--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-18/is-canada-really-all-that-bad-at-innovation-a-tale-of-two-industries/" title: "Is Canada Really All That Bad At Innovation?: A Tale of Two Industries" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:31:39+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:31:39+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2009" ipm_keyword: - "automotive" - "Canada" - "capabilities" - "commentary" - "Council of Canadian Academies" - "history" - "industrial policy" - "innovation" - "telecommunications" ipm_research_theme: - "Technology and innovation" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Is Canada Really All That Bad At Innovation?: A Tale of Two Industries Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-18/is-canada-really-all-that-bad-at-innovation-a-tale-of-two-industries/ # Is Canada Really All That Bad At Innovation?: A Tale of Two Industries [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-18-5-Hawkins.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Hawkins, Richard. 2009. “Is Canada Really All That Bad At Innovation?: A Tale of Two Industries.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 18 (Spring 2009): 72–79. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-18/is-canada-really-all-that-bad-at-innovation-a-tale-of-two-industries/ ## Author: - Richard Hawkins Canada Research Chair, University of Calgary ## IPM Issue 18 Spring 2009 pp. 72–79 ## Related IPM articles [The Relationship between Efficiencies Defenses for Mergers and TFP Growth Robin Shaban Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 82–102](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/the-relationship-between-efficiencies-defenses-for-mergers-and-tfp-growth/) [Appendix: Variable Definitions and Country/Sector Coverage for Regulatory Reform Analysis Gilbert Cette, Jimmy Lopez, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Océane Vernerey Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 1–18](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/appendix-variable-definitions-and-country-sector-coverage-for-regulatory-reform-analysis/) [The Potential Impact of Pro-competitive Regulatory Reforms on Productivity and Growth in Canada Gilbert Cette, Jimmy Lopez, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Océane Vernerey Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 3–40](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/the-potential-impact-of-pro-competitive-regulatory-reforms-on-productivity-and-growth-in-canada/) [IPM Issue 49 Editors’ Overview Andrew Sharpe, Bart van Ark, Paul Schreyer Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 1–2](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/) [Opportunities and Risks of Artificial Intelligence for Productivity Francesco Filippucci, Peter Gal, Katharina Laengle, Matthias Schief, Filiz Unsal Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 1–26](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/opportunities-and-risks-of-artificial-intelligence-for-productivity/) [How Does Industrial Policy Impact Output, Hours and Productivity? 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Catherine Mann Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 3–19](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/could-domestic-industrial-policies-even-with-global-fragmentation-revive-productivity/) [Productivity and Industrial Policy by Design: The UK Experience Diane Coyle, Ayantola Alayande Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 20–38](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/productivity-and-industrial-policy-by-design-the-uk-experience/) [Accounting for the Decline of Canada’s Real GDP Per Capita since Mid-2022 Philip Smith Spring 2024 | IPM Issue 46 | pp. 83–100](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-46/accounting-for-the-decline-of-canadas-real-gdp-per-capita-since-mid-2022/) [IPM Issue 47 Editors’ Overview Andrew Sharpe, Bart van Ark Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 1–2](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn This commentary raises questions about the degree to which global innovation indicators enable us to understand the historical dynamics of innovation in Canada, and about future directions for Canadian innovation policy. By focusing on the automotive and telecommunications sectors, two currently troubled Canadian industries with completely different histories, some of the major successes and mistakes of Canadian industrial policy are assessed critically. The conclusion is that the innovation problem in Canada has less to do with capabilities or opportunities, than with recent tendencies not to follow through when ambitious innovation initiatives in specific industries could be transformed into new national “engines of growth”. T HE C OUNCIL OF C ANADIAN A CADEMIES Ce commentaire soulève des questions sur la mesure dans laquelle les indicateurs mondiaux d’innovation nous permettent de comprendre la dynamique historique de l’innovation au Canada, et sur les orientations futures pour la politique d’innovation canadienne. En se concentrant sur les secteurs de l’automobile et des télécommunications, deux industries canadiennes actuellement en difficulté avec des histoires complètement différentes, certains des principaux succès et erreurs de la politique industrielle canadienne sont évalués de manière critique. La conclusion est que le problème d’innovation au Canada est moins lié aux capacités ou aux opportunités qu’aux tendances récentes à ne pas donner suite lorsque des initiatives d’innovation ambitieuses dans des industries spécifiques pourraient être transformées en nouveaux « moteurs de croissance » nationaux. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-18-5-Hawkins.pdf)