innovation in canada: an update

In October 1971 the Science Council of Canada published a report on the lowly status of innovative activities in domestic manufacturing. Early in 1972, and again a year later, the Senate Special Committee on Science Policy added some further notes of concern about innovation in the industry in the second and third volumes of its Report. This article reviews the relevant conclusions and recommendations of these documents as well as the government action which had - or had not - been taken in response to them by the autumn of 1975. Attention has been focussed primarily on the federal government which has, for example, introduced several favourable tax measures, passed legislation to screen certain activities of foreign companies, established a new policy to encourage the further processing of natural resources prior to export, and has instructed its own departments and agencies to contract out more of their research requirements to the private sector. It has also encouraged its Ministry of State for Science and Technology to study industrial problems and to develop policies for their solution, and it has established a new bank to provide extended financial assistance and management services to small companies. But the government has still to comply with the Science Council's principal recommendation that an overall national strategy for manufacturing should be formulated.The industry is in some doubt about its future. In the short term, this uncertainty is likely to be aggravated by the difficult economic situation in the industrial world as a whole. The major impediments to innovation in manufacturing in Canada are therefore likely to remain in place for some time to come.