Canada Ranks 17th on Global Innovation Index 2025

Canada Ranks 17th on Global Innovation Index 2025

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Key Points

  • Global innovation, as measured by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in its 18th edition
  • Canada ranks 17th on the 2025 index, down from 14th in 2024, and 15th in 2023
  • Innovation is an important aspect of the economy as it drives increasing productivity and creates new markets

Canada Ranks Global Innovation Index 2025

Innovation has always driven the world’s top economies to become even stronger. From the Industrial Revolution to the invention of electricity to the dawn of artificial intelligence, new technologies – through innovative research and development – have propelled society to new heights.

The annual Global Innovation Index (GII) by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) sheds light on which countries are more influential in science, technology, and innovation. Launched in 2007, the report aims to identify metrics and methods to capture a picture of societal innovation that is as “complete as possible.”

Canada placed 17th out of 139 countries on this year’s index, behind its Western counterparts such as Germany, France and the U.S., but ahead of Norway, Australia and Belgium [1].

Here are the top 25 innovative countries of 2025, according to WIPO. Also see how Canada ranks on other related indices below:

Top 25 Global Innovative Countries 2025

#1 - Switzerland
#2 - Sweden
#3 - United States
#4 - Republic of Korea
#5 - Singapore
#6 - United Kingdom
#7 - Finland
#8 - Netherlands
#9 - Denmark
#10 - China
#11 - Germany
#12 - Japan
#13 - France
#14 - Israel
#15 - Hong Kong
#16 - Estonia
#17 - Canada
#18 - Ireland
#19 - Austria
#20 - Norway
#21 - Belgium
#22 - Australia
#23 - Luxembourg
#24 - Iceland
#25 - Cyprus

Index Methodology

The GII Index 2025 includes 139 economies, representing 93% of the world’s population and 98% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) in purchasing power relative to current international dollars.

WIPO uses a complete set of 78 indicators to determine a country’s innovativeness across several categories, including:

  1. Institutions
  2. Human Capital & Research
  3. Infrastructure
  4. Market Sophistication
  5. Business Sophistication
  6. Knowledge and Technology Outputs
  7. Creative Outputs

Canada’s Innovation Rankings

Canada scored reasonably well among participating countries across all indicators. Below is Canada’s ranking for the these categories, giving us an idea of the type of indicators used in the GII 2025:

Institutions – 15th

  • Institutional environment
  • Regulatory environment
  • Business environment

Human capital and research – 10th

  • Education
  • Tertiary education
  • Research and development (R&D)

Infrastructure – 24th

  • Information and communication technologies (ICTs)
  • General infrastructure
  • Ecological longevity

Market sophistication – 8th

  • Credit
  • Investment
  • Trade, diversification and market scale

Business sophistication – 19th

  • Knowledge workers
  • Innovation linkages
  • Knowledge absorption

Knowledge and technology outputs – 18th

  • Knowledge creation
  • Knowledge impact
  • Knowledge diffusion

Creative outputs – 24th

  • Intangible assets
  • Creative goods and services
  • Online creativity

Why Innovation Matters

Innovation is crucial for the progress and development of individuals, organizations, governments, and nations as a whole. It involves developing novel ideas, processes, or products that improve upon existing ones, accelerating technological advancement.

Innovation helps to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and competitiveness, leading to growth and success. By continuously innovating, companies can stay ahead of changing market trends and consumer demands, attract new clientele, and increase revenue. On a governmental level, nations can move forward in improving the reliability and longevity of industry in sectors such as manufacturing, transportation, and housing. Additionally, innovation has the potential to solve complex problems and improve the quality of life for individuals and countries worldwide.

For Canadians, improving innovation can lead to a stronger, more prosperous future by supplementing the success of key industries such as energy, forestry, mining, and agriculture.

Canada Innovation Leadership & Challenges

In 2025, Canada's WIPO innovation rank fell to 17th from 14th, revealing a key challenge: while its innovation inputs—such as robust institutional frameworks and high-quality education and research—are strong, some critical outputs remain weak. Canada lags in labour productivity, industrial designs, trademarks, and high-tech exports, according to WIPO.

Despite this, Canada remains a dynamic innovation leader with major hubs in Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver. The country shows significant potential to better translate such aforementioned strengths into tangible results that improve innovation and productivity nationwide.

Canada Needs a New Economic Path

Despite its relatively high rank on the Global Innovation Index 2025, Canada’s economy faces several challenges. Overbearing regulatory systems, increased investment outflows to the U.S. [2], a long-standing productivity problem [3], and poor growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per person [4] are just a few red flags currently impacting Canadian families. Coupled with challenging trade relations with its largest trading partner and limited options for exporting to other international markets due to a lack of trade diversification, Canada must take concrete steps to prevent itself from falling further behind.

To reverse our current economic trajectory and unlock our nation's full potential, now is the time to lean into our greatest strength: natural resources. Investing in critical resource and trade infrastructure—from pipelines and ports to railways and LNG facilities—is not just about development; it's about building a stronger, more prosperous Canada. By doing so, we can pave the way for more innovation in Canada and create a future filled with opportunity and economic security for generations to come.

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SOURCES:

1 - https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2025/assets/80937/global-innovation-index-2025-en.pdf

2 - https://thehub.ca/2025/10/15/trevor-tombe-no-canada-didnt-give-the-u-s-a-trillion-dollar-gift-but-theres-still-reason-to-worry/

3 – https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2024/03/time-to-break-the-glass-fixing-canadas-productivity-problem/

4 - https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/canadas-ugly-growth-experience-2020-2024-why-gdp-per-capita-declined-while-overall-economy-grew