Skip to main content
RBC Thought Leadership AI, Technology and Innovation How Canada Can up Its IP Game
AI, Technology and Innovation
AI, Technology and Innovation

How Canada Can up Its IP Game

A recovery strategy that encourages the commercialization of Canadian ideas and the development of ecosystems can help innovative companies grow.

Read time 2 minutes

When you think of Canadian tech success stories, it’s likely Shopify, Hootsuite, or Wealthsimple come to mind. They’re all examples of Canada’s “intangibles economy,” and they owe their strength in part to their robust intellectual property.

These success stories hide a broader concern about Canada’s IP prowess. Canada sits behind Slovenia as 22nd on Bloomberg’s 2020 Innovation Index, which ranks the ability of economies to innovate based on criteria such as research and development spending, manufacturing capability and concentration of high-tech public companies. Last year, Microsoft alone registered more patents than all of Canada.

Does the pandemic-driven downturn present an opportunity to step up our game?

The tech community thinks so. In October, via the Council of Canadian Innovators, 133 founders sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, making the case for a recovery strategy that encourages the commercialization of Canadian ideas and the development of ecosystems to help innovative companies grow. They argued IP is not only the world’s most valuable business asset, but continues to add value after its creation. That’s why keeping homegrown IP in Canada is especially important.

Former BlackBerry co-CEO Jim Balsillie, who is chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators, is a leading voice on the importance of owning IP and has been pressing the Canadian government to create the prosperity strategy outlined in the CCI letter. “We have very ambitious, aggressive tech CEOs but an unambitious, passive policy community,” he said on the most recent episode of Disruptors.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Simplecast

Balsillie said Canada should take a page from smaller tech powerhouses who’ve specialized, like Israel (cybersecurity) or Singapore (microelectronics). And to take a more active role in governance, especially around data.

There’s already evidence that IP-intensive Canadian companies grow faster, export more, and continue to innovate.

A key ingredient is talent—no matter where it comes from. The pandemic has temporarily dented immigration to Canada, which prioritizes the world’s best and brightest. But as Charles Plant, founder of the Narwhal Project, has pointed out, the pandemic has also exposed “all sorts of opportunities” and demonstrated that place doesn’t matter in the worldwide talent game. “You don’t need to have your CMO in the next office – there’s no reason they can’t be located in Dublin or Dallas.” It’s possible, Plant notes, to draw on external resources while still building IP champions firmly rooted in Canada.

This article is intended as general information only and is not to be relied upon as constituting legal, financial or other professional advice. The reader is solely liable for any use of the information contained in this document and Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”) nor any of its affiliates nor any of their respective directors, officers, employees or agents shall be held responsible for any direct or indirect damages arising from the use of this document by the reader. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. Information presented is believed to be factual and up-to-date but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the authors as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by Royal Bank of Canada or any of its affiliates. This document may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, which are subject to RBC’s caution regarding forward-looking statements. ESG (including climate) metrics, data and other information contained on this website are or may be based on assumptions, estimates and judgements. For cautionary statements relating to the information on this website, refer to the “Caution regarding forward-looking statements” and the “Important notice regarding this document” sections in our latest climate report or sustainability report, available at: https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/sustainability-reporting/index.html. Except as required by law, none of RBC nor any of its affiliates undertake to update any information in this document.

Read This Next

From Ottawa to Orbit: Two Views on Canada’s Big Day

The season finale of Disruptors features Michael Sabia, Canada’s top public servant, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen

Own The Stack: Canada’s Data Sovereignty Test

Join us inside a Canadian data centre to discover what data sovereignty actually looks like and why it matters more than ever.

Can AI fix ER wait times?

Canada’s hospitals generate enormous amounts of data. The challenge is turning that data into better healthcare.

Important Notice Regarding Information on this Website and Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The information on this website is intended as general information only and does not constitute an offer or a solicitation to buy or sell any security, product or service in any jurisdiction; nor is it intended to provide investment, financial, legal, accounting, tax or other advice, and such information should not to be relied or acted upon for providing such advice. Nothing herein shall form the basis of or be relied upon in connection with any contract, commitment, or investment decision whatsoever. The reader is solely liable for any use of the information contained herein, and neither Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”, “we”, “our” and “us”) and its subsidiaries nor any of RBC’s affiliates nor any of their respective directors, officers, employees or agents shall be held responsible for any direct or indirect damage arising from the use of any information contained herein by the reader.

From time to time, we make written or oral forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, including on this website, in filings with Canadian securities regulators or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other communications. Such statements are subject to our caution regarding forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements on our website include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our economic and sustainability related objectives, vision, commitments, goals and targets as well as potential events and actions. By their very nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, which give rise to the possibility that our predictions, expectations or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that our assumptions may not be correct, and that our objectives, vision, commitments, goals and targets will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of risk factors – many of which are beyond our control and the effects of which can be difficult to predict – could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. ESG (including climate) metrics, data and other information contained on this website are or may be based on assumptions, estimates and judgements. For cautionary statements relating to the information on this website, refer to the “Caution regarding forward-looking statements” and the “Important notice regarding this report” sections in our latest sustainability report, available at: https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/sustainability-reporting/index.html.

Except as required by law, none of RBC nor any of its affiliates undertake to update any information on this website.

All expressions of opinion on this website reflect the judgment of the authors as of the date of publication and are subject to change. We do not guarantee the accuracy of the information or expressions of opinion presented herein and they should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by RBC or any of its affiliates.

All references to websites are for your information only. The content of any websites referred to on this website, including via website link, and any other websites they refer to are not incorporated by reference in, and do not form part of, this website.  This website is also not intended to make representations as to sustainability-related initiatives of any third parties, whether named herein or otherwise, which may involve information and events that are beyond our control.