The COVID-19 crisis is exposing the shortcomings of Canada's economy, particularly when it comes to supply chains and the development of value-added products that would keep the country competitive, innovation experts say.
Dan Breznitz, the co-director of the innovation policy lab at the University of Toronto, said he expects global trade in raw commodities to decline as the novel coronavirus makes it more difficult to move people and goods around the world.
"The issues that we see today around and getting stuff out of China is all illustrative of the fact that our economy, to some extent, has been totally submerged into other countries in terms of supply chains," he said. Breznitz said Canada lacks policies aimed at creating more small- and medium-sized enterprises and then helping them grow, particularly when it comes to access to capital in the early stages before investments from venture capitalists.
He said the federal government should provide targeted grants and loans directly to entrepreneurs and companies, rather than funnel money into more innovation "superclusters," accelerators and incubators.
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