Inclusive Innovation Indicators
Nova Scotia is a dynamic place to live and start a business, with more people deciding to make it their home every year. But in order to keep this growth going, Nova Scotia needs a strong economic strategy that focuses on innovation—and on inclusion.
This strategy for the future needs to consider key questions about Nova Scotia today: Who is participating in, contributing to, benefitting from, and making decisions about Nova Scotia’s society and how wealth is generated? Where has meaningful inclusion happened, and where have efforts fallen short?
The Nova Scotia Inclusive Innovation Monitor draws on data from Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship national project to paint a picture of inclusive innovation in the province, identifying shortfalls, successes and opportunities. This dashboard aims to inform the work of Nova Scotia’s public, private, and nonprofit sector leaders as they seek to build a bright future for all Nova Scotians.
We believe innovation is inclusive when….
Opportunities exist for all people to participate as workers (in good jobs with decent wages and security), entrepreneurs (if they choose), and consumers (with sufficient resources to lead good lives).
Fair distributions of the benefits and harm produced by innovation—including more attention to and management of where and to whom the economic and social gains of innovation and growth flow, and who bears the burden of market failures and negative externalities.
Opportunities for people to participate in decision-making about the priorities, direction, and regulation of innovation.
We look at 3 key pillars when evaluating inclusive innovation:
Which resources or conditions support innovation, and who has access to them? Metrics such as educational attainment, financing, and research provide indications.
Which pursuits and processes foster innovation? Who is participating? Metrics on innovation development, technology adoption, entrepreneurship, and the labour force.
What are the results of innovative activity, and who is benefiting? Metrics include economic output (e.g., GDP), wages, income and wealth distribution, and mobility.
Innovation Monitor Report
Our full report contains over 30+ metrics related to the Opportunities, Activities and Outcomes associated with an inclusive innovation economy. Below are a few we wanted to highlight.
OPPORTUNITIES
Post-Secondary Education Attainment
Nova Scotia has the highest PSE attainment rate in Atlantic Canada, 4th overall in Canada.
Visible minority groups(aged 25 - 34) have a higher attainment rate than non visible minority with the exception of Black-identified Nova Scotians.
Indigenous people in Nova Scotia are less likely to hold a PSE credential than non-Indigenous people, but the difference is less pronounced than nationally.
Research
Nova Scotia has the highest spending on higher education research and development (HERD) of a percentage of GDP of any province or territory and every OECD country.
However in 2013 (the latest data available) Nova Scotia had among the lowest number of researchers per 1000 employed: 4.3 compared to the national rate of 9.1. This difference largely arrives from the lack of researchers in the private sector.
Venture Capital Investment
Canada ranks 3rd in the OECD in venture capital investment, at 0.18% of GDP (2018), behind Israel (0.38%) and the United States (0.55%).
Nova Scotia sits comfortably in the second tier with Ontario and BC.
In 2019, Nova Scotia did not slow down, raising $83.6 million or 0.18% of GDP.
Rural Broadband Access
Access to broadband in Canada is quite concerning, with only 45.6% of those homes accessing speeds over 50 mbps and unlimited data.
Nova Scotia does slightly better at 52.4% of households, coming in 4th among the provinces.
New Brunswick and Quebec have the highest rural coverage at 63.6% and 65.2% respectively.
Summary:
Nova Scotia has strong innovation capacity, with particular strengths in higher education and government research and venture capital investment.
Spending on Higher Education Research and Development as a percentage of GDP not only surpasses the rest of Canada but, the all OECD countries as well.
Venture capital investment is impressive, performing in a similar tier to Ontario and BC over 2016 to 2018, however only a smaller percentage of companies are led by women. Visible minorities receive a negligible amount of venture funding.
While rural broadband access is better in Nova Scotia than nationally, it has room for improvement, which would accelerate rural participation in an innovative economy.
ACTIVITY
Labour Force
In Nova Scotia, most visible minority groups have better relative labour force outcomes in comparison to those not in a visible minority than they do in Canada.
This is also true for Indigenous peoples, with a participation rate that is 4.1 percentage points lower than it is for non-Indigenous and an unemployment rate that is 3.7 percentage points higher.
An exception is Black people: in Canada, they have an unemployment rate that is 6.4 percentage points higher than the overall rate, whereas in Nova Scotia this rate is 8.2 percentage points higher.
Entrepreneurial Initiative
Nova Scotia sits behind New Brunswick at 13.5 percent and well below the national rate in the percent of adults who report entrepreneurial activity.
However the number of startups in Atlantic Canada has been growing at an increasing rate from 263 in 2013 to 697 in 2019, with well over half of these companies forming in Nova Scotia.
Development
At 0.5% (as share of GDP) Nova Scotia’s BERD is below the national rate of 0.8% and well below the OECD-wide rate of 1.7%.
However, in 2017,Atlantic Canada’s firms reported that 10.3% of sales were generated by goods or services that were new to their markets, the highest rate in Canada and demonstrative of a willingness to innovate.
SUMMARY:
A mixed story regarding activities associated with an inclusive innovation economy. Investment in business R&D is very low, and total reported entrepreneurial activity is lower than the national rate.
However ICT investment is strong, the number of start-ups in Nova Scotia has been growing at an increasing rate, and Atlantic firms report a higher portion of sales attributed to novel products and services than the rest of the country.
Women make up only 14 percent of start-up CEOs in Nova Scotia, despite being a major force in the province’s biotech industry, and only 19 percent of the tech workforce.
While for most visible minority groups labour force outcome inequalities are better in Nova Scotia, this is not true for Black people and West Asian women. Similar to the rest of Canada, inequalities also persist for Indigenous peoples and those with disabilities.
OUTCOMES
Productivity
Nova Scotia’s GDP per hour worked in 2018 was $41.96, the lowest in Canada besides PEI, and its growth rate of 0.82% was the third lowest.
While low productivity is a concern, measures to boost productivity would need to be complemented by measures to boost wages across income brackets, to capture the benefit of productivity for the average Nova Scotian, and to avoid the trend of declining labour share of income across the OECD.
Wages
In 2016, Nova Scotia had the third lowest average wages, salaries and commissions at $40,200 CAD, with only fellow Atlantic provinces of PEI and New Brunswick having lower.
The difference in wages for those who identify as Black or Filipino and non-visible minorities in Nova Scotia is significant, at $10,300 and $9,300, however the national differences for those groups is similar.
Especially distressing is that those working in tech occupations who identify as a visible minority make $13,400 less than those who do not identify as a visible minority. In comparison, nationally this wage gap is only $3,100.
SUMMARY:
GDP productivity continues to lag, as of 2018 and 2019, with only Prince Edward Island trailing. While overall the racial pay inequalities are similar to national rates those working in tech occupations who identify as a visible minority make $13,400 less than those who do not identify as a visible minority.
To ensure widespread prosperity, how Nova Scotia invests in innovation and who benefits will be just as important as whether key innovation metrics can be boosted.
CONCLUSION:
Nova Scotia has a remarkably strong base from which to build a thriving and inclusive innovation economy, with notable strengths in areas such as education, research, venture capital investment and startup activity.
Like the rest of Canada, however, Nova Scotia struggles with technology investments and productivity, and is weaker than other parts of Canada in aggregate entrepreneurial activity, employment outcomes and economic output.
Nevertheless, Nova Scotia, is moving in an encouraging direction and continues to focus on strengths in startups and research, particularly around the ocean economy and IT sectors. Celebrating a culture of innovation, while expanding participation and improving equity in the innovation economy for women and racialized groups should be the focus of any plan to build Nova Scotia’s innovation economy.