Canada and the EU are engaged in a strong historical partnership - willing to be reinforced by the recent Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), signed by both parts on October 30th, 2016.

Canada has developed a large and promising cluster & supercluster community, supported by ambitious governmental policies in favour of research and innovation. Key sectors: advanced manufacturing, clean technologies and energies, digital economy, agri-food, health and bio-sciences. The Canadian government has decided to concentrate its action by supporting the five superclusters thanks to a $950 million CAD investment for 5 years, as of 2018.

Economic and political context and framework

Canada is considered as one of the most attractive countries in terms of business environment, with an easy access to business investments, in a particularly stable political context. The current government, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is looking towards strong policies to support research and innovation, in high value-added sectors such as advanced manufacturing, agri-food, clean technologies and digital industries.

Cluster community in the country

Essentially based in the provinces of Ontario and Québec, some of the largest Canadian clusters could be considered as “superclusters”, such as Toronto Waterloo Corridor, Ontario Aerospace Council or Toronto region’s Human Health & Sciences cluster. In Québec, the Montréal’s Metropolitan clusters is a huge cluster network strongly advanced in the field of cluster policy and firmly international-looking.

In addition, there are five superclusters, funded at the federal level on strategic domains, as the result of the Innovation Superclusters Initiative. The five superclusters are the following: the Digital Supercluster, the Protein Supercluster, the Artificial Intelligence Supply Chain Supercluster, the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster and the Ocean Supercluster. A cluster data base is available on the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity’s website, and the related mapping currently under construction. The Institute has listed a total of 67 clusters around the country.

Cluster policies encouraging the development and internationalisation of clusters

Mainly driven by the ambitious Innovation & Skills Pan, a governmental program launched in March 2017, and the new Global Markets Action Plan, cluster policies are also supported by Innovation Canada, with a $50 million CAD contribution to research and innovation. Read more...

For the period 2017-2022, the Innovation Superclusters Initiative will be at the heart of cluster policies. This competition providing a $950 million investment budget will help giving an accurate typology of Canadian clusters and superclusters by rewarding few of the best initiatives across the country. Read less.

Cluster to cluster cooperation opportunities and potential interest from European clusters and SMEs

Cluster cooperation between the EU and Canada is not led by a specific bilateral convention, however the enforcement of cooperation policies and an increasing number of bottom-up initiatives contribute to a global collaboration process. International partnerships involving businesses are already supported by local initiatives, such as the Enterprise Canada Network, or European ones, like the Enterprise Europe Network.

Read more...

Also, the International Cleantech Network should be mentioned, as one of the main cluster networks specialised in clean technologies. Canada is also targeted by a number of European Strategic Cluster Partnerships – Going International (ESCPs-4i) within their internationalization strategy, in sectors like agri-food, health and bio-sciences, clean technologies and transportation.

. In these sectors, some success stories deserve to be mentioned, such as the Skywin and Aero Montréal collaboration (aerospace) or the Alsace BioValley and MEDTEQ partnership (healthcare). Read less.

Key Facts

Capital: Ottawa

Population: 36,155,487 (2016)

Total area: 9,984,670 km2

GDP per capita: $46,199 (2016)

Gross domestic product: $1.672 trillion (2016)

Currency: Canadian dollar (CAD)

Documentation

Events

Join events to learn about the cluster policy and meet peers from this country
Date Event Target Event Type
27 May 2021 EU-Canada Tech Business Day SME Webinar
17 February 2021 CETA and Intellectual property rights webinar SME Webinar
08 February 2021 CETA programme webinar on trading with Canada for EU SMEs Cluster managers, Investors, SME Webinar
28 October 2020 Canadian Superclusters Showcase Cluster managers, SME Webinar
30 September 2020 Trade and investment opportunities in Alberta, Canada Cluster managers, SME Webinar

Achievements

We are currently scouting for relevant information on this topic

ESCP-4i News

Stay updated with the news from the European Cluster Partnership for Internationalisation

ESCP-4is targetting this country

Acronym Name Technology Fields Sectoral Industries Targeted third countries No. of SME involved No. of Partners Sort descending
METASTARS METASTARS / METAcluster Support Towards a more resilient AeRospace and defence ecosystem / EUROCLUSTERS initiative
Manufacturing:C30 Manufacture of other transport equipment
Transportation and storage:H51 Air transport
Japan, Canada
GEMSTONE GEMSTONE - Green Manufacturing supporting recovery and resilience of industrial SMEs
Manufacturing:C28 Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
Manufacturing:C32 Other manufacturing
United States, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Viet Nam, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Cambodia
CircInWater Boosting the triple transitions through innovative water-smart solutions
Manufacturing:C10 Manufacture of food products
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities:E36 Water collection, treatment and supply
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities:E38 Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery
Canada, United States
SUAVE Stimulating SMEs in new Urban Agriculture Value Chain for sustainable growth in Europe
Agriculture, forestry and fishing:A01 Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities
Canada, United States, Mexico, Mexico
E-BOOST ElectromoBility for the recOvery and internatiOnalisation of Small enTerprises
B\: Performing operations; transporting:Vehicles in general
B\: Performing operations; transporting:Railways
B\: Performing operations; transporting:Land vehicles for travelling otherwise than on rails
B\: Performing operations; transporting:Ships or other waterborne vessels; related equipment
Manufacturing:C29 Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers
Manufacturing:C30 Manufacture of other transport equipment
Transportation and storage:H49 Land transport and transport via pipelines
Transportation and storage:H50 Water transport
United States, Canada