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About the Author

Brendan Haley, Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University School of Public Policy and Administration

Brendan is Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton’s School of Public Policy and Administration. His PhD used political economy and systems of innovation frameworks to understand the role of traditional natural resource sectors in Canada’s low-carbon transition. He was awarded a prestigious Banting Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 2016-2018 and holds a Master of Environmental Studies from York University and a BSc in Economics from Dalhousie University.

He is a policy fellow with the Broadbent Institute and has published public policy reports with the Smart Prosperity Institute, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Pembina Institute, and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. He has taught courses and lectured in energy efficiency policy, and socio-political dimensions of environmental management, political activism, and green industrial policy.

Brendan helped launch Efficiency Canada – an energy efficiency policy think-tank and advocacy organization, where he is the Senior Director of Policy Strategy. Brendan was the primary advocate behind the creation of Canada’s first energy efficiency utility in Nova Scotia. Among his policy entrepreneurship contributions are a national low-income energy efficiency program, an innovation-based approach to energy retrofits, and a community-based feed-in tariff in Nova Scotia.

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Why does Canada develop megaprojects instead of innovation systems?

Brendan Haley

June 23, 2026

As Canada looks to reshape its economic future, it should aim to build systems of innovation that catalyze economic diversification. In this report for the Centre for Industrial Policy, Brendan Haley makes the case that Canada has put too much focus on resource megaprojects, arguing for a different path forward.

Rather than seeing infrastructure as the end goal, Canada needs to support diverse, multi-sector economies through technology development, inter-sectoral linkages, and Canadian-owned companies over the long term. Countries like Japan (MITI), Germany (Fraunhofer), and the U.S. (DARPA) have long-standing institutions to guide innovation. Canada needs to learn from that approach by building institutions that lead with innovation first and encourage economic diversification.

Instead, Canada has historically found itself caught in the “staple trap,” where crises push governments toward resource megaprojects instead of economic diversification. Those megaprojects end up creating dependency, not sovereignty.

Key Takeaways

Canada is caught in the “staple trap,” where crises push governments toward resource megaprojects instead of economic diversification, this has defined Canadian political economy for centuries.
Resource megaprojects create dependency, not sovereignty. Large, fixed-cost infrastructure projects lock economies into resource exports and creates monopoly interests that make Canada vulnerable to commodity price swings and decisions made by foreign governments.
The real alternative is building systems of innovation. Rather than infrastructure as the end goal, Canada needs diverse, multi-sector economies where government consistently nurtures technology development, inter-sectoral linkages, and Canadian-owned companies over the long term.
Building innovation-driven institutions would help break the cycle. Countries like Japan (MITI), Germany (Fraunhofer), and the U.S. (DARPA) have long-standing institutions to guide innovation. Canada has not — partly because resource booms reduce the perceived urgency, and crises then trigger retreat to resource extraction rather than institution-building.
Innovation strategies can deliver results faster than megaprojects. Addressing Canadians’ core needs — affordable housing, food sovereignty, clean energy, digital independence — through public-purpose missions can create jobs and businesses more quickly, while also building lasting economic resilience.
True nation-building means securing Canadians’ needs, not just export volumes. A genuinely sovereign economy is one that can weather political and economic storms by meeting people’s basic needs at home, not one that depends on selling raw resources to whoever will buy them.

About the Author

Brendan Haley, Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University School of Public Policy and Administration

Brendan is Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton’s School of Public Policy and Administration. His PhD used political economy and systems of innovation frameworks to understand the role of traditional natural resource sectors in Canada’s low-carbon transition. He was awarded a prestigious Banting Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 2016-2018 and holds a Master of Environmental Studies from York University and a BSc in Economics from Dalhousie University.

He is a policy fellow with the Broadbent Institute and has published public policy reports with the Smart Prosperity Institute, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Pembina Institute, and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. He has taught courses and lectured in energy efficiency policy, and socio-political dimensions of environmental management, political activism, and green industrial policy.

Brendan helped launch Efficiency Canada – an energy efficiency policy think-tank and advocacy organization, where he is the Senior Director of Policy Strategy. Brendan was the primary advocate behind the creation of Canada’s first energy efficiency utility in Nova Scotia. Among his policy entrepreneurship contributions are a national low-income energy efficiency program, an innovation-based approach to energy retrofits, and a community-based feed-in tariff in Nova Scotia.