Stop trying to grow the economy on a hunch

Stop trying to grow the economy on a hunch

As the government sets about designing a new innovation agenda, the case for evidence-based decision-making in innovation policy is urgent

OTTAWA–Canada can’t expect to improve its economic growth without a better understanding of who is responsible for growth.

At a conference in Ottawa last fall, where speakers included Finance Minister Bill Morneau, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains and growth council chair Dominic Barton, a challenge was laid on the table. We live in a low-growth world and Canada is not immune. We’ve experienced sluggish growth for much of the past decade and our gross domestic product growth rate is not predicted to breach the coveted three per cent mark without bold action now.

So what do we do?

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