Centre for Canadian Innovation and Competitiveness

Canada faces unprecedented economic challenges. Its productivity growth is stagnant. Its advanced industries are losing in global competition. And too few innovation-based companies are growing to scale. These challenges are daunting but not insurmountable. Solving them requires the right policies at all levels of government. And their development depends on actionable insights generated not from broad macroeconomic analysis, but from deep analysis of actual production systems, industry dynamics, and technologies.

The Centre for Canadian Innovation and Competitiveness, an Ottawa-based affiliate of ITIF, focuses on addressing those needs. As a separately incorporated and registered charity under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act and Income Tax Act, the Centre’s mission is to help policymakers and the public better understand the nature of the innovation economy and the types of public policies necessary to drive Canadian innovation, productivity, and global competitiveness. The Centre also informs ITIF’s broader work on shared North American innovation challenges and opportunities. (Support the Centre’s work, contact Lawrence Zhang, [email protected].)

Featured Publications

An IT Policy Playbook for Canada

The Canadian economy is shifting faster than its institutions are. This playbook lays out an agenda to address what Canada must fix, build, and scale in order to compete through technology

Mittelstand, Not Middlemen, Will Help Canada Climb the Value Chain

The goal for the next Canadian decade should be simple yet ambitious: to support and scale at least 100 mid-sized, export-oriented companies that dominate strategic niches in global markets—Canada's own generation of Mittelstand-esque champions.

Why Canada Must Keep Talking to Trump’s America

Canada’s path forward requires becoming a more productive trading nation that is less reliant on external forces and more capable of turning ambition into economic power. Walking away from the most consequential trade conversation of the next decade won’t get Canada there. It has room to negotiate with the U.S. and should use that leverage to secure the full and permanent removal of tariffs.

Canada Should Hire Scientists Trump Fires

Trump and Musk are disrupting America’s scientific community, giving Canada a rare opportunity to attract top talent and position itself as a global innovation powerhouse.

A Techno-Economic Agenda for Canada’s Next Federal Government

Innovation, productivity, and competitiveness must be top priorities for Canada’s next federal government, not sidenotes or vague aspirations to be addressed with little more than lip service.

More Publications

Events

July 17, 2024

How Can Canadian Policymakers Improve the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act?

Watch now for an engaging discussion with leading international experts and peers presented by ITIF’s Centre for Canadian Innovation and Competitiveness.

April 30, 2024

Reviving Canada’s Innovation Economy

Watch now for ITIF's launch event for the Centre for Canadian Innovation and Competitiveness, an Ottawa-based ITIF affiliate focused on tackling these issues. The event featured an expert panel discussion on a new report from the Centre examining the how and why of Canada’s performance on key measures of productivity, innovation, and competitiveness.

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