Category: original essay

An article published this month in Science and Public Policy makes the startling claim that “between 74 and 90 per cent of total spending on support for business research and development (R&D) each year since 2000” has been distributed not as one would expect by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), but by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program is one of the most generous tax incentives in the world, providing “more than $3 Billion” annually, according to its website.  Viewed under this lens, programs like the Strategic Innovation Fund…

Link to Globe and Mail website: Ontario needs a fresh approach to boost startup investing and close its innovation gap – The Globe and Mail Seven years ago, there was a lot of hand-wringing over Ontario’s heavily service-based economy and the “innovation gap.” In the flush of promise-making that preceded the 2011 provincial elections, the Ontario Liberal party pledged a tax credit to investors in homegrown tech startups. The details were vague, but the general idea was that investors would receive a 35-per-cent tax credit on eligible startup investments – or something to that effect. It doesn’t matter, because nothing…