Could Mitacs be a strategic weapon in Canada’s arsenal to obliterate the obstacles to increased productivity and economic growth? What if corporate Canada was infused with 10,000 interns instead of the 2,500 that are currently ensconced in companies from coast to coast?
The Mitacs leadership believes such an expansion of its Accelerate internship program could reap dividends for Canada and help businesses boost their R&D output — a task that a succession of reports contend is an essential prerequisite for greater innovation and competitiveness.
In the next federal Budget, Mitacs is recommending an additional $200 million for Accelerate, to be matched by the provinces and augmented by industry (see page 4). If projections are accurate, Canada will have a federal budgetary surplus for the first time in many years. That means the government has the ability to respond to Mitacs’ request and those of other cash-starved S&T-based departments and agencies.
Growing the knowledge economy should be this government’s top priority. Nations that have addressed its research and innovation deficits and backed sectors where they possess global advantage have done well. Canada remains vulnerable to the vagaries of commodity price fluctuations. And if the price of oil falls to $70/barrel as some analysts are predicting, our one-note economic policy could be potentially ruinous.
It’s time to move beyond the rhetoric and provide business, government and academia with the resources they require to make Canada a true knowledge-based economy.
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