Focus on Canada
Connecting companies to enable access to new markets and global value chains
Jiang Chen, the Canadian ITEA Public Authority representative modestly refers to himself
as one of over 255 Industrial Technology Advisors at the National Research Council of
Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP). It is from here that Canadian
companies, chiefly SMEs, can gain access to both advice and funding to develop
innovative, technology-driven new or improved products, services or processes in Canada
and beyond. It also houses and manages Canada's Eureka National Office and provides
companies with a first contact point in Canada for Eureka's global network, including
ITEA. Back in 2017, when the ITEA Magazine also had a focus on Canada, the article
referred to SMEs in Canada as “the backbone of the economy,
so there’s a great emphasis on SME support.”
Diverse, innovative and growing
ITEA's industry-driven, bottom-up approach with
trusted and engaged innovation actors coupled with
effective processes generates valuable networks and
projects with commercial and social impacts.
And this comment then is equally applicable
today, if not more. “SMEs contribute over 50%
to the GDP in Canada and are responsible for
over 80% of the workforce. They are prominent
in the ICT sector which, according to Statistics
Canada, had a GDP of 94.1 billion Canadian
dollars and accounted for 4.8% of the national
GDP. In fact, since 2013 onward, the ICT sector
has consistently outperformed the overall
economy and, in 2019, grew at over triple the
rate of the total Canadian economy.” These
impressive figures are led by the software
and computer services sub-sector in which
39,000 of the more than 43,200 companies
operate in the Canadian ICT sector. Jiang calls
Canada’s ICT sector “diverse, innovative and
a growing segment of the overall economy
where the latest innovative technologies,
such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data,
5G and Blockchain, are fuelling growth in the
sector itself and in the overall economy. If we
talk about R&D,” Jiang continues, “you will
see that ICT industries are the fastest growing
in the Canadian private sector. In 2019, the
sector held a 41.2% share of all private sector
R&D expenditure in Canada, with the largest
increase in R&D spending coming in the area of
software and computer services (+11.7%).
ICT is also responsible for employing 10.7%
of the total workforce in Canada – that’s 1.7
million people. The ICT sector is characterised
by a knowledge-intensive workforce, with over
half of its workers holding a university degree,
compared to 30.5% within Canadian industries
as a whole. So it’s evident that ICT and
software-intensive services play a critical role
in the economy and society of Canada today.”
Innovation – ready for the future
As a world leader in science, technology and
innovation, Canada is recognised as one of the
most innovative and competitive economies
in the world. “Canadian companies are very
competitive and have a leading edge in many
areas, especially when it comes to our national
priorities in respect of software innovation,
such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of
Things, Cybersecurity, Automation, SaaS and
Cloud computing, and Mobile Usage and 5G. In
the Government of Canada’s Budget for 2017,
the role of innovation in the future of and for its
citizens was underlined as the document stated
that ‘innovation is what allows Canadians to
adapt to change and prepare for the future’.”
One of the mechanisms for translating this
innovation into tangible results and impact is
a multi-year Innovation and Skills Plan rooted
in four interconnected and mutually reinforcing
pillars (see red box.
Top tech talent hubs
Large industries, SMEs, academic institutions
and research and technology organisations
are integral parts of Canada’s innovation
ecosystem. There are numerous governmental
and private programmes that support
innovation in Canada. And these efforts are
clearly paying off. The Annual Developer Survey
revealed that Canada accounted for 2.98% of
the developers in 2019, making Canada the
sixth most represented in terms of developer
talent globally. Canada also holds a similar
ranking as one of the largest cybersecurity
innovation hubs in the world according to
venture capital deals (2016-2019). Through its
National Cyber Security Strategy, Canada is
committed to investing 507 million Canadian
dollars over a five-year period. Toronto (#3),
Vancouver (#12), Montreal (#13) and Ottawa
(#19) are ranked in the CBRE’s top 20 tech
talent markets in North America. “To take one software development industry
example,” Jiang says, “every gamer knows or
plays FIFA 19, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or
Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Well, these bestselling games were all developed in Canada.”
In 2017, video game production contributed 4.5
billion dollars to Canada’s GDP and accounted
for over 48,000 jobs. The growth rate for the
video games industry was 20% between 2017
and 2019. There were 692 gaming studios and 71
investment announcements, between 2015 and
2019. Canada has the third largest video game
development and production hub in the world.
