The federal government's latest innovation initiative – in which $950-million is up for grabs for three to five superclusters – contains a mix of new and old thinking. The focus on sectors is new. So is the fact that these entities are to be industry-led. Unfortunately, an old paradigm is still driving it.
For decades, politicians and pundits have been decrying the relatively poor standing Canada holds among OECD countries in rankings of R&D spending as a percentage of GDP (GERD/GDP). While our higher education spending on R&D (HERD) is among the highest, our business expenditure on R&D (BERD) is among the lowest. So, the policy mantra is "Canadian business should spend more on R&D." Hundreds of programs exist to get Canadian companies to up their R&D game – and if the superclusters initiative goes down the same path, we're in big trouble.
