FEDERAL INNOVATION PROGRAMS
Why did we examine federal innovation program effectiveness?
The federal government’s innovation programs account for billions of dollars annually. Despite the billions in funding dedicated to promoting business innovation, Canada received a ‘C’ grade on the Conference Board of Canada’s 2024 Innovation Report Card, ranking us 15th out of 20 countries. This Government has consistently emphasized innovation as a priority, yet results remain underwhelming considering our collective potential.
In this paper, we asked seven questions to help us determine what Canada is getting right and wrong in regards to our support to innovators. These questions are intended to provide a starting point to uncover actionable insights that might eventually help to improve the effectiveness of Canada’s innovation programs, ensuring they catalyze private sector investment and yield measurable results that reinforce and accelerate Canadian business success, globally.
Discussion Paper: Federal Programs for Business Innovation
Document de Travail: Programmes fédéraux pour l’innovation en entreprise
“We welcome thoughts and feedback on this initial discussion paper. Do you have some constructive thoughts? If so, please email us at colin.deacon@sen.parl.gc.ca.”
Key Resources
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Canada’s Business Benefits Finder brings together hundreds of programs and services available through Federal and Provincial/Territorial governments. Simply answer a few quick questions to get a tailored list of the support that could help you start or grow your business. You can filter by elements like type of support, industry sector, underrepresented groups and so many more.
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October 3rd, 2024
This discussion paper aims to map out the range of innovation-funding programs offered by the Canadian federal government and identify key questions and observations to guide discussion on this crucial economic policy lever. This document is a starting point – one that we hope will drive further conversation.