Canada has long been celebrated as a nation of thinkers, researchers, and inventors. Our universities rank among the world’s best, our scientists publish groundbreaking research, and our labs produce discoveries that reshape industries.
And yet, time and again, the same frustrating pattern emerges:
We invent the technology.
Other countries build the industry.
They get the jobs, the wealth, and the global leadership.
Canada gets the citation in the footnote.
After three recent interviews I conducted with clean‑tech pioneer Greg Vezina, columnist and professor Neil Seeman, and bioethics and science‑policy expert Professor Peter Singer, the problem became impossible to ignore. Canada doesn’t lack creativity. We lack conversion. We generate world‑class ideas, but fail to turn them into world‑class businesses.
Peter Singer put it bluntly: “Canada has one of the strongest science systems in the world… but the weakest link between discovery and economic impact.”
He’s right. Canadian researchers created the lipid nanoparticle technology behind mRNA vaccines — a trillion‑dollar global innovation — but the wealth creation happened in Germany and the United States. Canadian scientists contributed to GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs, now transforming global health. Again, the economic upside left our borders.
This isn’t a failure of talent. It’s a failure of culture and structure. Innovation requires risk‑taking, scale‑up capital, and entrepreneurship. Too often, Canadian breakthroughs are sold early instead of being scaled at home.
Neil Seeman reminded me that genuine innovation isn’t born on glossy conference stages. It happens in conversations, collaborations, arguments, pivots, and collisions of ideas. It’s messy, social, and communal. This “Power of Co” — cooperation, connection, and collective problem‑solving — is something Canadians excel at. But we haven’t built the ecosystems that turn creativity into commercial power.
Greg Vezina is working on what may be the biggest Canadian energy breakthrough in a generation:
• Ammonia as the real pathway to global hydrogen adoption
• Micro‑production systems that decentralize fuel and fertilizer
• Photochemical reactors that crack methane into hydrogen and ethylene using only light
• Hydrogen at nine cents a kilogram, not nine dollars
• Zero‑carbon petrochemicals
• A re‑wiring of the economics of global energy
This is Canadian invention at its finest — bold, disruptive, globally scalable. But Greg also warned: “Without leadership — capital, companies, universities pulling together — Canada will lose this to China, Europe, or the U.S.”
Neil Seeman captured our structural flaw: Canada keeps exporting innovators because we never built the ecosystems they need. Innovation requires anchor companies — domestic giants that mentor startups, acquire them, scale them, and keep intellectual property in the country. Israel has them. Germany has them. Korea has them. The U.S. has dozens. Canada has almost none.
The global innovation race is accelerating:
• China has launched a “photochemistry Manhattan Project.”
• Europe is pouring billions into ammonia and hydrogen.
• The U.S. is using the IRA and CHIPS Act to make itself the most attractive place on earth to scale clean tech and advanced manufacturing.
And Canada? We’re writing strategy documents. But strategy documents don’t build companies. They don’t capture intellectual property. They don’t create global champions. Only bold action does.
Across all three interviews, the same seven solutions kept coming up — a national “to‑do list” that is neither radical nor complicated:
1. Invest heavily in basic science — breakthroughs begin with curiosity.
2. Take equity, not just provide grants — taxpayers should share in the upside.
3. Grow anchor companies — help Canadian firms scale into global champions.
4. Attract entrepreneurial scientists — not just thinkers, but builders.
5. Create ecosystems of collaboration — the Power of Co.
6. Commercialize the technology we invent — especially in energy, photochemistry, AI, and clean materials.
7. Keep IP in Canada — stop exporting our most valuable assets.
Each of my guests said some version of the same truth:
Canada has the creativity.
Canada has the science.
Canada has the people.
What we lack is boldness.
The next decade will determine the winners of the 21st‑century economy. Those who scale innovation will lead. Those who hesitate will fall behind. The opportunity is here. The technology is here. The talent is here.
The only remaining question is whether Canada — finally — chooses to lead.
Tune in to Brian Crombie, host of The Brian Crombie Hour, at www.briancrombie.com or on all major podcast platforms.
Photo: OLM Staff
