Canadian firms not investing enough for innovation: PwC

Canadian technology companies are struggling with innovation, and many are not making it a priority when it comes to allocating funding or resources.

According to PwC’s most recent Global Innovation Survey, 88% Canadian companies in the technology sector are aiming for at least moderate growth over the next five years, but only 27% have a real appetite for innovation: on average, Canadian businesses are allocating just 7.8% of their revenue ($21 million) to innovation, compared to 10.38% ($111 million) in the UK and 9.64% ($200 million) globally.

According to PwC, the survey results suggest that Canadian businesses are far more likely to rely on the government to fund the innovation programs they do initiate, with half of the respondents in these categories relying on federal and provincial incentives.

Respondents also lack the structures necessary to effectively manage innovation, PwC said. And, even though Canadian companies are more likely than their global counterparts to think that having innovation structures is important, they are in fact less likely to actually have them in place.

In which area, according to the survey, are companies innovating? Product innovations rank at the top of Canadian businesses’ lists, with 35% indicating this as a high priority, ahead of customer experience (8%) and business models (4%).

“More than 1,707 executives from around the globe agree that innovation isn’t just important, it’s essential to staying relevant and competitive in an evolving global market,” PwC said. “Although Canadian companies express a very eager appetite for innovation, they lag behind the world in having some key components necessary for staying ahead of the curve.”