An Analysis of the Patenting Rates of Canada's Ethnic Populations

Abstract

We estimate patenting rates for Canada’s ethnic populations between 1986 and 2011, using inventor names to identify ethnicity and Census and National Household Survey ancestry data to estimate ethnic populations. The results reveal higher patenting rates for Canada’s ethnic minorities, particularly for Canadians with Korean, Japanese, and Chinese ancestry, and suggest that immigrants accounted for one-third of Canadian patents in recent years, despite making up less than one-quarter of the adult population. Human capital characteristics, in particular the share with a PhD and the shares educated and employed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, account for most of the ethnic minority advantage in patenting. Our results also point to larger patenting contributions by foreign-educated compared with Canadian-educated immigrants, which runs counter to current immigrant selection policies favouring international students.