Over the past two decades, Canada has experienced robust growth, boasting the highest population and GDP growth rates of any G7 countries. This growth has been driven by Canada's geographic advantages, including its natural resources, active immigration policies, efforts to promote the development of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI), and strategic international partnerships. However, Canada's relatively small population and low R&D expenditures can obscure its statistical advantages, potentially leading to an underestimation of the true strength of its science, technology, and innovation sectors. In addition to its close physical and linguistic proximity to the U.S. and European countries, the global network established in Canada by immigrants from around the world positions it as a crucial hub for future international brain circulation. This means that Canada could become an increasingly important partner for Japan, making it essential for Japan's international strategy to keep abreast of trends in STI in Canada.

CRDS's previous "Science, Technology and Innovation Trends in Canada" published in 2016 provided an overview of STI trends in Canada at that time. Since then, the environment in which Canada and the international community operate has changed significantly. This includes the rapid development of emerging technologies such as AI and quantum technologies, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the growing demand for clean technologies in response to global warming. In response to these changes, the Canadian government has introduced various new strategies related to STI. In addition, universities, which serve as the foundation of human resources and knowledge, and non-profit organizations deploying diverse talents, including many with advanced academic degrees, have come to play increasingly significant roles in the Canadian innovation ecosystem. Furthermore, fascinating dynamics in regional revitalization have emerged as unique STI ecosystems develop in cities of varying population and economic scales.

By systematically updating our information on these changes and the latest initiatives, we aim to contribute to building better bilateral relationships as well as multilateral collaborations that include Japan and Canada. Additionally, we believe a better understanding of the Canadian STI environment may offer important insights for further developments in our own country. This report has been compiled with these factors in mind. The structure and main contents of this report are as follows.

Chapter 1: Overview
The general situation of Canada, its economic situation, relations with major countries, and unique circumstances.

Chapter 2: Overview of Science, Technology, and Innovation
Quantitative data on the state of Canadian STI and key stakeholders.

Chapter 3: Promoting Science, Technology and Innovation
The historical evolution of Canada's STI policies and current cross-cutting policies including human resource development and retention, creation of world-class research centers and broad research support for academia, support for commercialization, research facilities, services, and funding (research security, open science, research infrastructure, research support funds, and support for third party organizations).

Chapter 4: Policies and initiatives in specific technology areas
AI, quantum technology, biotechnology/healthcare, clean technologies, nuclear, space, and oceans/arctic.

Chapter 5: Perspectives of STI Policy
International strategies and collaborations (Indo-Pacific Strategy, collaborations with Japan, U.S., the European Union, and individual European and African countries, as well as projects promoting international collaborations), STI characteristics by region, and equity, diversity and inclusion, including indigenous peoples.

Chapter 6: Summary

We hope that this report will contribute to a deeper understanding of Canada's STI activities and help Japan move forward into the future.

Unless otherwise noted, the content of this report is based on information as of the end of December 2024.

• (in Japanese) Science, Technology and Innovation Trends in Canada