Canada's R&D; Leadership in Information & Communications Technologies
How to Act on Canada's R&D; Advantage

Any ICT company, large or small, that conducts R&D in the ICT industry needs to have a presence in Canada's R&D community. Here is what is drawing companies to Canada. The reason is simple:

• Large multinationals are anxious to take advantage of Canada's large pool of innovative R&D talent
• All companies can dramatically reduce R&D costs and access stable, highly qualified talent, not readily available in the US
• Small and medium-sized companies, headquartered outside North America can use Canada as an affordable springboard to build up an R&D presence in North America.

Companies making R&D investments in Canada appreciate the lack of red tape in setting up a business in Canada. These companies can immediately access a highly experienced, well-educated R&D community, supported by one of the world's best university systems. The existing talent pool can be supplemented by taking advantage of Canada's immigration policies that let companies fast track the entry of skilled professionals from around the world ... with no visa quotas.

The net effect - Canada offers Information & Communications Technology companies one of the best and least expensive R&D environments in the industrial world.

How Others Are Doing It
Most ICT companies that establish R&D operations in Canada start by setting up an initial lab. This is sometimes done in collaboration with a university or other partner, or through a strategic acquisition.

The resulting positive exposure to Canada's supportive R&D climate, typically leads to a significant expansion of R&D workforce in Canada. In some cases, like Cisco and Ericsson, the increase in R&D investment is rapid and dramatic. Sweden's Ericsson has grown its R&D staff significantly in Canada and Cisco is constructing a multi-building campus to eventually house its growing number of R&D practitioners.

These global technology leaders, along with many others, discover they can quickly find all the R&D expertise they need in Canada. Their experience in Canada stands in contrast to other jurisdictions where qualified R&D personnel are scarce, salaries are astronomical and turnover rates are high.

Once established as part of Canada's R&D community, companies are able to take advantage of the cross-Canada university network and related Centres of Excellence. All of these companies, in turn, are well integrated with their U.S., European and Asian counterparts. They gain full access to the global R&D community from a more affordable and stable base.

While there are a number of ways to act on Canada's R&D advantage, here are a few easy steps that will produce a high return on R&D investment:

• Set up or acquire a core R&D lab (the Canadian government welcomes acquisitions that are retained and built up in Canada).
• Establish a connection with a Canadian university or other R&D institution. Many companies fund a Research Chair in their area of interest, or help the institution acquire R&D equipment or infrastructure
• Participate in one or more National Centres of Excellence.
• Contract with the National Research Council, or other national or provincial R&D agencies, for R&D in an area of mutual interest
• Use the CANARIE optical broadband network as a test-bed for next generation R&D
• Partner with a Canadian company or contract for its R&D services (tax credits apply).
• Take advantage of Canada's generous R&D tax credits from the federal and provincial governments for direct and contract R&D activities in Canada.
• Use Canada's fast-track immigration program to bring in required specialists from any location in the world, without visa quota (spouses are allowed to work, as well).
• Reinvest the matching funds and tax credits to carry out additional R&D in Canada (this reinvestment will also be eligible for tax credits).

Multinationals including IBM, Ericsson, Cisco, Nortel, Sybase, Lucent, Nokia, Harris, Motorola and thousands of Canadian companies, many of whom are potential partners, have learned how to use Canada's R&D advantage to improve their international competitiveness.