Universities help make Canada an innovation underachiever

For years, policy wonks, academics and politicians have bemoaned Canada’s lacklustre record on innovation.

Although this country has traditionally parlayed its rich resource base and proximity to the U.S. into one of the world’s leading economies, that game will end, the economic soothsayers warn.

Brains, not brawn, will dictate tomorrow’s economic winners, we’re told. And in this race, the Great White North is quickly losing its competitive edge. Surveys routinely list such countries as Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands ahead of Canada on the innovation scale.

And with fast-growing Asian export nations like South Korea growing wealthier by the day, the competition is likely to get tougher in the years ahead.

When it comes to listing Canada’s innovation shortcomings, a broad consensus has formed around a familiar set of gripes. To wit:

By Gary Lamphier, Edmonton Journal

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