Canada’s postsecondary institutions should be treated as national infrastructure—central to economic resilience and adaptation—rather than an afterthought, argue Business + Higher Education Roundtable CEO Val Walker and Chief R&D Officer Matthew McKean. Drawing on data from a recent BHER report, Walker and McKean call for better funding, support for institutional differentiation, and stronger business–PSE collaboration. Proven approaches—such as work-integrated learning, regional talent pipelines, and microcredentials—should also be scaled. Without action, “we’ll leave talent on the table, ideas in the lab, opportunity on the margins, and trust in institutions, further eroded,” they conclude.
BHER
