There is plenty of evidence that economies of the future will be increasingly reliant on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent. In Canada, we are doing a reasonable job of producing STEM talent, although this is in jeopardy due to chronic underfunding of universities; however, retention is a major problem. Canada should be concerned with losing STEM talent, AKA a brain drain, not only as a problem in itself, but also as a symptom of a larger problem that has existed for longer than many realize.
Perhaps it started with the Avro Arrow. In the 1950s, Canada had the chutzpah and ambition to develop a supersonic interceptor jet aircraft that was the most advanced of its type in the world. Although by all accounts a complete success, the program was cancelled in 1959, with many of the Avro engineers eventually contributing to the Apollo program in the US. This provides a striking example of the connection between scaled-down national ambition and brain drain.
Canada also had a world-class rocketry program in the 1950s—the Black Brant rocket, still used by NASA today, came out of that effort. Canada was also the fourth country in the world to operate a satellite, with the Alouette 1 launched from the US in 1962. Although many Canadian aerospace companies currently compete successfully internationally, such as Bombardier, MDA Space, Pratt & Whitney Canada, and CAE, their success results more from the technical excellence of their engineers than from any national technology strategy or ambition.
Canada’s current limited ambitions in technology development are partially caused by our proximity to the US. Global capitalism and associated offshoring also contributed to the decline of manufacturing in Canada. Another factor is our abundance of natural resources, which enables the country to remain prosperous despite its weak industrial performance. Canada’s largest companies reflect this, as they are dominated by services and natural resources.