Innovation and Skills Plan
- People and Skills – Ensuring businesses have the right pipeline of talent to succeed and
equipping Canadians with the tools, skills, and experience they need to succeed throughout their
lifetimes.
- Building Ecosystems – Science, Technology, and Superclusters – Building innovation ecosystems
through new partnerships, bridging the gap from idea, to commercialisation, to growing
globally-minded firms
- Investment, Scale-up, and Growing Companies – Attracting investment, supporting the growth of leading Canadian companies and start-ups, and exporting
- Programme Simplification and Reorganisation – Offering a timely, client-centric single window in the delivery of business innovation programmes in every region
Access to global value chains
“As Canada’s leading innovation assistance
programme for small and medium-sized
businesses, NRC IRAP provides direct support
to Canadian SMEs with international interests,
creating opportunities for them to grow beyond
Canada’s borders,” Jiang explains. “Our
international programmes connect companies
with the funding, advisory, export, and
innovation services they need to access new
markets and global value chains. We aim to
enable our highly innovative companies – who
are actually among the most innovative in the
world – to develop and grow into impactful
world-leading players. So, NRC IRAP plays a vital
role in the R&D&I ecosystem in Canada and in
encouraging companies to turn their innovations
into marketable products and services."
While the United States is Canada’s main
trading partner and export market, Canada
recognises how important the wider global
market is. “It offers significant opportunities for
Canadian companies,” Jiang says, “so we do all
we can to help them get onto and benefit from
the international stage. The importance of being
able to operate beyond the North American continent has become very clear to Canadian
companies, in Europe as well as in Asia. The
programmes we have in Canada help our
companies to do just that. And Eureka is a very
big and important part of this initiative.”
Gateway to world of opportunities
As the main point of contact for Canadian
companies and the Eureka network, which
aligns very well with NRC IRAP’s mandate
and goals, and which Canada joined in 2012,
NRC IRAP acts as a kind of gateway into this
other world of opportunities. “It was through
Eureka,” Jiang says, “that we became familiar
with ITEA and joined this platform in 2014. ITEA
has been a particular focus for Canada due to its industry-driven, bottom-up approach
with trusted and engaged innovation actors
coupled with effective processes. This generates
valuable networks and projects with commercial
and social impacts. ITEA has become one of
the preferred channels we leverage to help
Canadian companies to access global value
chains. Of course, Canadian companies are
quite capable of achieving a lot on their own,
they’ve been working that way for many years
but it is also true to say that they are enriched by
the cooperation and collaboration that typify the
ITEA projects. Their enthusiasm says enough.”
Jiang continues, “The opportunities and
benefits resulting from the Eureka collaboration
are mutual. Canada’s participation in Eureka
Cluster programmes like ITEA not only gives
the European partners access to the worldclass software talents, but also provides an
entry point to potential large North American
markets.”
Over the last six years, Canadian companies
and researchers have achieved great successes
through ITEA projects. A few examples include
Esri Canada in PS-CRIMSON, QA Consultants,
mobileLive and Ontario Tech University in XIVT ,
Modus Medical Devices in STARLIT , PureWeb,
Dapasoft, iClinic Systems and Xco Tech in
PARTNER, and Convergent Manufacturing
Technologies in VMAP. Recently, Canada
cemented its commitment in the shape of
Esri Canada that joined the ITEA Board as an
industrial board member.
Ingredients for success
Jiang is fulsome in his praise for the “great services we receive from the ITEA Office. Not only Zeynep Sarılar, ITEA
Chairwoman, and Philippe Letellier, outgoing ITEA Vice-chairman,
but the whole ITEA Office staff who have
provided tremendous support and services to
NRC IRAP and Canadian participants. Zeynep
and Philippe have spoken at multiple Canadian
ITEA-related events. In the summer of 2019,
Zeynep flew to Canada and toured four cities,
visiting Canadian participants and stakeholders,
and doing a fantastic job in promoting ITEA in
Canada. The services provided by ITEA Office
staff are top-notch, always prompt, professional
and client-oriented. We (NRC IRAP and Canadian
participants) really appreciate their services
and consider them as one of ingredients for
Canadian ITEA successes.”
More information
https://nrc.canada.ca/en/support-technology-innovation/eureka