Failure to Innovate results in poor grades on Canada’s Report Card
Canada received a “D” on innovation. The Conference Board of Canada release a 154 page report on Canada’s economy, innovation, environment, education, health and society compared to 16 other major industrialized countries. Canada’s “D” on innovation placed us 4th last in that category.
“We’re not a low-wage economy, we’re a high-wage economy. We’re never going to be able to compete just on price. We have to compete on innovation, on new technology, on new products, high-level services in unique niches. And we’re not doing that.”
This is a scary result for Canada. The impact won’t be seen for five or ten years, but this failure to innovate will have drastic economic impact in the future. That isn’t to say it is too late. As someone who lives around innovation I see the positive side everyday.
If you would like to learn more about the report, Anne Golden will present the findings during a webcast on Wednesday, June 13 at 1:30 p.m. ET.
June 14th, 2007 at 2:30 am
I think that since Canada as long been a resources driven economy, and in a way, we still are thanks to Alberta. There hasn’t been much of a push to be innovative. Years of relying on a cheaper Canadian dollar has resulted in lack of investment by enterprises. Here in Quebec its particularly hurting regions outside of Montréal.
June 14th, 2007 at 2:40 am
This is a really great information piece. It’s scary to think that Canada is doing so poorly in innovation. Perhaps there are systemic issues here at play that are limiting our innovation potential.
Sincerely,
Marc-André Bélair
Financial Planner
http://www.belairwm.com/
July 1st, 2007 at 11:08 am
Many other well developed countries are lagging in innovation. However Finland has been one of the leaders in recent years. I wonder why they are ahead of us?
September 6th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
[...] I was reading a very politically-correct article the other day in which the author suggested, “let’s focus on solutions, not problems.” It suddenly struck me that this is part of the reason for Canada’s lack of achievement in innovation. We are afraid to focus on problems. In our culture, the word “problem” conjures up emotions of fear, anxiety, and panic. For myself, on the other hand, there is nothing more exciting than facing a difficult problem. Why? Problems point us in the direction of hidden opportunities. They are the “X” that marks the spot where the hidden “treasures” of your business are buried. [...]