Montreal Space Symposium

The international space industry has been increasingly diversifying over the years, emulating business models previously deemed forward-looking. A reflection on current state of affairs highlights business practices adept at scaling growth, opportunities and benefits to nationals of States.

For example, the economical inflow from Luxembourg: Law on Use of Resources in Space is enabling platforms for international cooperation not only amid industries, but also through its government-led mandate which recognizes the impact of propagating its regulatory reform through partnerships with other heads of States. Except for the United States, no other country has yet levelled its efforts to empower its economy to comparable lengths by focusing on policy frameworks. These are likely to be major precursors for strong economic development, intellectual property and technology transfer. Canada has, in recent years, deployed its Innovation Superclusters Initiative and the Strategic Innovation Funds under the overarching umbrella program: Innovation and Skills Plan. With the Budget 2018, $11.5M funding was designated to look at regulatory reforms with an initial focus in key sectors such as agri-food and emerging technologies, with space explicitly absent from this list. With the program’s focus aspiring to seek benefits for Canadians ranging from rural communities to establishing Canada at the forefront of innovation, the scope and terminology is likely to confound the public. To align space into these conversations, it is imperative to leverage a familiar tone that not only connects with Canadians, but that is also in-line with young entrepreneurs/early start-ups and the mandates of federal programs referred therein.

With the ambiguity that the Canadian space sector faces today and the ongoing reformatory conversations within the Government, future discussions must retrace Canadian impacts in space technology development, while simultaneously showcasing its accomplishments. This was most recently recognized in the Patents in Space report published by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). Most importantly perhaps, Canada stands to lose its prominence in the G7 group while potentially jeopardizing its heritage: the third country in Space, after the Soviet Union and the US. A new paradigm of public-private partnerships offers a pathway capable of reconciling Canadian priorities highlighted above, and therefore serves as an urgent call for Canada to act upon and align its priorities for the space industry.

Panel as part of the track entitled "SGAC: #NextGen Canada" - Developed by the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC).