News That Matters To You

By Guy Levesque
Universities often struggle to integrate entrepreneurship centres due to four major structural contradictions, says Guy Levesque, executive Director of the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking at the University of Calgary. Overcoming these contradictions, and treating entrepreneurship as a shared institutional capability, is essential for universities aiming to cultivate entrepreneurial talent and support innovation across all disciplines.

By Andrew Maxwell
Andrew Maxwell from York University argues that Canada must shift from a reactive, fragmented approach to a strategic, outcome-focused innovation policy to bridge the country's persistent productivity gap. By establishing a non-partisan national innovation institution, Canada can better leverage its world-class research to commercialize technology, retain intellectual property, and secure the economic growth needed to sustain essential public services.

By Peter Josty
Canada's relatively low R&D spending reflects its resource-based economy, but Peter Josty points out that increased spending on R&D alone won't guarantee a higher standard of living. Improving labour productivity and focusing on high-growth sectors like AI and automation, quantum computing, synthetic biology, advanced manufacturing, space industries, health care and renewable energy could boost Canada's economic growth more effectively.

By Andrew Maxwell
Canada's universities excel at generating knowledge, yet struggle to translate research into tangible impact, says Andrew Maxwell, Bergeron Chair in Technology Entrepreneurship in the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University. He argues for linking research funding to productivity outcomes, reinventing how academia and industry interact, and focusing on diffusion, adoption and behavioral change to covert knowledge into real-world impact.

By George Poulakidas
Canada's reliance on foreign-controlled digital infrastructure raises concerns about health data sovereignty, security and economic benefits, says George Poulakidas at Genome BC. Other countries prioritize digital infrastructure as a matter of sovereignty, which should prompt Canada to build domestic compute capacity and take measures to ensure interoperability of Canadian health data and control by Canada for the economic benefit of Canadians.

By Andrew Maxwell
Canada's focus on celebrating AI breakthroughs and funding research overshadows its struggle with technology adoption, argues Andrew Maxwell (York University). Maxwell asserts that real economic value stems from widespread deployment, requiring organizations to change workflows and develop new skills, which ultimately drives productivity and economic impact.

By Guest Contributor
Youth mental health has plummeted since 2019, signaling a broader polycrisis where young Canadians face declining home ownership, falling postsecondary education enrolment, and a shrinking science and technology talent pipeline. Max Peacock and Alexander Zelenski from the Institute for Collaborative Innovation Canada urge Canada to do a youth-specific risk assessment and integrate youth into STI policy to avoid losing a generation's talent and trust.

By Andrew Maxwell
Canadians aren't inherently mistrustful of AI, but hesitate to adopt it due to lack of learning trust behaviours, fear of failure and accountability concerns, says Andrew Maxwell, the Bergeron Chair in Technology Entrepreneurship at York University. He argues that fostering trust through collaborative learning and prototype-based, safe-to-learn experimentation and iteration, rather than pilots, is key to building trust and to broader AI adoption.

By Guest Contributor
Canada's community-anchored organizations offer critical support during crises, yet the Defence Industrial Strategy overlooks this social sector. Rahim Rezaie, David Watters, and Payal Arya from the Institute for Collaborative Innovation argue that integrating these organizations into defence strategies strengthens national security by enhancing community resilience and providing essential local support.