OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 25, 2025 /CNW/ - Canada's intellectual property landscape reveals a mix of inventive strengths and weaknesses across 35 key technology areas, according to new research from The Conference Board of Canada.
"Intellectual property is a key driver of innovation, freedom to operate and economic growth," said Alain Francq, Director, Innovation & Technology at The Conference Board of Canada. "Patents provide clues to where we have unique Canadian inventive strengths and protected global advantage. To keep pace with global innovation leaders, we need to create innovation strategies in areas where we are strong and can succeed globally. This report maps out that advantage."
The study assesses Canada's performance compared to global counterparts across 35 key technology areas using patent data to measure technological specialization and competitiveness. Results show that Canada holds leading inventive strength in 10 technology areas and five more in emerging areas. These strengths are concentrated in conventional and knowledge-intensive sectors.
However, while Canada demonstrates strength in select areas, we're falling behind in many others. Inventive strength is slipping in seven areas and lagging in 13 more. These weaknesses cut across sectors and point to structural gaps in Canada's innovation ecosystem, including relevant talent, research capability, anchor firms, and capital.
Canada's strongest areas of specialization include civil engineering, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. In these fields, Canada holds, as a share of its total patent portfolio, 1.5 times or more patents than the global average. Meanwhile, Canada shows the highest degree of competitiveness in engines and turbines, nanotechnology, and thermal processes, where patent growth significantly outpaced the global average between 2012 and 2022.
Despite these strengths, Canadian innovators' path to commercialization is constrained by structural inefficiencies. Patent ownership in Canada is notably fragmented, with fewer patents per owner across all technology fields and significantly fewer firms holding large patent portfolios. This distributed ownership structure limits firms' freedom to operate and introduces obstacles to scaling innovation in the marketplace.
While Canada's sectoral priorities are well aligned with inventive strengths in clean technology, resource-based sectors, and life sciences, we need stronger alignment in advanced manufacturing, agri-food, and digital technology-AI. These disconnects represent missed opportunities in sectors that have already demonstrated market value.
Addressing these challenges will require targeted policy interventions and programs aimed at scaling domestic patent portfolios, strengthening commercialization pathways, and better aligning sectoral priorities with inventive strengths. Without deliberate action to reverse these declines, Canada risks falling further behind in the global innovation economy.
About The Conference Board of Canada
The Conference Board of Canada is the country's leading independent research organization. Since 1954, The Conference Board of Canada has been providing research that supports evidence-based decision making to solve Canada's toughest problems. Follow The Conference Board of Canada on Twitter @ConfBoardofCda.
SOURCE Conference Board of Canada
Media Contact: The Conference Board of Canada, E-mail: [email protected], Tel: 613-526-3090 ext. 224
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