Examples of Ontario innovation

There are world-class scientific breakthroughs taking place in our own backyard. Breakthroughs that will undoubtedly help build our economy and improve the quality of life throughout our province.
Over twenty stories of Ontario research innovation have been chronicled in Using Our Heads. And the organizations behind these stories, continue to push forward - exploring new opportunities and taking on new challenges - each and every day.


Q In 2003 you gave a speech at the opening of MaRS where you pointed out how disappointing Canada's spending on R&D was and how we had to end the old pattern of "invent in Canada and produce elsewhere." Five years later how are we doing?
A I think there's been an acceptance of the importance of these issues by everyone - government, academia and the business community. And this has made things better. For example, MaRS has turned into a wonderful strategic initiative for bringing people and ideas together. And we're making progress also in the venture capital area with new pockets of dollars like the Ontario Venture Capital Fund in which RBC is a partner. But I guess everything has to have a "but". There clearly is more work to be done.
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Canada dropped from first place to fourth place between 1998 and 2007 based on the United Nations' assessment of the best countries in which to live. In its most recent analysis, the Conference Board of Canada gave Canada a score of "D" in innovation, ranking it 13 out of 17 countries.