Last Updated: March 31, 2026
This article was written by Alyssa Kelly (Director, Research, Foresight Canada), Timothy Bailey (Partner, Gowling WLG), and Jeffrey Coles (Partner, Gowling WLG).
Foresight acknowledges and thanks Gowling WLG as a valuable research partner to this piece.
We also thank the Innovation Asset Collective for their insights.
Other publications in this series: "Outsourcing R&D Challenges Part 1: Navigating the Innovation Paradox"
The first article in this series covers how in-house R&D can be a huge benefit for companies looking to gain a competitive advantage, and how outsourcing can impact businesses looking to scale.
Strong IP Ownership is Key to Canada’s Productivity
While outsourcing research and development (R&D) offers Canadian resource companies short-term flexibility, it often comes at a steep long-term cost: the loss of intellectual property (IP) and trade-secret knowledge.
In this second installment of our series on R&D challenges, we partnered with Gowling WLG and the Innovation Asset Collective (IAC) to explore why the current "external innovation" model is contributing to Canada’s lagging productivity and stagnant standards of living. Conversely, we examine the immense opportunity for Canada to reverse this trend: by securing IP ownership, domestic firms can transition from technology consumers to global exporters, anchoring high-value jobs, sovereign wealth, and long-term industrial competitiveness on home soil.
Key insights in this report include:
The "Freedom to Operate" (FTO) Risk: How low IP ownership limits a company’s ability to scale, enter new markets, and attract investment.
The Hidden Loss of Trade Secrets: Why the "leakage" of knowledge during outsourced projects can be more detrimental than losing a patent.
The Productivity Gap: An analysis of Canada’s innovation paradox—ranking high in research inputs but struggling to translate those ideas into commercial success.
Impact on Technology Adoption: Why treating technology as an expense rather than an asset creates a "circular cause and effect" that hinders industrial growth.
Strategic Solutions: A framework for shift-to-strategic partnerships that protect core Canadian innovations while allowing resource giants to remain competitive.
Download the full report to discover how Canadian companies can move from being net technology consumers to global innovation leaders.
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