Canada Innovates Project

CANADA INNOVATES PROJECT

Project Objective

To help chart the future for Canada’s Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) eco-system to be a strategic national asset.

The Challenge

1. A Growing Global Polycrisis

Canada is navigating a convergence of interconnected challenges, from climate change and biodiversity loss to economic instability, technological disruption, and societal polarization. These overlapping pressures create a “polycrisis” that is complex, unpredictable, and deeply interconnected across global, national, and local levels.

For centuries, innovation has driven progress in health, prosperity, and quality of life. Today, the scale and complexity of modern challenges raise a critical question: can traditional approaches to innovation still deliver solutions at the speed and scale required?

2. Limits of Traditional Innovation Models

3. Urgent Need to Strengthen Canada’s Innovation Ecosystem

There is an immediate need to position Canada’s science, technology, and innovation ecosystem as a strategic national asset. This means accelerating the creation and adoption of ideas, technologies, and talent into real-world outcomes—policies, infrastructure, and solutions that ensure a sustainable, secure future.

Today's STI Ecosystem

There have been many studies conducted over the past 10-15 years to examine Canada’s STI ecosystem and the effectiveness of that system in providing the knowledge and technology foundation to support Canadian economic growth, productivity, job creation and socio-economic benefits. Governments at all levels of Canadian federalism have attempted to both invest in and support the STI eco-system through polices, programs and regulations.

Despite this ongoing effort, there are broad indications that Canada and Canadians are not seeing a commensurate return on this investment.

It is timely to stand back and provide a more holistic assessment of Canada’s capacity to innovate – whether through a technological, business, policy, and/or social lens – and to do so with a fresh perspective on the ambition to which its STI ecosystem must aspire.

The Approach

This Project’s objective is a bold idea: to help chart the future for Canada’s Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) ecosystem to be a strategic national asset that is able to help Canada through the polycrisis. The Project also needs a bold approach to deliver on this objective.

The Project would have a finite-term (renewable) multi-year mandate of 3 years. In each year of the Project, goals would be set, research and analysis would be conducted, findings would be socialized, debated and challenged, results would be synthesized, and next steps identified.

To perform the Project will require collaboration. Collaboration among think-tanks and individuals that together possess the capacity to conduct the targeted research, analysis and synthesis. Collaboration among STI thought-leaders to help set Project goals. Collaboration across cross-sections of Canadian society to offer constructive challenge to findings and recommendations.

Acknowledgements

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