Canada cannot afford a knowledge recession

As countries around the world continue to grapple with new dangers presented by COVID-19, Canada must also work to stave off a danger of a different kind: a knowledge recession. Last year ended with more hope than we have had in a while. With vaccines starting to roll out, it was possible to imagine a future free of the virus and start thinking about projects that jumpstart job creation and a faster recovery. As we think about those immediate projects, we must not forget to invest in our future. At stake is the growth of generations of Canadians to come and the breakthroughs that will define our way of life. During my tenure teaching and leading at the University of Waterloo for more than a decade, I’ve seen the pressure downturns can place on governments and post-secondary. As we move forward, we must strike a balance between confronting the daily challenges of a downturn with ensuring Canada’s long-term success built on innovation. Every time we do this, we are better prepared to manage the waves of the economic challenge. Go big on the building blocks Governments and businesses must be ready and willing to invest in the fundamental and applied research of new ideas to solve our ever-evolving challenges. Aside from the longer-term payoffs to supporting research, innovation, and entrepreneurship, there are dramatic short- and medium-term economic benefits. Consider the COVID-19 vaccines. In the case of BioNTech, scientists developed their vaccine using mRNA technology that was developed to create treatments for immunotherapeutic cancer drugs. The journey towards this vaccine started decades ago. Innovation is a pipeline, and we must be willing to fund the start of that pipeline. In addition to research, it is also imperative that we don’t let up on making the educational possibilities of all our students a reality, no matter the economic challenges of the day. In Canada, for every year of schooling a person completes, their earnings rise by 10 per cent a year, according to a report from the World Bank. This type of growth is hard to ignore from a personal or policy level. Standing behind the growth of our citizens means supporting the fundamental access and investment in allowing those who want to learn to have access and opportunity to do so. Policy makers could consider several tools, including the expansion of low-interest student loans, dedicated grants, and bursaries to low-income and marginalized students to cover tuition and the cost of books, computers and living expenses. Whichever measures are used, we must work to avoid a knowledge recession for some and an era of prosperity for others. Education is a tremendous equalizer—we must ensure there is equal opportunity to that education regardless of gender, race or the student’s financial standing. Finding ways to level the playing field will elevate new ideas and new perspectives that we need more than ever. It’s not just about what the government can do, either. Private industry is playing an enormous part in our recovery. Businesses need to better understand and find solutions to problems they are facing. While companies have accelerated their digital transformations that had begun before the pandemic, leaders need to recognize that reskilling and retraining their current workforces is only part of the equation. We need our industry leaders to keep an eye on creation of new knowledge and innovations that can spur growth. This is the intersection where businesses, and transformative higher education institutions meet to confidently work together by utilizing the combination of skills of top tier researchers, facilities, and industry knowledge to build the future. Reimagine modern education For institutes of higher learning, this year can also be an opportunity to reimagine how a modern education can address these challenges. Expansion of technology is already changing how and where we teach and learn. We were already headed in this direction pre-COVID, but the pandemic has only sped up this movement. The expansion of needs from health-technology developments, advanced manufacturing and improved infrastructure for a greener society are pressing global challenges in need of creative, complex solutions. The human capital we need as a nation to seize these opportunities run across industries and post-secondary institutions. They must be able to hit the ground running. Not in 18 months—now. With initiatives like the broad adoption of work-integrated learning, exploration of hybrid teaching models, expansion of interdisciplinary programs and the development of a nationwide entrepreneurial ecosystem, Canada stands to lead the next decade. Now is the time to invest in that future and the teaching and learning that make it possible. Not just for growth over the next month, the next quarter or the next fiscal year, but for generations to come. Feridun Hamdullahpur is president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. The Hill Times