For decades, Canada has struggled with sub-par business investment in innovation – a “low-innovation equilibrium.” Where innovation is happening, opportunities to participate and benefit from it have been distributed unevenly. As the COVID-19 crisis exposes socioeconomic disparities in the country, it should force us to change the way we think about innovation policy. How can we use it to expand the reach of our social policies, strengthen local supply chains, and secure a future of decent work? How can our policies ensure that more Canadians prosper from innovation-driven growth rather than be excluded from it?
