How R&D Partnerships Drive Economic Growth 

Canada has what it needs to lead in global innovation: world-class researchers, top-tier universities, and ambitious companies ready to grow. But competitiveness is under pressure — from declining productivity, lagging R&D investment, and excessive dependence on U.S. trade ties that are growing less predictable — despite having the building blocks to shape the way forward. 

As other nations pull ahead by tightly linking research and industry, Canada faces an opportunity to do the same: bridging the gap between discovery and commercialization, accelerating talent pipelines, and helping businesses turn ideas into measurable economic impact. 

A Global Race Canada Can’t Afford to Sit Out 

To seize that opportunity, Canada will need to prioritize R&D as a core part of its economic strategy. In 2001, R&D intensity stood at 2.02 percent of GDP — a figure that has since declined to 1.70% by 2022. During the same period, other countries steadily pulled ahead. South Korea hit 4.93% and Israel topped the list at 5.56%. These are not outliers; they are economies positioning themselves to lead in emerging sectors through sustained investment in innovation. 

The gap becomes even more striking when looking at the private sector. Between 2016 and 2022, Canada’s business R&D intensity grew from 0.92% to just 1.08%, while the average among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) climbed from 1.66% to 1.99%. This slower pace limits the country’s ability to scale homegrown technologies, anchor global players, or respond to fast-moving developments in key areas like artificial intelligence, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. 

And yet, the fundamentals are strong. Canada produces cutting-edge research, and demand for innovation is growing across industries. What’s missing isn’t capacity, but connection. Strengthening the ties between post-secondary research, enterprise needs, and skilled talent is essential to translating potential into impact. Without more coordinated investment in R&D, particularly from the private sector, Canada risks falling further behind. And closing the gap isn’t just a policy choice — it’s sound economics. 

The ROI of R&D  

At Mitacs, our programs are designed to do exactly what Canada needs now: bring researchers and companies together to solve real-world challenges, strengthen innovation across sectors, and create meaningful opportunities for emerging talent. The examples are multiple: 

• In Edmonton, AI scaleup AltaML faced a challenge common to many fast-growing tech companies: a shortage of skilled data scientists. To bridge the gap, the company created its Talent Accelerators program, supported by Mitacs internships. Through this initiative, AltaML recruited, trained, and hired more than 200 students, many of whom are now full-time employees. It’s a clear example of how strategic partnerships can help businesses access talent while giving students direct experience in innovation-driven industries. 

• In Laval, clean tech startup WattByWatt is working on next-generation solar technology using perovskites. With help from Mitacs interns and academic collaborators, the company is advancing R&D that might otherwise be out of reach for a small team. The partnership allows WattByWatt to stay at the forefront of clean energy innovation while strengthening Canada’s capacity to scale homegrown solutions. 

The results speak for themselves. Since 2018, Mitacs has supported more than 35,000 innovation projects and over 99,000 internships in partnership with 198 post-secondary institutions and more than 11,000 companies — most of them small businesses.  

According to a recent Statistics Canada report, firms that collaborated with Mitacs increased their R&D spending by 37% over seven years, while similar firms that didn’t saw their R&D investment drop by more than half. These partnerships also led to measurable business outcomes, including higher productivity, stronger sales, and job growth. At a time of rising global uncertainty and shifting trade dynamics, it’s a clear signal that when Canada invests in research and talent, the return is both academic and economic.