Industry minister David Emerson has announced that a major overhaul of the Technology Partnerships Program (TPC) is imminent and indicated that a new program dealing with larger projects in the areas of automotive and aerospace will be created in the near future. The revelation was contained in a keynote speech Emerson delivered February 7 at the national summit of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) association. It provides the clearest indication to date of his plans for innovation, commercialization and industrial competitiveness.

“The TPC brand has gotten a little tattered in the public mind. It’s become a vehicle of convenience for projects that, while they deliver worthy public objectives, don’t necessarily fit what I believe the core focus of TPC should be,” says Emerson. “Our mission will focus on the smart, strategic use of technology to deliver a quantum improvement in our competitive position.”

The overhaul of the TPC program is a major component of Industry Canada’s commercialization review which is nearing completion. Emerson says existing programs must be “pulled together to work more coherently” and suggests that the foundation approach to research could be applicable to commercialization.

“We hope to deliver a plan that will invigorate technology commercialization in this country in much the same way the Canada Research Chairs program, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and other initiative have invigorated research,” he says.

In comments specifically directed toward the manufacturing sector, Emerson says that its collective R&D expenditures of $7.5 billion annually is “not enough” and urged companies to crank up their spending.

“If Canada is going to keep its place at the forefront of a global knowledge-based economy, you are going to have to commit to more research and development,” he says. “(The forestry sector) is the model I think of when I talk about the changes we can, and must, make in our manufacturing sector. Integrated industrial clusters and high-performance supply chains have become a critical competitive success actor.”

Emerson echoed the CME’s 20/20 vision report when he stated that “change is not an option. It is an imperative”, urging increased innovation to avoid being left behind by the competition.

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