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Ontario goes to polls as S&T-heavy

Passage of the Ontario Budget will depend on the success of the minority Liberal government in a pending election as the annual fiscal plan was rejected by both opposition parties.

The new Liberal government of Quebec has coupled its innovation portfolio with the economy and exports while maintaining research and science in the same ministry as higher education. The reorientation underlines the Liberal party’s focus on economic development but officials say the new arrangement will require close cooperation between the two ministries as the province continues to implement its National Research and Innovation Policy (NRIP) — unveiled last year (R$, October 28/13).

A new era of Canada-EU innovation

By Christine Tausig Ford

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper met recently with European leaders last fall, he signalled to the world that Canada and the European Union are entering a new era of cooperation.

Industry-led innovation

Small innovative Canadian companies are increasingly taking advantage of Canada’s status as an associate member of the EUREKA Network, with 15 projects launched in the past 18 months.

Canada has been invited to join AtlantOS, a large European consortium that is bidding for up to €20 million from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program to establish the Atlantic Ocean’s first integrated ocean observation system.

It’s being called the great inversion. New research shows that venture capital investments in high tech are shifting from the suburbs of municipalities like San Francisco, Boston and Seattle to urban centres which are demonstrating their value as crucibles of innovation.

A new national report on entrepreneurship shows that the environment and culture in Canada is healthy with 60% of respondents believing it’s a good career choice and only 37% saying they would be prevented from becoming entrepreneurs due to a fear of failure.

Reaction to the belated release of Digital Canada 150 (DC150) — billed as a national strategy for the digital economy — has been decidedly mixed. As many observers have noted, the Industry Canada document is heavy on past and current actions and light on future direction.

A new report examining the strengths and weaknesses in Canada’s financial system for innovative start-ups says a lack of true innovators and a reticent funding community is holding back many promising firms as they seek support for product development and marketing.

By Dr Ian McWalter

Peter Morand’s recent commentary in RE$EARCH MONEY on improving Canada’s innovation performance deserves some elaboration (“Finding solutions to Canada’s innovation gap,” R$, February 10/14).