Innovation Canada: A Call to Action

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Innovation Canada: A Call to Actioncompanies address commercializationchallenges by turning those challenges intostudent-led applied research problems. Collegesand polytechnics also directly assist firms withtheir innovation needs — this is the case, forexample, with the long-standing CollegeCentres for the Transfer of Technologiesassociated with Quebec colleges and Cégeps,which assist innovative companies throughtechnical support, technological development,and information and training (see alsoFigure 2.6). Government laboratories,meanwhile, conduct science in support ofpublic policy mandates as well is in relation tocertain commercially oriented activities.Innovation Input:Talented, Educated andEntrepreneurial PeopleCanada’s future as an innovation-basedeconomy depends on ensuring there aresufficient numbers of talented, educated andentrepreneurial people. The primary source ofsuch talent is our public post-secondaryeducation institutions — the universities,polytechnics and community colleges (includingCégeps in Quebec) that produce the innovatorsand those who support innovative activity. Theseinstitutions are primarily funded through theprovinces, although the federal governmentplays a role through transfer payments, studentfinancial assistance and direct support forresearch training and innovation skillsenhancements. The diversity of highereducation institutions with varying missions andmandates provides Canada with the highlyqualified and skilled people who are thebedrock of innovation. Each of these postsecondaryeducation institutions has a uniquerole to play, producing workers for differentcomponents of the innovation ecosystem. Ouruniversity graduate programs produce theadvanced Master’s and PhD degree holders whocan contribute breakthrough ideas that canensure companies stay at the cutting edge ofR&D; our universities and colleges produceBachelor’s degree holders who are often thefront-line innovation performers; and ourcolleges produce technicians and technologiststo facilitate the commercialization efforts ofthe firm. 1It is the interplay among these complementarytypes of talent that builds an innovationeconomy. Since Canada’s innovation gap ispartly an education gap, improving our globalperformance will require the right mix in boththe quantity and quality of talent. This demandsa collaborative approach that brings togetherour post-secondary institutions, federal andprovincial agencies as well as industry and otherpartners to ensure appropriate recruitment,training and deployment for industrialinnovation needs. While Canada ranks first inthe OECD for the percentage of its populationwith post-secondary attainment, it is middle ofthe pack in baccalaureate output and near thebottom for the number of doctoral graduatesper capita. It is nevertheless encouraging thatthe growth in the number of doctoral degreesgranted in Canada has been stronger —particularly in science and engineering — thanin most comparable countries over the 2005–08period, helping to improve our relative position(STIC 2011).The earnings advantage of individuals withadvanced degrees (relative to high schoolgraduates) is less pronounced in Canada than inthe US (Institute for Competitiveness &1 Canada’s rich and diverse landscape of about 250 post-secondary institutions includes 152 colleges, of which about 48 areCégeps in Quebec, some are degree granting, some are known as institutes of technology and some are known aspolytechnics. Many colleges are emerging actors in downstream innovation near the commercialization activities of smalland medium-sized enterprises. There are 95 universities throughout Canada, many of which have world-class researchcapabilities.2-14
The Context of the ReviewProsperity 2010, p. 35). This is one indicator ofrelatively weaker demand by businesses inCanada for people with advanced degrees, anda situation consistent with a weakercommitment to innovation-based strategies byCanadian businesses. Statistics Canada hasfound that up to a fifth of doctoral graduatesintend to leave Canada following completion oftheir degrees (Desjardins and King 2011). Whenthey go, these graduates take with themknowledge and skills that could contribute to amore innovative and prosperous future forCanada.Students learn not only through traditionalclassroom experiences, but also through handsonresearch experience that exposes them to therealities of the business world and teaches theprofessional and entrepreneurship skills neededto fully contribute to their eventual workplaces.Employers see programs that encourage postsecondarystudent participation in researchprojects with business as having a number ofbenefits, including (i) the chance to identify thebest recruits, (ii) the ability to influence curriculato be more industry-relevant, (iii) exposure tonew ideas and specialized equipment ineducational institutions and (iv) access to aflexible workforce.While domestic production of innovationworkers is an imperative, demographic realitiesdictate that this is not sufficient to meet theexpected industry demand; by some estimates,within 20 years there could be almost twomillion vacancies for skilled knowledge workersin Ontario alone (Miner 2010). An immigrationsystem that targets necessary skill sets presentsCanada with an opportunity to leverage theskills, insights and entrepreneurial talents ofthose born in other countries who come toCanada.Innovation Input:Networks, Collaborationsand LinkagesCollaboration among businesses, governmentsand the higher education sector can contributeimportantly to the conception and successfulintroduction of new products and processes.Businesses develop strategic partnerships inorder to connect to global knowledge flows,share research results and R&D risks, pool skilledstaff, commercialize inventions and help toaccess new markets. As a result, social andphysical infrastructure linking collaborators andsupporting networks are important for businessinnovation.Effective collaboration between the businessand higher education sectors depends onlinking the “supply-push” of research anddiscoveries with the “demand-pull” of firmsseeking to exploit the commercial potential ofnew ideas. As depicted schematically inFigure 2.6, this involves not only firms,universities, colleges and polytechnics, but alsoa spectrum of intermediary players that belongto an innovation “ecosystem” characterized byeffective synergies, connections, and flows ofknowledge and ideas. This is a complex mix,not least because of diverging incentives andorganizational cultures among differentinstitutions. These intermediary actors includethe following:technology transfer offices, which providesupport to help bring university-generatedresearch and intellectual property to thecommercial sphere (others also perform thisfunction, such as the Centres of Excellencefor Commercialization and Research)college applied research offices, throughwhich colleges and polytechnics supportfirms with solutions for their specificcommercialization needs2-15
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Filling the GapsThe budgetary impli
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Filling the GapsAngel InvestmentAt
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Leadership for InnovationChapterLea
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Leadership for InnovationThe approp
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Leadership for Innovationinnovation
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ConclusionChapterConclusion9We are
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Programs in the ReviewAnnexPrograms
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Innovation Canada: A Call to Action

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