Preparing Canadian Universities for a Conservative Government

Canadian universities will need to demonstrate economic impact if they are to avoid budget cuts

CanInnovate is not a partisan blog for the simple reason that the need for productivity growth through innovation should not be a partisan issue, and adding my personal politics into the debate would only serve to muddy the waters. That being said, the details of how economic growth is achieved are highly dependent on the party in power.

Assuming no major surprises between now and whenever the election actually occurs, it is a safe bet that the next Canadian government will be a conservative majority, and will be under pressure to simultaneously reduce the deficit, fix the housing crisis, and increase Canadian productivity. (In case any prospective prime ministers ever read this, here’s a way to do all three with a single policy change).

While Poilievre has been fairly vocal about the fact that a portion of savings will come from deep cuts to a public service that has grown significantly in recent years, that alone will not be enough to deliver on his plans with respect to military spending. It is likely that Canada’s academic research budget will find itself under scrutiny in the search for savings, during a time in which universities are already under enormous budget pressure due to caps on international student enrollment that I do not foresee changing in the immediate future.

As far as deep tech commercialization is concerned, this could be a crisis that leads to ongoing economic stagnation, or it could be an opportunity to effect institutional policy change with respect to research commercialization, driven by existential need.

The last conservative majority was not known for its friendliness toward science and research. We can reasonably assume that an incoming conservative government is going to take a similar view. One of the first things the new one will do is ask Universities what Canada is getting as a return on its investment in research.

The only acceptable answer will be “economic impact”, and only a handful of Canadian universities are in a position to deliver that answer.

Whether or not there is impact to show, any post-secondary institution that is not already preparing a report at least justifying its plan to achieve impact through research commercialization is taking an enormous risk at a time where there is likely little to no slack in the budget. There is a strong incentive right now for Canadian research institutions to take a proactive look at their approach to supporting and enabling research commercialization in preparation for the inevitable question.

Some universities are already doing this. Innovate Calgary, the commercialization arm of the University of Calgary, recently released their UCeed Momentum Update 2023, focusing entirely on clear indicators of economic impact arising from research. Velocity Fund in Waterloo has likewise made undeniably impactful contributions to the local ecosystem and the economy as a whole. Following these examples, universities across the country have started establishing early-stage investment funds. These are all steps in the right direction, and should be front and center in the impending conversations around the economic impact of post-secondary research.

There are many ways to accelerate the process. The Lab2Market network is expanding nationally, providing education for academic entrepreneurs and matching funding. The national Invention to Innovation Network likewise accepts participants from across the country. In ElevateIP and various provincial organizations are removing cost-based barriers to tech transfer. Getting involved in these initiatives, or building out similar programs in-house, will all contribute positively to the conversation, but it all needs to happen now. Finally, regardless of the details of the approach to commercialization, it will be necessary to define and collect metrics showing long-term impact. While it may be too early to have the numbers when the question is asked, being able to demonstrate a plan that is embraced by the entire institutional administration will be at least a step in the right direction.

Tom Goldsmith

at

Orbit Policy's Deep Dives

just released a piece about the role of storytelling in driving the change we want to see. I think this quote fits particularly well:

“At a time of immense change, major challenges, and significant opportunities, we don’t just need our leaders to engage in storytelling. We also need to create it from the bottom up with new visions of where we should be heading and how we will get there.”

Challenging though the incoming government will no doubt be for academic research, this is an opportunity to get deep tech research commercialization onto the agenda, starting from the bottom up. Seizing the opportunity requires that we establish a national vision for what translation of research into commercial activity looks like, and work together to communicate to the incoming government that research can be a critical input to addressing Canada’s productivity challenges.

Let’s not waste the chance.