 5-7, requiring substantial investment for pilot-scale testing and demonstration outside of the lab environment.
• Risk Aversion in SMEs: Small and medium-sized companies, which form the majority of the economy, exhibit significant risk aversion and often lack the understanding or willingness to invest in or collaborate with universities on innovation.
• “Do It Myself” Culture and Lack of World Experience: A cultural barrier exists where entrepreneurs often attempt to innovate in isolation, and young researchers frequently lack the broad, real-world experience needed to fully imagine and scope the commercial potential of their inventions.
• Difficulty in Securing Domestic Industry Engagement: Startups face considerable hurdles in obtaining crucial real-world data, pilot space, and operational expertise from Canadian industrial partners, leading some to seek necessary support from international companies.
• Conservative Procurement and Cultural Momentum: Government-funded health agencies and other public sector entities, major procurers of life science products, are often impeded by “conservative process” and procurement regulations that act as “stumbling blocks” to buying early-stage Canadian technologies.
• Regional Innovation Disparity: Entrepreneurship and spinning off companies from regional universities are significantly more challenging outside of major centers, and current nation-building projects often fail to develop the local regions where activity is concentrated.

Recommendations/Next Steps

• Incentivize Industry Participation: Develop policies that better reward projects where industry, particularly SMEs, commits meaningful, hands-on engagement, providing real-world data and operational expertise to domestic startups.
• Promote Collaborative Innovation Models: Foster collaborative structures (like Superclusters) where innovators, national customers, regulators, and government convene to co-build and evolve technology, accelerating the path from TRL 3 to TRL 6 or 7.
• Cultivate Open Mindset in All Stakeholders: Encourage culture change by advocating for an open mindset in both entrepreneurs, who need to listen more, and research institutions, who need to overcome long-standing conservative cultures.
• Improve Commercialization Skills Training: Provide first-rate training for scientists in commercialization skills, with a specific focus on the importance of Intellectual Property (IP) protection, including the processes for patent application, defense, and commercialization.
• Increase Access to Shared Infrastructure and Data: Provide government-funded, shared infrastructure and actively encourage industry to contribute facilities, alongside better utilizing existing national assets like Statistics Canada for data access and validation.
• Prioritize Domestic Technology Adoption: Implement policies that prioritize the adoption of functional, market-ready Canadian technologies by federal and provincial government organizations and agencies, preventing companies from leaving to find customers abroad.
• Tackle Cultural and Policy Barriers: Focus on cultural transformation by transplanting the human aspect of innovation culture into organizations and untying existing policies that hamper the adoption of innovative products and inhibit growth in regional areas.

Adopt a Human- and Canadian-Centered Approach: Ensure that innovation strategies and solutions are built to make sense from a Canadian perspective, incorporating imagination and empathy, rather than simply transplanting models from global exemplars like the US.