This paper begins with an overview of the migratory patterns of “inventors.” It examines how Canada’s inventor migration patterns have changed over the years, and compares the country’s performance to that of the top 15 countries of migrant destination and origin. The analysis reveals that the count of names of Canadian native inventors residing abroad exceeds that of Canadian immigrant inventors residing in Canada. This means either that Canadian firms are bringing in fewer patenting inventors than they are losing to foreign firms, or that Canadian inventors residing abroad submit relatively more Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications, or both.

International Mobility of Canadian Inventors and the Canadian Knowledge Economy