Volume 2: Reaching Higher: Canada's Interests and Future in Space – November 2012

Part 3
Analysis and recommendations

Many of the recommendations in volume 1, the companion report on the aerospace sector, apply to the space sector as well. These include the following recommendations for the government:

• Expand the list of strategic sectors under the government's Science and Technology Strategy to include aerospace and space.
• Maintain Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI) funding at current levels—less reallocations recommended in the companion volume on the aerospace sector—and modify SADI's terms and conditions to make it a more effective program for stimulating the development of the aerospace and space technologies of the future.
• Co-fund a Canada-wide initiative to facilitate communication and collaboration among companies, researchers, and academics.
• Simplify and streamline application and reporting procedures for programs used by the industry, especially for smaller companies seeking modest levels of support, and use a "one-stop" internet portal to provide information on, and links to, those programs.
• Negotiate bilateral agreements with countries where potential market and partnership opportunities are likely to benefit Canada and the Canadian aerospace and space sectors.
• Review export and domestic control regimes to ensure that they are not unnecessarily restrictive and that export permits are issued expeditiously.
• Use federal programs—in collaboration with industry, academia, unions, and provinces—to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics studies generally, and aerospace and space careers specifically, among youth; to help college and university students acquire relevant expertise; to bridge new graduates into the aerospace and space workforces; and to bring skilled aerospace and space workers from abroad when efforts to develop labour supply in Canada do not keep up with demand.
• Develop mechanisms to support the efforts of companies to keep their workforces technologically adept and adaptable through continual up-skilling.
• Co-fund—with industry, provinces, and academic and research institutions—the purchase and maintenance of up-to-date infrastructure required for training and research purposes.

Details on the analysis underpinning these recommendations and suggested steps for implementing them can be found in volume 1. The rest of this report will focus on analysis and recommendations specific to the Canadian space sector.