Two recent articles offer a hopeful message about Canadian productivity and entrepreneurship.
In “How Canada Rocket Company Plans to Fill a Void Left by SpaceX,” Yvonne Lau describes a Canadian startup developing a medium-lift rocket capable of carrying 12,000 kilograms into low-Earth orbit. Canada Rocket Company has raised $22.5 million, attracted Canadian investors and brought Canadian specialists home from SpaceX, Blue Origin and ArianeGroup.
The Economist’s “Forget Airbus and Boeing. Embraer Is Soaring” presents another side of the same story. Brazil’s Embraer expects to deliver up to 255 aircraft this year, has accumulated a record US$34.5-billion backlog and may eventually challenge Airbus and Boeing in larger commercial aircraft.
Embraer shows what sustained industrial ambition can achieve. Canada already knows how to create this kind of excellence.
In the 1950s, the Avro Arrow placed Canada at the frontier of aerospace engineering. The Canadian-designed CF-105 was an advanced supersonic interceptor supported by exceptional expertise in aerodynamics, propulsion, electronics and manufacturing.
During Bombardier’s aerospace heyday, Canada produced the Challenger and Global business-jet families, the CRJ regional jet, supported the Dash 8 program and developed the CSeries, now flying internationally as the Airbus A220. These programs demonstrated that Canada could design, certify, manufacture and export sophisticated aircraft while building extensive domestic supply chains.
This is how entrepreneurship improves productivity. It develops skilled workers, suppliers, research capacity, intellectual property and export expertise.
Canada should create an environment where young Canadians and newcomers establish businesses rather than viewing government, banks, large corporations and franchises as their only secure paths.
The measures are practical:
• Remove remaining interprovincial trade barriers.
• Recognize professional licences and product approvals across provinces.
• Simplify business registration and accelerate permits.
• Expand patient capital for commercialization and production.
• Use competitive government procurement to give qualified Canadian technology its first major customer.
• Reward investment in machinery, automation, research and training.
Canada can become much more than the “Saudi Arabia of North America,” known mainly for natural resources. It can transform its resources, talent and immigration into advanced products, productive companies and global champions.
The Arrow and Bombardier proved that Canada can pioneer. Canada Rocket Company reminds us that the next chapter can still be written here.
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