This is the first time engineering faculties in Canada have formally put in place a national platform to address the need for trained postgraduate engineers. The need was highlighted in a recent labor market report by Engineers Canada, which revealed a troubling imbalance in the Canadian economy. The economy of the future will be driven by innovation and knowledge. Research and development to fuel innovation is largely conducted by postgraduate degree holders, yet Canada lags seriously in producing them. According to the OECD’s 2009 science, technology and industry scoreboard, the fraction of the population graduating with a PhD in any field places Canada at 27th spot in the world, behind almost every other industrialized country and with rates less than half of the major European competitors. Of these PhDs, a relatively smaller fraction is in engineering than is typical of all peer nations.

Canadian technology, entertainment and communications companies aren't spending as much money on innovation as their counterparts in other countries, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The study suggests that Canadian firms are slightly more interested in innovation than their international counterparts, with 27% saying of surveyed executives saying that they have an eager appetite for innovation, compared to the international average of 21%, but when to spending that money, Canadian companies are putting it into product development, with 36% in the technology, Many Canadian tech, entertainment and communications lack the structure required to manage innovation, making it systemically challenging to pursue a progressive agenda, and entertainment and communications sectors clarify saying that products were a high priority for innovation, above the global average of 26%.

In Canada, current challenges include finding clean, renewable sources of energy, protecting access to clean water, advancing health care through better-designed information systems and medicines, building safe, livable cities, and ensuring cyber-security for Canadian companies and citizens. So, those interested and passionate about their plan on innovation, approximately 35% say that it is their product innovation as a top priority, that is way above innovation related to customer experience or business models. Unfortunately, almost all companies are under intense pressure from global competition to offer new sources of value in the marketplace, and they cannot readily develop entirely new products and technologies without sustained scientific advancement. The dependence on engineers to translate ideas into tangible products is universal. Unless addressed urgently to satisfy relatively small expert base, Canada could quickly fall behind as a technological leader. So, it is for students to figure out what it is that they want to do and then to become very good at it. A bachelor or graduate level education such as in science, computer science or engineering provides the opportunity to develop this level of expertise, but ultimately the greater payoff will be global competitiveness and engineering advances that improve the human condition and skill.

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