News That Matters To You

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 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.

By Josh Pottel
Outdated university technology transfer models pit universities against their own spinouts and company founders, hindering the growth of Canadian startups, says Josh Pottel, CEO of Molecular Forecaster Inc. Prioritizing long-term partnerships over short-term revenue extraction can transform university spinouts into national assets, boosting Canada's innovation ecosystem and global competitiveness, he says.

By Keith Belinko
Canada's research institutions reward researchers for the number of publications, citation counts, patents filed, licenses executed and spin-off companies, not for commercializing their research, says Keith Belinko, senior technology consultant with Doyletech Corporation. Research institutions need meaningful metrics to track socio-economic impacts in the marketplace and show they are delivering real returns that have societal benefit, he says.

By Peter Josty
Resistance to technological advancements, as examined by American and Israeli economic historian Joel Mokyr, who shared the 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, often stems from those benefiting from the status quo or intellectuals fearing the new technology's implications. Regular contributor Peter Josty at the Centre for Innovation Studies highlights how skepticism, while sometimes beneficial, can also lead to stagnation if excessive.