For a country so rich in brainpower, Canada is having an oddly hard time figuring out how to use it.
Driving the news: Canada’s investment in research and development has fallen well behind its peers. A new report by the Council of Canadian Academies found that Canada has now dropped out of the top 20 OECD countries for research spending relative to GDP.
- The report said that businesses, in particular, have failed to prioritize R&D. Research investment at Canadian companies is now about half of the OECD average.
Why it matters: The R&D problem isn’t one that can simply be solved by cutting a bigger cheque. Right now, there’s a clear disconnect between Canada’s academic talent and the economic benefits of their work, particularly in the private sector.
- Canada ranks ninth among its global peers in research and talent, but it ranks just 17th for its business outputs from that knowledge and technology.
Zoom in: While companies in the U.S. and Australia eagerly scoop up PhDs, Canada’s private sector has overlooked the academics who historically have the highest potential to innovate. In 2021, only 20-25% of Canadian PhD holders worked in private industry.
- Laval University in Quebec said that Canadian employers often perceive PhDs as overqualified academically, and with inadequate practical skills.
Bottom line: The report underscored a fundamental problem with how Canada has made use of its intellectual capital. More funding is needed, but as experts point out, we also need to put innovators in a better position to innovate.—LA
