Shaping Canada’s Innovation for the Next Decade: Insights from Elevate Festival

At the recent Elevate Festival, the Innovation Factory gathered entrepreneurs, investors, and visionaries to discuss how Canada can harness its creativity and research capabilities for global influence. A central theme emerged: the next era of Canadian innovation will be defined by those who pair audacious ideas with the courage to expand, collaborate, and lead.

Arlene Dickinson, founder of District Ventures Capital, shared her insights during the panel “Canada’s Moment: Entrepreneurship in an Era of Change.” She led an exercise where attendees were encouraged to raise their hands higher, highlighting a prevalent Canadian trait—modesty—which can sometimes stifle ambition. Dickinson urged innovators to reach for greater heights, bolstered by self-awareness, a solid value system, and confidence in Canada's potential. She emphasized that Canada should operate with a more expansive mindset, moving beyond heavy reliance on the U.S. to view the entire world as a marketplace.

Currently, Canada invests approximately 1.7% of its GDP into research and development, which is below the G7 average of 2.7%. To address this gap, both entrepreneurs and accelerators need to focus on creating routes to commercialization and establishing global partnerships that leverage Canada’s research strengths. David Carter, CEO of Innovation Factory, highlighted the need to cultivate an environment where brilliant ideas can mature into globally competitive enterprises without leaving Canada.

Massi Basiri, co-founder of ApplyBoard, underscored the importance of thinking globally from inception. His success story exemplifies how early global considerations can help businesses thrive internationally. Collaborating with accelerators, mentors, and partners who emphasize a broader vision can fortify foundational business strategies. Carter noted that the accelerator’s role must evolve to not only support startups at early stages but to foster local growth while creating avenues for international collaboration.

Claudette McGowan, CEO of Protexxa, contributed a powerful perspective by focusing on mindset. She expressed that Canada’s global reputation for trust, diversity, and collaboration positions the country excellently to meet international needs. Founders are encouraged to assess whether their business models can adapt to different markets and if their brand transcends geographical boundaries. This proactive approach is crucial for attracting investors and nurturing talent that can fuel innovation within Canada.

Another key insight from the panels on AI and clean technology was the need for infrastructure-driven innovation. As Nuha Siddiqui of erthos® pointed out, collaboration among government, academic institutions, and the private sector is essential for sustainable progress. Effective partnerships can help startups translate breakthroughs into market-ready products. The collective wisdom from these collaborations can foster innovation that benefits Canada's economy broadly.

As entrepreneurs strategize for their companies’ futures, they should cultivate a mindset geared towards building a sustainable and innovative Canadian landscape. The shift from potential to active engagement is crucial; Canada possesses the talent, ideas, and networks required for success. However, the commitment to collaborate and invest in each other is pivotal to ensuring that innovation is not only conceived in Canada but also realized and sustained there.

Carter summarized that while the last decade demonstrated that Canadian innovators can compete globally, the next phase demands that they also take leadership roles on that stage. By anticipating future challenges and fortifying the infrastructure for growth, Canada can effectively steer its innovation economy into a thriving and sustainable trajectory.