Key Takeaways:
- Canada’s universities play a crucial role in building trusted international relationships and driving trade diversification
- The India mission by Canadian university presidents is a model for how institutions can help meet national priorities
- Expanding and diversifying Canada’s trade relationships is an urgent national priority
- Universities can help lower barriers to market entry and support the development and validation of technologies in foreign markets
- Canada must treat its capacity for building institutional relationships as a strategic imperative
Introduction to Canada’s Trade Diversification
Canada has spent the past decade learning a lesson the hard way. The country has faced unthinkable tariffs on exports, disrupted global supply chains, and diplomatic tensions that have put major markets on pause. Each time, the lesson has been the same: relying heavily on a narrow set of trading partners makes Canada vulnerable. When shocks hit, the country can’t maneuver. However, Canada’s universities represent one of the country’s largest knowledge-based economic sectors, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, generating tens of billions of dollars in economic activity, and anchoring innovation ecosystems across the country.
The Role of Universities in Trade Diversification
Universities are already doing the market-building work that trade resilience requires, building trusted international relationships well ahead of policy timelines. The urgency of expanding and diversifying Canada’s trade relationships was underscored in Davos, where Prime Minister Carney spoke about the rupture now reshaping the global economy. Trade is being weaponized, and for middle powers like Canada, where trade accounts for two-thirds of GDP, diversification is now the foundation of sovereignty and an urgent national priority. For decades, Canada’s universities have helped build the relationships, research capacity, and talent pipelines that trade depends on.
The India Mission
In February, Universities Canada will lead a delegation of 21 Canadian university presidents to India, focusing on strengthening academic and research partnerships in clean energy, health innovation, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies. These relationships are grounded in shared priorities and mutual benefit. A delegation of university presidents so large and diverse is nearly unprecedented. Joint research produces insights that feed directly into commercial innovation, and faculty and graduate researchers work with companies to bring new products to market, stimulating trade. This institutional collaboration will help Canadian firms enter new regions through trusted networks and support the mobility of talent in both directions.
Building Influence through Institutional Collaboration
In advanced economies, this is how influence is built. By building trust, strengthening networks, and supporting the development and validation of technologies in foreign markets, governments can help lower barriers to market entry well before trade occurs. The Prime Minister’s message in Davos was clear: in a world where traditional multilateral institutions are under strain, progress depends on coalitions that work, built issue by issue and sector by sector. Universities are often the first institutions to form those coalitions, and the last to leave when conditions become difficult. This credibility and continuity make them uniquely effective in markets where purely commercial or diplomatic ties are emerging.
India’s Importance in Trade Diversification
India is central to the shift now facing middle powers like Canada. It is the world’s most populous country, with one of the fastest-growing economies and a market where access is expanding even as competition intensifies. Canadian universities have spent decades building relationships there through joint laboratories, talent exchanges, and collaborative research. The benefits flow back home, with research partnerships attracting international funding, strengthening domestic innovation, and giving Canadian students and researchers access to the global networks modern industries demand.
The Need for a Strategic Imperative
Canada must treat this capacity as a strategic imperative. The returns on institutional relationships are not immediate, but they compound. In a world that has become less forgiving, that durability is a competitive advantage. Governments, businesses, and institutions all have a role to play in trade diversification. Many peer countries embed universities directly into trade missions and foreign policy priorities, aligning research collaboration, talent development, and innovation exchange with national economic objectives. In Canada, these efforts remain fragmented, and the India mission by Canadian university presidents is a model for how institutions can help meet national priorities.
Conclusion
The India mission by Canadian university presidents is a model for how institutions can help meet national priorities. And at a moment when Canada is being called to act with open eyes about the world as it is, it is exactly the kind of model we need. By building trusted international relationships and driving trade diversification, Canada’s universities can help the country navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing global economy. As Gabe Miller, the president and CEO of Universities Canada, notes, the views expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of iPolitics.
