Analyse géographique des investissements publics nationaux en innovation au Canada et implications pour les écosystèmes entrepreneuriaux régionaux

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the spatial distribution of the Government of Canada innovation investment in various regions and communities across the country. The proposed approach uses open data from Canada’s Proactive Information Disclosure Program. A total of 39,419 valid entries representing $10.8 billion in grants and contributions awarded from 2018 to 2020 are analyzed. Using descriptive statistics, we compare the amounts granted in the provinces, large urban agglomerations, and their respective influenced zones. In particular, we show that the country’s largest urban centers attract the largest share of investment in innovation per capita. Outside large urban centers, public support for innovation is relatively weaker and this difference compared to larger urban centers is statistically significant. These observations have implications for research on attracting public investment in innovation to entrepreneurial ecosystems in a rural environment.