The Thin Edge of Innovation

Aligned with global trends in post-industrialization, the economy of Metro Vancouver is changing, but along its own trajectory. The focus is shifting away from resource-based activities and entrepreneurial initiatives have sprung up across a remarkable range of industries. And this is all happening at the national and global periphery. The Thin Edge of Innovation draws on over 100 case studies of signature local businesses and multinational corporations in sectors including aerospace, renewable energy, video games, film, biotechnology, telecommunications, engineered wood, fashion apparel, and craft beer to evaluate the transition. It considers their capacity to foster industrial clusters and cultivate support among local institutions, and to integrate post-industrial Vancouver into the global economy. The contributors give this economic evolution a mixed report card. Changes have been driven largely from the bottom up, and this entrepreneurial foundation has attracted foreign investment, stimulated economic diversification, and offers the potential deliver high-income jobs. But the diversification has been thinly spread, it lacks deep local roots, and it has not attracted dominant anchor companies. Whether Vancouver can sustain a “high-road” innovation economy and its underlying culture to offset a reliance on real estate and tourism remains a question. This constructive study examines the distinctive opportunities facing Metro Vancouver. Despite challenges, it reveals a region with undoubted potential for sustained, broadly beneficial local development.