Innovation vs Protectionism: Where Canada Fails Itself

Innovation vs Protectionism: Where Canada Fails Itself

We talk a lot about supporting startups. But too often the rules still tip toward entrenched giants. This blog explores how we align public needs with bold new ideas.

Canada loves to talk about innovation. We celebrate startups at pitch competitions, cut ribbons at tech hubs, and point to entrepreneurs as proof that our economy is forward-looking. But scratch the surface and you’ll see a more complicated truth. For all the speeches and strategy documents, our system still leans heavily toward protecting incumbents. And when protectionism outweighs competition, innovation doesn’t just stall, it suffocates.

This matters far beyond the startup world. It affects cities, tourism operators, and every small business that relies on a fair shot to compete. If our systems keep tilting toward giants, whether they’re telecom providers, airlines, or global booking platforms, we’re not just slowing down innovation, we’re narrowing the choices for communities and travellers.

The Competition Bureau has been blunt about this. In recent reports, it notes that too many Canadian markets are dominated by a few players, and that lack of competition makes life more expensive, less productive, and less innovative. Put simply, if challengers can’t thrive, consumers and communities pay the price.

Tourism is a perfect case study. Small operators can create extraordinary experiences, but discovery platforms often bury them in favour of what’s already popular or what pays the most. Big platforms win by default, not by merit, and local businesses are left invisible. The system isn’t broken because people don’t care about small business, it’s broken because the rules reward size (and sponsorships) over substance.

Anthony Lacavera, in How We Can Win, argues that Canada has become too risk-averse. Instead of encouraging disruption, we give incumbents the benefit of the doubt and shape policies to keep them comfortable. That’s a problem when we need challengers to push industries forward. Innovation doesn’t come from protecting what exists, it comes from letting new ideas prove themselves.

Think about what happens when cities or provinces default to entrenched providers. Procurement becomes less about solving problems and more about checking boxes. The result is predictable: cost overruns, outdated systems, and solutions that serve the provider more than the public. Meanwhile, startups and scale-ups with smarter, leaner, more effective ideas are left on the sidelines.

The irony is that incumbents don’t always resist innovation, they adopt it once someone else has done the heavy lifting. But when we don’t allow challengers the space to compete, that innovation pipeline dries up. We end up with fewer choices, less affordability, and slower progress across the board.

This isn’t about tearing down incumbents for the sake of it. It’s about creating conditions where incumbents and challengers both have to compete on merit. When that happens, communities win. Services improve. Prices balance. And innovation isn’t just a buzzword, it’s the natural byproduct of a healthy market.

For tourism, the stakes are high. Without a competitive digital infrastructure, small businesses stay invisible. Without investment in discovery tools that actually serve operators and travellers, we remain dependent on extractive global platforms. Without fair procurement that gives startups a chance, cities and regions miss out on tools designed specifically for their needs.

At Roamlii, this is the gap we’re trying to address. We’re not interested in building what makes the giants richer. We’re building digital infrastructure that gives small operators visibility, helps communities connect with travellers, and aligns with the real-world needs of tourism. That’s the kind of innovation Canada should be supporting, solutions built from the ground up, not monopolies reinforced from the top down.

The good news is that competition reform is finally on the table. Canada has started modernising its competition laws, making it harder for dominant players to squash challengers and easier to question mergers that reduce choice. It’s a step in the right direction, but policy only matters if it’s backed by action. If governments and cities continue to default to the safe choice, the biggest name, the longest track record, nothing will change.

What would change the game is a mindset shift. Supporting incumbents doesn’t mean shielding them from competition, it means letting them prove their value alongside new entrants...and a stronger push for them to expand into the global arena. Supporting startups doesn’t mean coddling them with grants and pats on the back, it means giving them a fair shot to have a seat at the table, win contracts, scale their ideas, and challenge the status quo.

Canada has the talent. We have founders with bold ideas, communities ready to adopt new tools, and industries like tourism that are hungry for transformation. But when funding is tied to entrenched systems, there’s little incentive to step outside them. In some cases, trying something new is even seen as a risk, as if pushing boundaries is a step beyond the role instead of part of the responsibility. We're definitely not short on creativity in this country, but we do sorely lack a competitive environment that rewards fresh approaches and encourages both incumbents and challengers to bring their best.

If we keep protecting giants and shutting out small businesses and startups, we’ll keep getting more of the same: high costs, slow adoption, and fewer choices for businesses and communities. But when we create space for challengers, we open the door to better tools, stronger resilience, and an economy that actually serves the many, not just the few.

Innovation in Canada doesn’t stumble because we lack ambition or ideas. It stumbles because we confuse guarding the status quo with progress. Until we shift that mindset, we’ll be stuck in the same loop, talking about potential instead of real outcomes. The good news is we still have time to change it, but only if we’re willing to stop protecting comfort and start rewarding courage.

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Let’s stop tipping the scales toward incumbents, and start creating conditions where challengers can thrive. #GetRoaming and let’s build a Canadian economy that values competition, rewards innovation, and strengthens communities from the ground up.

Yours in tourism, innovation and startups,

Founder & CEO
Roamlii