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Centre for Canadian Innovation and Competitiveness

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

Comments to Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner Regarding Age Assurance and Privacy

Comments to Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner Regarding Age Assurance and Privacy

Age assurances are not the only available option to protect children online. But if policymakers are set on mandating age assurance systems, regulation should be limited to high-risk circumstances, avoid inflexible requirements, and be designed to be technologically and commercially agnostic.

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

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.

Challenges in Assessing Canadian Competition

Challenges in Assessing Canadian Competition

The Competition Bureau of Canada’s 2023 report assessing the state of competition in Canada has several methodological and interpretation issues that raise doubts about the conclusion's accuracy. As such, policymakers should not use the report as the foundation of competition policymaking or to justify a more aggressive antitrust regime.

Assessing Canadian Innovation, Productivity, and Competitiveness

Assessing Canadian Innovation, Productivity, and Competitiveness

Canada faces unprecedented challenges in innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. The first step in addressing them is to develop a clear understanding of the Canadian economy’s underlying structure and performance in each area. Policymakers must then tailor strategies for specific industries and technologies instead of focusing on principally on macro factors.

Canada’s 2024 Federal Budget: The Good, the Bad, and the Maybe for Innovation, Productivity, and Competitiveness

Canada’s 2024 Federal Budget: The Good, the Bad, and the Maybe for Innovation, Productivity, and Competitiveness

The word “innovation” appears a total of 97 times and “productivity” 63 times in Canada’s 2024 federal budget, and many measures targeted towards innovation and productivity reflect that focus. However, some of the funds being disbursed are tangential at best to actually addressing Canada’s declining productivity and supporting Canada’s innovation ecosystem.

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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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Robert D. Atkinson
Robert D. Atkinson

President

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

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Lawrence Zhang
Lawrence Zhang

Head of Policy, Centre for Canadian Innovation and Competitiveness

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

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Michele Austin
Michele Austin

Vice President, Public Affairs

Bell Canada

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Nicholas Brathwaite
Nicholas Brathwaite

Founding Managing Partner

Celesta

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Don Drummond
Don Drummond

Adjunct Professor and Stauffer-Dunning Fellow

Queen’s University School of Policy Studies

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Karimah Es Sabar
Karimah Es Sabar

CEO

Quark Venture LP

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Paul Genest
Paul Genest

Senior Vice President

Power Corporation of Canada

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John Knubley
John Knubley

Consultant and Former Deputy Minister

Government of Canada

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Natty Nashman
Natty Nashman

Managing Director

INcapital Ventures

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Dr. Mona Nemer
Dr. Mona Nemer

Chief Science Advisor

Government of Canada

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Peter J. Nicholson Sr.
Peter J. Nicholson Sr.

Chair

Canadian Climate Institute

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Sue Paish
Sue Paish

CEO

DIGITAL (Canada)

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Sean Speer
Sean Speer

Editor at Large

The Hub

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Iain Stewart
Iain Stewart

Consultant and Former Deputy Minister

Government of Canada

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Leonard Waverman
Leonard Waverman

Professor of Finance and Business Economics

McMaster University

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Robert Asselin
Robert Asselin

Senior Vice President, Policy

Business Council of Canada

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Daniel Breznitz
Daniel Breznitz

Munk Chair of Innovation Studies

Munk School at the University of Toronto

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Kenneth I. Carlaw
Kenneth I. Carlaw

Professor of Economics

University of British Columbia, Canada

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Martha Crago
Martha Crago

Vice-President (Research and Innovation)

McGill University

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Ian Delaney
Ian Delaney

Board Chairman

Allarta Life Science

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Sébastien Labrecque
Sébastien Labrecque

Deputy Director and Chief Economist

StrategyCorp Institute of Public Policy and Economy

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Richard G. Lipsey
Richard G. Lipsey

Professor Emeritus

Simon Fraser University

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Gail C. Murphy
Gail C. Murphy

Vice President, Research and Innovation

University of British Columbia

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Michel Patry
Michel Patry

President and CEO

Foundation HEC Montréal

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Tim Sargent
Tim Sargent

Deputy Executive Director

Centre for the Study of Living Standards

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Mark Schaan
Mark Schaan

Senior Assistant Deputy Minister

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

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David Wolfe
David Wolfe

Co-Director of the Innovation Policy Lab

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

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