Canada’s research advantage depends on what happens after discovery

By: Gabriel Miller, President and CEO, Universities Canada

This op-ed was published in The Hill Times on September 23, 2026.

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Canada has no shortage of big problems to solve.

We need to raise productivity, strengthen our sovereignty, improve health care, adapt to a changing climate and compete in rapidly advancing fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum science.

Canada’s universities are not only working on all of them. Together, they form a nationwide network of outstanding institutions of different sizes and strengths, rooted in every region of the country and working in both official languages.

University researchers are developing new technologies, treatments and tools that can strengthen our economy and improve Canadians’ lives. In fact, Canadian universities perform approximately $19 billion in research and development each year, among the highest levels in the G7 relative to the size of our economy.

But discovery is only the beginning.

Canada is good at generating ideas and breakthroughs. We need to get better at turning them into impact, without weakening the fundamental research that makes those discoveries possible in the first place.

That distinction matters.

Research is inherently uncertain. We cannot know at the outset which experiment will lead to a new company, which discovery will transform an industry or which line of inquiry will become the foundation for a technology we have not yet imagined.

Commercialization is an important pathway to impact, but it is not the only one. Research can lead to a new product or company. It can also improve clinical practice, inform public policy, strengthen public services or create the knowledge behind the next breakthrough.

The goal should not be to make research more risk-averse in pursuit of commercial outcomes. It should be to protect the conditions that make discovery possible while making it easier for promising ideas to move into use.

That means acting in three areas.

First, protect the foundation.

Canada needs strong, predictable support for investigator-led research. Mission-driven research can help address urgent national priorities, but it depends on a broad base of fundamental discovery. We cannot predict where every breakthrough will come from, which is precisely why researchers need room to pursue ambitious questions.

That foundation also includes people.

Our research advantage begins with Canadian students gaining research experience and continues through graduate study, advanced research and careers in strategically important fields. It also depends on attracting top international students and researchers who bring expertise, ideas and connections to Canada.

The research continuum is also a talent continuum. The people trained in our universities carry knowledge into Canadian companies, governments and communities, helping new ideas spread far beyond campus.

Second, build better pathways from discovery to application.

Too many promising ideas encounter gaps after the initial research is done. Researchers need clearer routes to protect intellectual property, test and demonstrate technologies, work with industry and move discoveries toward adoption or commercialization.

Universities already connect researchers with businesses, entrepreneurs and investors. Canada can make those connections stronger and reduce the institutional and program barriers that cause good ideas to stall between discovery and real-world use.

Third, build Canadian capacity to turn research into results.

This is bigger than university technology transfer.

Canada needs businesses with the capacity to adopt new technologies, entrepreneurs able to build companies around Canadian discoveries and customers willing to put those innovations to work. Government can help create those conditions through procurement, major national projects and stronger connections between research, industry and public priorities.

Defence and dual-use technologies are a clear example. When research, testing, procurement and adoption are better connected, promising Canadian technologies have a stronger chance of being developed and used here, keeping more intellectual property, expertise and economic benefit in Canada.

The same principle applies across the economy.

Canada does not need to choose between curiosity-driven research and practical outcomes, or between academic excellence and economic impact. A strong research system needs both.

We already have the researchers, institutions and ideas.

The opportunity now is to make the entire continuum work better, from the first question a researcher asks to the moment a discovery improves a patient’s life, strengthens a Canadian company or helps solve a national challenge.

If we get that right, the return will be measured in more than patents and startups. It will be seen in better health, stronger companies, skilled people, greater security and a more productive Canada.