Image Credentials: Image Title: Canada Urged to Back Homegrown Innovation in New Federal Report Source: (Grok, xAI) Date: May 2025 Attribution: Created by AI-generated imagery (Grok, xAI), and it does not depict a real-world scene.
By Staff Writer with Agencies
OTTAWA — A new report delivered to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet is calling on the federal government to make a decisive shift in how it supports Canadian innovation—by putting its purchasing power behind homegrown intellectual property (IP) and scaling high-growth companies.
Titled A Mandate to Innovate, the report from the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) argues that Canada’s problem isn’t a lack of innovation but a chronic failure to commercialize and support domestic breakthroughs. It calls on Ottawa to adopt a coordinated, whole-of-government strategy to reverse years of declining productivity and stagnant growth.
“In the 2025 federal election, Canadians gave Prime Minister Carney a mandate to innovate,” said CCI President Benjamin Bergen. “This report outlines what real action looks like for a government serious about sovereign prosperity and innovation-driven growth.”
Call to Action for All Federal Departments
The report outlines “innovator-informed” recommendations that span nearly every federal portfolio—including Defence, Health, Immigration, and Procurement. The overarching message: innovation cannot remain siloed in one ministry.
Key proposals include:
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Creating an independent national innovation agency that moves at the speed of business.
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Making the federal government the largest customer of Canadian-made technology and solutions.
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Modernizing legacy sectors like agriculture and energy through embedded innovation.
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Competing aggressively with the U.S. for top global talent to combat brain drain.
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Turning Canadian R&D into world-leading commercial products through a stronger national IP strategy.
Daniel Perry, CCI’s federal director, noted, “During the campaign, we saw Liberal Party promises that aligned with many of the policies in this report. Now, the real work begins: delivering results for the Canadian economy.”
Innovation as Economic Backbone
The call comes at a critical time. According to a 2023 report from the Competition Bureau, Canada has experienced a steady decline in competitive intensity since 2000. Economic headwinds, global trade tensions, and an underperforming innovation sector have only added urgency.
“The foundation of prosperity and security is innovation,” said Laurent Carbonneau, lead author of the report and CCI’s director of policy and research. “Countries that succeed will be those that commercialize valuable IP and export it globally.”
Carbonneau warned that if Canada continues to lag in productivity, the consequences will be dire: “In a globalized world, getting rich more slowly than our peers is the same as getting poorer.”
What It Means for Canadian Business
The report’s recommendations, if acted upon, could directly affect how Canadian companies operate—impacting hiring decisions, export strategies, R&D investment, and government contracting opportunities.
CCI is also encouraging business leaders to play a more active role in shaping national policy. “Innovation isn’t optional,” the report states. “It’s the foundation for economic sovereignty, and it’s time Canada treated it that way.”
As the Carney government settles into its first months in office, the message from Canada’s innovators is clear, stop admiring the problem, and start building a country that backs its ideas.