Driving innovation with François-Philippe Champagne

The Burlington Chamber of Commerce hosted a Signature Speaker Series featuring the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry for Canada, on January 14, 2025.

DeGroote School of Business Dean Khaled Hassanein sat down with Minister Champagne to discuss some of today’s most pressing challenges and opportunities facing Canadian business. The event brought together community, academia and government from across Hamilton, Burlington and the GTHA.

Minister Champagne shared his global insights that will be driving innovation into the future with DeGroote students and alumni:

1. Decarbonization

The first one is decarbonization. Regardless of the administration or government, climate change is the challenge of our century. We owe it to the younger generation to act and I would say Canada, thanks to what we’ve been doing, we are at the forefront of that. We’ve invested to decarbonize how we make steel; we invested to decarbonize how we make aluminum. We did that in the auto sector and we’re doing that with the aerospace sector. Canada has everything to win in that new economy of the 21st century.

2. Digitization

The second one I would say to the students is digitization. The world is becoming digital. So, AI and quantum are going to be key drivers of prosperity.

I would say to any students, I think you’re living in the new age. As much as we call the Industrial Revolution, I think AI and quantum, and you can put cyber in that, are going to have a huge impact on society.

3. Demography

And the other ‘D’ is demography. I think demography is destiny. And you’ve seen that in parts of Asia, you know, defining population. If you can still attract talent, you’re going to do well in the 21st century.

4. Disruption

The fourth ‘D’ is disruption. We’re going to live in a world of disruption whether we like it or not. Some of us remember the fall of the Berlin Wall and I think we thought probably we’re in this peace dividend. Stability, predictability and the rule of law have provided humanity with prosperity and now we see we have war in Europe. We have tension in the South China Sea, we have conflict in the Middle East. So, I think disruption is going to be part of the next future.

5. Democracy

And the last thing I would say is democracy. We need to fight for democracy. I think we have been taking democracy for granted in many parts of the world and now we’re seeing the challenges.

Photos courtesy of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce