Staying at the cutting edge takes foresight. Canadian researchers have that in spades.

If you’re seeking inspiration — and who couldn’t use a little positivity these days? — you can find it in the solutions researchers are actively applying to many of the challenges we’re facing in Canada. 

Staying at the cutting edge takes foresight. I’ve been in the business of research for three decades and it still impresses me how savvy researchers are to where the country is heading, and how precisely they have their fingers on the pulse of what matters most to Canadians. While I am impressed, it shouldn’t surprise me, since insight is a crucial part of their job. 

Take affordable housing, for example. We’ve got researchers perfecting technologies to 3D-print residences from concrete. These structures are 30 to 40 percent faster to build than wood constructions, produce 60 percent less waste and are more resistant to extreme weather, fire and mould, so they stand the test of time. 

Others are figuring out how to use robots on building sites to help close the labour gap crippling Canada’s construction industry. While another lab is finding ways to incorporate Canadian timber into multistorey constructions. Together, these innovations can make sure the housing boom Canada so badly needs also reflects the most current technologies in the industry.

How about food security? Researchers are making our agri-food sector more resilient to climate change and shifting export markets through things like new plant varieties and precision farming techniques, innovative farming equipment and efficient food processing. 

Manufacturing will never be the same, and that’s in part due to breakthrough technologies that modernize production capabilities to give Canadian factories an edge. This includes things like additive manufacturing, which is faster, cheaper, less wasteful and more versatile than traditional machining. Before ideas like this hit the factory floor, a lot of the development work starts in research labs at universities and colleges.

To be the superpower Canada aims to be, we need energy solutions that reduce emissions from oil and gas and we need more efficient technologies for capturing renewable sources of energy and better batteries to store it. All that takes investigation and innovation, and there are thousands of researchers on the case across the country.

And then there’s the top-of-mind subject of defence, an industry that has always been deeply intertwined with the forefront of innovation and technology development. In this sector, researchers are working on additive manufacturing to produce repair parts for our submarines, new approaches to surveillance, especially in the North and along our coasts, through specialized drones as well as over-the-horizon radar systems, and pinpointing how to stay one step ahead of cyber hackers targeting our critical infrastructure, to name a few.

These research endeavours didn’t launch the minute these issues entered the public consciousness. Many of them have been underway for years, even decades, and it’s a good thing too, because research and innovation take time and sustained investment. 

So we have a lot to be proud of — even grateful for — in Canada when it comes to research. The investments Canada has made in research over the years, and the commitments undertaken by thousands of talented researchers have positioned us to have at our fingertips the technologies that will help make the changes we need to see in Canada.

This article was originally published in The Globe and Mail on November 21, 2025.

This article is also available in French on our website. Since that version has been edited by and for the media outlet that originally published it, it is not a literal translation.