Former Minister of Tourism Soraya Martinez Ferrada, left, is given a tour of the biomedical labs at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal by professor Gregory de Crescenzo on May 6.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Peter Zandstra, CM, is the director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Biomedical Engineering and a fellow in the Multiscale Human program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
I just got off another call with a colleague – a leader in immunology at a top U.S. institution – who is exploring whether they and their family might seek “scientific asylum” in Canada.
This is one example of the conversations I and other Canadian academics are having with talented scientists and engineers eager to make Canada their home. They want to come not only to escape the chaos and uncertainty emerging in U.S. science but also because they are drawn to the energy, and the scientific and educational frontiers, we are working to build across Canada.
The instability in the U.S. gives Canada an opportunity to assert international leadership in science, engineering, and health innovation. To do that, we need to create the conditions for (re)patriating the experienced talent that wants to be here. The right policy and funding changes can lock in a national health technology innovation ecosystem – one that will benefit us for generations.
This is not an abstract academic discussion. Scientific discoveries and technological advances form the backbone of economies and health systems. A direct line can be drawn from Toronto’s groundbreaking discovery of insulin to the GDP of Denmark. Further, it’s deeply concerning that Canadians still face barriers to accessing cutting-edge healthcare – especially when some of these advances originate from discoveries made here.
At its core, our challenge is simple: Health tech scientists and innovators want to call Canada home and to develop, test, and deploy their technologies here. Doing this well will give these technologies a competitive advantage in international markets.
So how do we retain our best minds, attract accomplished scientists and innovators, and build a thriving health innovation society? The answer lies in bold, strategic reforms that must be urgently catalyzed by today’s global uncertainties.
First of all, we need to fuel the brain gain of returning talent. Simply adding more talent without bolstering the foundational support for scientific discovery is risky. Our science needs stable, long-term funding to sustain a dynamic discovery pipeline. Beyond investing in current discovery programs, we must double down on nationally aligned initiatives that emphasize strategic collaboration, co-ordinated resource allocation, and shared infrastructure.
We need to be an equal or leading partner in multinational initiatives – beyond symbolic participation. Canada can replicate success stories such as the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research’s artificial intelligence programs. These efforts attracted and retained world-class talent, including Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton, positioning Canada as a leader in AI. Doing this in health will have both health and welfare benefits.
Secondly, we need to better incentivize private and global investment in our science. Canada should introduce policies and tax incentives that reward companies and investors for backing research and development – particularly in high-impact fields such as biotechnology and medical technology.
We must take a transactional approach to these initiatives. By tying R&D investment more closely to tangible gains for Canada, we can build an innovation ecosystem with staying power. Countries that have scaled their innovation economies have done so by reducing financial risks while harnessing the transformative discoveries that come from venturing into uncertainty.
Thirdly, we need to integrate health technology into our “Buy Canadian” programs. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains and underscored the need for a robust domestic manufacturing capacity in health technologies. Prioritizing Canadian-made supplies, reagents, diagnostics, and therapeutics is not just about pandemic preparedness – it is a strategic imperative for the autonomy of our health care system.
Ensuring that our researchers, innovators, and health care providers have access to technologies – manufactured by both established and emerging Canadian companies – bolsters national security, strengthens our industrial base, and invigorates the innovation ecosystem in our cities.
Lastly, we need national policy and regulatory frameworks that support health innovation. Without regulatory and policy frameworks that encourage – or even mandate – the adoption of Canadian technology, our work risks flowing out of the country before it is ready to compete internationally.
Our regulatory environment must facilitate streamlined, rigorous safety and efficacy testing to ensure the efficient deployment of new products, therapies, and diagnostics nationwide – irrespective of provincial barriers. By leveraging our full population and our public health systems for testing, development, and deployment, we can retain jobs and position our innovations for global success.
As we consider new national leadership, let’s ensure science and engineering are recognized as foundational to Canada’s future. Whatever changes may unfold in the U.S., reforms to transform our approach to science and technology development will position Canada as a more equal – or even leading – partner in the future. We have a rare opportunity to invest in a future where Canadian innovation thrives, our talent flourishes, and Canada and its GDP benefits from its science and technology.