Increase your innovation

The story of the light bulb, one of Canada’s greatest but least-known inventions, sums up the commercialization conundrum perfectly.

Says former Governor General David Johnston:

“It’s such a symbol of both our opportunities and challenges,” he told CBC News in 2017. “The light bulb was invented in Canada, not the United States. It was two inventors back in the 1870s that realized that if you passed an electric current through a resistant metal it would glow, and they patented that, but then they didn’t have the money to commercialize it.”²³.

American inventor Thomas Edison purchased the patent from the two inventors and the rest is history. Because he was able to succeed with commercialization where the Canadians failed, renown for the light bulb’s invention now belongs to him.

A 2017 study by the University of Toronto’s Impact Centre reveals that Canada doesn’t have a problem securing patents for its inventions; it has a problem of commercializing them.

Between 2005 and 2016, the study highlights that the number of U.S. patents with Canadian inventors that were eventually assigned to other countries increased from 45% to 58%.

“Canada’s terrible record of commercializing its ideas won’t change until we build proper infrastructure to help our entrepreneurs succeed on the global stage, where the real money is made,” writes Jim Balsillie, Rim (BlackBerry) co-founder in an opinion editorial in the Globe and Mail in 2017. “The infrastructure and policies required for the innovation economy are significantly different from what’s required for our traditional resource and manufacturing economies. Policies that helped us design infrastructure for traditional industries have little impact on an innovation economy.” ²⁴

This disconnect is in part a product of Canada’s long history as a resource economy.

“Our family business is still the extraction of resources and we don’t like to admit it,” according to former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley. “That accounts for the 30% of our GDP and it’s how, we as a country, pay the rent. It’s not designing medical devices.”

Regardless, Canada is still a great place to conduct research and do business, according to David Ross, CEO of Ross Video.

“There isn’t an innovation crisis in Canada in any way, there’s a commercialization crisis,” he says. “Nevertheless, we find Canada one of the best places in the world to conduct research and overall operations.”

The federal government has a number of resources to help Canadian companies solve the commercialization conundrum.

6.1.1 Innovative Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research

One of the government’s main initiatives is the Innovative Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) which have a mandate to bridge the gap between innovation and commercialization.

6.1.2 Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence Program

A sub-group of the CECR National Centres of Excellence is the Business-Led Networks Centres of Excellence program which finances large-scale collaborative research networks and brings a wide range of expertise together to solve issues identified by industry.

6.1.3 Innovation superclusters

The federal government, in an effort to boost innovation in small, medium and large-scale companies, announced its supercluster initiative in February 2018. Five superclusters will receive $950 million from the federal government – which will be matched by the private sector – with an assertion that these superclusters will grow the economy by $50 billion over the next decade while creating 50,000 jobs.

“When small, medium-sized and large companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations come together to generate bold ideas, Canadians benefit from more well-paying jobs, ground-breaking research and a world-leading innovation economy that creates global market leaders,” according to the supercluster website.

6.1.4 Build in Canada Innovation Program

Program Moving from the lab to the marketplace, the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP) helps Canadian companies of all sizes.

The program addresses market challenges in four ways, while assisting the Government of Canada in filling innovation gaps.

It bridges the pre-commercial gap

Companies often have difficulty moving their innovative goods and services from the final stages of research and development into the market. The BCIP helps bridge this pre-commercial gap by providing innovators with a successful use of their pre-commercial innovations.

What stage is your innovation at? Consult the government’s technology readiness levels to find out.

Companies can find support in earlier stages of research and development. Visit the National Research Council Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program and Concierge Service. You can also consult Canada Revenue Agency’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program to learn more.

It provides a first reference sale

Canadian companies often struggle to find first buyers for their innovations. According to a Canadian Manufacturing Coalition survey of C-Suite manufacturing executives in 2017, finding new customers was the second most important hurdle facing companies.²⁷

Through the BCIP, Canadian companies can sell their pre-qualified innovations to the federal government. The Government of Canada can also become the company’s first reference sale.

It evaluates pre-commercial goods and services

After testing a company’s innovation, federal departments provide feedback on the innovation’s performance in an operational setting. This feedback helps suppliers be better prepared to enter the marketplace with their federal government-tested innovations.

It improves the government’s operations

Federal departments gain access to innovative goods and services to improve their operations and services to Canadians. By bringing together companies and federal departments, the BCIP helps companies find a buyer, while departments get early access to state-of-the-art technologies they can use. ²⁸