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Statistics Canada’s Survey of Innovation 1999 examined
the characteristics of close to 6000 Canadian firms in the manufacturing
sector1 that employed at least 20 people and grossed
more than $250 000 annually. The survey is the latest in
a series of innovation surveys conducted by Statistics Canada
since 1993. Data by size of firm were tabulated specifically for
Industry Canada.
The survey found that small, medium-sized and large firms that
were considered successful innovators — firms that “offered
a new or significantly improved product or a production/manufacturing
process during the past three years (1997–1999)” —
shared similar characteristics. However, both the proportion of
successful innovators and the number of innovative activities
among small firms lag somewhat behind those among larger firms.2
Small firms were defined as those with fewer than 50 employees,
medium-sized firms as those with more than 49 but fewer than 250,
and large firms as those with more than 249 employees.
Table 1 shows that 75 percent of small firms
in manufacturing were successful innovators. However, a larger
proportion of medium-sized firms (82 percent) and large firms
(88 percent) innovated successfully. Innovative small firms
also trailed medium-sized and large firms in terms of the number
of innovation activities performed. On average, small firms performed
3.42 innovation activities, whereas medium-sized and large
firms performed 3.9 and 4.29 innovation activities respectively.
Firms innovate to improve product quality and production capacity
as well as to extend product range. The most common sources of
information for innovation are management and production staff,
trade fairs and exhibitions, and clients and suppliers. Federal/provincial
agencies and research laboratories, and universities and colleges,
are among the sources used least often.
The survey cites the following four major barriers to innovation:
the inability to devote staff to projects on an ongoing basis;
the high cost of development; lack of skilled personnel; and lack
of financing. Government regulation is relatively low on the list
of impediments to innovation.
The Innovation Policy Branch of Industry Canada is currently preparing
a research paper, slated for publication in fall 2002, in
which the survey data will be analyzed in greater detail.
____________
1 Selected natural resources industries were also surveyed
but the results are not presented here. More details on the survey
can be found in Schaan and Anderson (2001), Innovation in Canadian
Manufacturing: National Estimates, Cat. No. 88F0006XIE01010,
Statistics Canada.
2 Innovation activities are R&D; acquisition of
machinery, equipment or other technology; industrial engineering
and industrial design; tooling up and production start-up; and
training.
| Table 1: The Incidence and
Frequency of Innovation Activities by Firm Size, Canada |
|
| |
Small (20–49 Employees) |
Medium (50–249 Employees) |
Large (250+ Employees) |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Incidence (%) |
Frequency |
Incidence (%) |
Frequency |
Incidence (%) |
Frequency |
|
| Successful Innovators |
75 |
3.42 |
82 |
3.9 |
88 |
4.29 |
| Unsuccessful Innovators |
8 |
2.3 |
7 |
2.32 |
6 |
N/A* |
| Non-innovators |
17 |
— |
11 |
— |
7 |
— |
|
Source: Statistics Canada, Survey
of Innovation 1999, special tabulation for Industry Canada.
*Estimates with poor reliability because of high sampling
errors were suppressed.
Note: The percentages may not add up to one hundred because
of rounding. |
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Small Business Research and Policy
