What Prime Minister Carney’s Letter Gets Right—and Where We Go Next

By Daniel Perry
CCI Director of Federal Affairs

Mandate letters aren’t the sort of political business that typically generates a lot of excitement, but for those of us at the intersection of innovation, politics and government policy, these letters are an important signal about political priorities.

Traditionally, the prime minister or premier writes a letter to each minister, giving them marching orders on priority items that the government wants to accomplish before the next election. Often, these letters are released publicly.

Rather than issuing individual letters to each minister, Prime Minister Carney broke with tradition this week, publishing a single letter that applies to all 28 ministers and 10 associate ministers.

CCI anticipated these mandate letters when we published A Mandate To Innovate earlier this month, with 34 policy recommendations across various government departments and agencies. We’re encouraged to see alignment between many of our ideas and the direction set by Prime Minister Mark Carney in the new mandate letter. 

The letter included some notable signals that show the government is hearing the concerns of CCI, or at the very least, that we’re on the same page.

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Productivity

Canada’s standard of living is directly tied to our national productivity, and right now, we’re moving in the wrong direction. As we noted in A Mandate To Innovate, “Canada is at a crossroads.” Years of underperformance have put our future prosperity at risk. Since 2018, productivity growth in Canada has turned negative, while our global peers race ahead. Without a course correction, our ability to afford core public services like health care and education will deteriorate. (p. 4)

We called for a shift in how governments work with domestic industry to help high-growth Canadian companies move up global value chains and drive prosperity through innovation, research commercialization, and intangible asset development.

In Prime Minister Carney’s mandate letter to his cabinet, he wrote: 

“Our longstanding weak productivity is straining government finances, making life less affordable for Canadian families, and threatening to undermine the sustainability of vital social programs on which Canadians rely.”

This is an accurate diagnosis of the challenge. We’re encouraged to see government recognize the urgency of reversing Canada’s economic decline.

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Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is not just a growth opportunity. It is a capacity-building tool for Canada. In our report, we argued that government should lead by example, becoming a smart adopter of Canadian-built AI to deliver better services, build domestic expertise, and attract investment. The barriers to scaling AI adoption across the economy are well known, and government can play a catalytic role by fixing procurement and becoming a first customer for homegrown innovation. (pp. 17–18)

In Prime Minister Carney’s mandate letter to his cabinet, he said: 

“Government itself must become much more productive by deploying AI at scale, by focusing on results over spending, and by using scarce tax dollars to catalyse multiples of private investment.”

This is precisely the kind of language we need to hear from Ottawa. But success here will not come from rhetoric alone. It will require system-wide reform of how technology is purchased and scaled across departments. We encourage the Prime Minister’s Office to revisit CCI’s Buying Ideas and Building Winners reports for a roadmap on how to make that happen.

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Defence and Sovereignty

In an increasingly unstable global environment, economic resilience and national security are inseparable. CCI recommended the creation of a Canadian Defence Industrial Strategy that prioritizes dual-use technologies and domestic IP-based innovation in critical sectors like AI, quantum, and advanced manufacturing. Sovereign capacity in these areas is not only a security imperative. It is also a growth strategy that positions Canadian companies to supply allies and export into high-value global markets. (p. 23)

In Prime Minister Carney’s mandate letter to his cabinet, he wrote: 

“We need to develop a defence industrial policy that secures Canada, fulfills our responsibilities to our allies, and helps build our economy.”

We welcome this commitment. For too long, Canada has relied on foreign suppliers for mission-critical technologies. A modern defence industrial policy must also be an innovation policy, and it must treat domestic scale-ups as core assets in both economic and national security planning.

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Talent and Immigration

Canada’s ability to scale high-growth firms is directly tied to access to the right people at the right time. In A Mandate to Innovate, we proposed reforms to the Global Talent Stream, faster processing, and clearer alignment between immigration and industrial policy. But we also emphasized that talent strategy is not just about volume. It is about precision. Immigration must support strategic sectors and strengthen domestic innovation capacity. (pp. 12–13)

In Prime Minister Carney’s mandate letter to his cabinet, he wrote: 

“Attracting the best talent in the world to help build our economy, while returning our overall immigration rates to sustainable levels.”

This signals a welcome move toward a more strategic approach. Canada’s immigration system can be a powerful tool for economic growth, but only if it is deployed with intentionality. We have done the policy homework. Immigration Minister Lena Diab can find the roadmap in A Mandate To Innovate.

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What’s Next

On Tuesday, King Charles III will deliver the Throne Speech in Ottawa, offering a renewed opportunity for the federal government to share its vision for the country. Throne Speeches tend to focus on high-level goals rather than detailed policy, but they can signal important priorities for the months ahead.

At CCI, we’re hopeful this marks the beginning of a productive new chapter. Canada’s innovation economy is ready to grow, and government has a key role to play in unlocking that potential. While we were disappointed to see the federal budget delayed until the fall, we remain optimistic that the coming weeks will bring clear policy direction and real collaboration between ministers and the high-growth firms driving Canada’s economic future.

Our membership at the Council of Canadian Innovators is ready to help government turn ambition into action.

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To learn more about CCI’s federal advocacy priorities, contact Daniel Perry.

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About the Council of Canadian Innovators

The Council of Canadian Innovators is a national member-based organization reshaping how governments across Canada think about innovation policy, and supporting homegrown scale-ups to drive prosperity. Established in 2015, CCI represents and works with over 150 of Canada’s fastest-growing technology companies. Our members are the CEOs, founders, and top senior executives behind some of Canada’s most successful ‘scale-up’ companies. All our members are job and wealth creators, investors, philanthropists, and experts in their fields of health tech, cleantech, fintech, cybersecurity, AI and digital transformation. Companies in our portfolio are market leaders in their verticals, commercialize their technologies in over 190 countries, and generate between $10M-$750M in annual recurring revenue. We advocate on their behalf for government strategies that increase their access to skilled talent, strategic capital, and new customers, as well as expanded freedom to operate for their global pursuits of scale.