Canadian Technology Sector and Its Future

The technology sector in every country plays a very crucial role as an economic driver and the same is true About Canada as well. With the commencement of digital economy worldwide, it is obvious to expect that the technology-driven companies will drive the GDP of nations and will also make its presence felt in many other sectors.

If we look at the Canadian technology sector in particular, the public and private investments will continue to flow which will offer a great help towards improving the competitiveness of the Canadian firm in the global field. And there has to be a combined effect between the start-ups and established firms.  
Some important figures of the Canadian technology sector
According to the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship report, there are roughly 71,000 companies present in the Canada’s technology sector. While majority of them are start ups, there are many established companies as well. The total number of employment in these companies is 864,000 that equals to 5.6% of the company’s overall workforce.
The tech companies offer high-paying jobs with an average salary package of $67,000 whist the national average is $48, 000. Despite the less number (below 5) employees in almost 69% of the companies, the sector on the whole is responsible for the 7.1% of the total economic output of Canada.     
Technology sector in innovative research & development
According to the reports, the Canadian tech companies alone have invested a whopping $9.1 billion in innovation in the year 2015. Though, the scope for growth is still there in the innovation sector.
There are a number of forums and boards that has ranked the Canada’s innovation across the world. The World Economic Forum has ranked Canada 22nd in the world while the Conference Board of Canada has provided ‘C’ grade to the technology sector in terms of innovation. What is more significant is the study report by a global consortium of Universities. It has ranked both Canada and U.S.A. in the same position in terms of per-capita production of start-up technology companies. But the less support from the government often forces these companies to not flourish as per the expectation.  
The growth potential of the technology industry in Canada
Like we just discussed that despite having a good start, most of the start-up firms cannot continue in the long run because of the less support from the Canadian government. But despite the lack of support, almost 84% of the total number of tech-firms is profitable. This highlights the potential of the companies and what they can come up with a little support.
According to the reports of a professional service and consulting firm (Accenture Consulting), the technology sector is outperforming the other economic sectors in Canada. This is one of the most profitable sectors in Toronto Stock Exchange since the beginning in the year 2013. And the present value of this sector is $250-billion.   
The companies have also been successful to attract large quantity capital investments over the last 18 months. During this period, the investment amount has also increased in manifolds. 21 companies, in the last year have collected $784 million from capital investments. This shows the mammoth potential in the companies.  

The Government Funding Programs for the Technology Sector
There are more than one sources of funding for the Canadian technology firms other than the venture capitalists. They receive funding from the provincial and federal governments as well. The key focus of these funding programs is to support the innovation and growth of the technology industry.
Some of those programs include Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) Tech Funding, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Mitacs Research Grants for Canadian Small Businesses.