Innovation has risen up the government’s priority ranking and will be a major thrust of the federal Budget when it is tabled March 22. Over the past year, several expert panels and councils have been preparing policy papers on fundamental science, innovation and economic competitiveness. On the other hand, the government is running annual deficits and plan to continue for several years to come. We asked Adam Holbrook, adjunct professor and associate director of the Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology, Simon Fraser University, for his perspective on what needs to be done to make Canada more innovative and its use of research more effective.