Many reports have indicated that with the current state of Canada’s science and technology, Canada is not globally competitive in business innovation, and the current state of growth is not sustainable. How to drive continuous innovation growth in Canada?
This proposal centers on three areas: (1) continuous innovation growth in large incumbents, (2) viable business growth from start-ups, and (3) inter-government collaboration on technology and innovation. Our research of the studies on technology and innovation in Canada has identified them as key weaknesses that need to be addressed.

Digitally-enabled technology firms will assume greater significance for Canada’s future economic growth and prosperity. The ability to grow digitally-enabled firms from the startup phase to globally competitive scaled up firms will be a critical part of this challenge. Among the advanced industrial economies, Canada ranks second only to the United States in terms of entrepreneurship, but most Canadian start-ups do not scale successfully.

Human capital migration, or "brain drain" as it is more commonly known, is a long-debated subject in Canadian public policy. This process involves large-scale emigration of talented individuals, educated in one country, but who choose to work in other countries to seek out higher salaries, prestige or greater occupational mobility. While this phenomenon has been long debated and discussed mostly in relation to doctors and other medical professionals - policymakers in Canada are still often left wondering why highly skilled Canadians opt to work abroad.

Cited is a multimedia knowledge mobilization project that tells stories about research and academia to a general audience. It is experimenting with a unique co-creative approach that puts students, journalists, and researchers together on the same team. Mitacs interns will work with Cited media partners to conduct original research that builds interviews, documentaries, and other media related to research and academia—particularly in the social sciences and humanities. These will be distributed widely through a network of partners across North America.

There is ample evidence that increasing Canada’s innovation, productivity and competitive advantage depends on expanding its skilled digital workforce to both implement and adopt innovative technologies. Despite the pressing need to increase the digital skills and participation of underrepresented groups in information and communications technology (ICT) industry and programs to diversifying computer science, the numbers have remained persistently low. While some initiatives have demonstrated success, often it is transient and not sustained.

The research project examines how social and political groups make critical policy choices in a challenging economic context. Focusing on the sub-provincial cases in China, the project aims to examine the process of financial reform during a period of declining economic growth. Examining the government-business relations, the research addresses the challenges that the Chinese political elites face to address the critical needs of diversifying its financial system in order to facilitate economic growth without losing control and oversight over its institutions.

The International Centre for Northern Governance and Development (ICNGD) was created to help focus attention on opportunities for building capacity in northern Saskatchewan. An overarching goal was to establish local to global relationships with the Circumpolar North in support of education, research and economic prosperity. The university, industry and northern communities work together to help students learn in an environment that is context based, relevant education and research in support of the north.

Governments around the globe are trying new approaches to solving complex social problems. They are increasingly moving away from the direct provision of social services towards more collaborative partnerships with the private sector. Pay-for-success, also known as pay-for-performance or Social Impact Bonds, is a method for engaging the private sector that has been gaining attention and support for their ability to raise non-government funds to finance social programs and increase collaboration between the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

This unique research project, undertaken by Master of Northern Governance and Development (MNGD) students, contributes significantly to our understanding of the North. The research focuses on community-based responses to rapid economic, social, and environmental changes and the development of the local capacity to respond. The analysis is collaborative, involving key stakeholders at the community and multi-community levels, and is informed by their values and interests.