Canada on the Verge: An Evening in Montreal

The Global Innovation Index, which measures the potential of world economies according to their innovation capabilities, ranks Canada 17th globally among 139 economies. Canada retains three of the world's top 100 science and technology hubs, all primarily focused on computer technology and digital communication, and boasts a competitive median income. 

Innovation leaders, recognizing Canada’s potential, explored the possibilities, the opportunities, and the nation’s challenges at a Cambridge North America Toronto Advisory Committee-hosted event in Montreal on the evening of June 4th.

The discussion was led by Dr. Marc Guilbert (Sidney Sussex 1999), a deep-tech entrepreneur and founder of Hard Climate, Canada’s first venture studio focused on identifying and evaluating net-zero technologies and helping early-stage concepts become scalable businesses. He was joined by Professor Stephen Toope, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and current President and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Together, they examined Canada’s strengths in university research and innovation capacity, while also acknowledging the weaknesses that continue to limit its ability to scale ideas into globally competitive ventures.

“Montreal boasts a thriving and growing innovation ecosystem, but we are coming up quite short compared to other cities in the US that have similar geographics, academic institutions, like, for example, Boston, which has a very similar demographic density of students and innovation ecosystem,” said Guilbert.

Toope outlined the similarities between Canada and the UK’s so-called golden triangle connecting Cambridge, London, and Oxford. He detailed shared strengths as well as shared challenges. “What often happens in Canada and the UK is that people exit, they take out their money, and that's the end of it. And then they become minor investors, but they're not building the so-called unicorns or champion companies,” said Toope. “In Canada and Cambridge, we also tend to have a weaker willingness to accept risk.”

They discussed the importance of government incentives, the role of venture capital, and the need for international collaboration. Toope highlighted the success of the Canada Research Chairs but stressed the need for strategic next steps. “I don't think we should expect that a professor who creates something, designs something, discovers something, should be the person to actually commercialize their discovery. There needs to be a follow-on ecosystem and that's the part that we've had trouble creating in Canada,” said Toope.

The conversation also touched on the balance between open science and research security, particularly in the context of China's growing research output and Canada's strategic partnerships with like-minded states.

The talk drew robust attendance and incited audience questions including about AI development in Canada, given the significant investments by China and the US. Toope and Guilbert emphasized the need to be strategic about AI partnerships, underscoring the importance of Canada not going alone.

In concluding the program, Guilbert highlighted the importance of sustained collaboration between academia, industry, and policy to drive innovation in Canada.

Photos of the event entitled Canada’s Moment: Leveraging Cambridge's Model and Positioning to Become Global Innovation Leaders can be found here.