Innovation Canada: A Call to Action

Innovation Canada: A Call to ActionFederal–Provincial DialogueCanada is a federation with two jurisdictions ofpolitical and legislative authority. The division ofpowers between each order of governmentassigns certain domains exclusively to one orderof government, while other domains are sharedjurisdictions. In the domain of R&D andinnovation, both federal and provincialgovernments are important players. Theexistence of two orders of governmentproviding active programming in the samedomain creates opportunities for coordinationand collaboration. Conversely, it can also createthe possibility of overlap and duplication ofeffort. That is why there is a need for anongoing national dialogue on innovation. ThePanel therefore recommends the following.6.3 National dialogue on innovation —Through the minister responsible forinnovation, engage provincial and businessleaders in an ongoing national dialogue topromote better business innovationoutcomes through more effectivecollaboration and coordination in respect ofprogram delivery, talent deployment,sectoral initiatives, public sectorprocurement, appropriate tax credit levelsand the availability of risk capital.The need for a dialogue of this sort is amplifiedby the fact that Canada has a small populationspread over a large and geographically diverseland mass. It is therefore particularly importantto work toward better integration, coordinationand unity of effort, while respecting federal andprovincial jurisdictions.In addition to addressing the federal–provincialdimensions of the advice put forward in thisreport, important objectives of the nationaldialogue would also include setting new goalsand standards, monitoring internationalbenchmarks and best practices, and reducingoverlap and duplication in these fiscallyconstrained times.8-6