Canada IP Payment Deficit

Canada runs a persistent and growing deficit in intellectual property (IP) payments, meaning Canadian firms pay more to use foreign patents, trademarks, and protected knowledge than they earn from selling Canadian IP abroad. This gap has doubled over the past 20 years despite Canada ranking among the world’s leaders in research capability. The discrepancy suggests that Canada struggles to convert strong research outputs, largely generated through publicly funded institutions, into owned and commercialized IP. This limits the country’s ability to capture the economic value created by its research ecosystem.