Backgrounder
The 2009 Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy (SIBS) is a joint project by Industry Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and Statistics Canada. It was initiated in 2007–2008 to better understand the market and policy factors that encourage or discourage the adoption of entrepreneurial and innovation-oriented business strategies. Various experts from the Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis on Organizations, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison provided valuable advice during the development of this pilot project.
Between January and April 2010, a sample of 6233 enterprises in Canada with more than 20 employees and spanning 67 industries were surveyed. Questionnaires, which integrated various innovative features from other business surveys around the world, were sent to the CEOs or senior managers of these enterprises. The survey response rate was 70 percent.
SIBS provides detailed information about various business strategies and practices that determine business innovation, such as an enterprise's strategic orientation, its management practices, its use of advanced technology, and its marketplace and competitive environment. The survey also provides detailed information about global value chain management practices and activities in Canada, such as which activities businesses relocate to other countries and which ones they outsource to external suppliers.
These new data will help the government to develop policies that ensure Canada's future economic competitiveness and prosperity. Over the coming months, Industry Canada will profile key elements of the survey, which will be posted on this website. A comprehensive report of key findings will be released in fall 2011.