Prospects for a Revival in Canada's Robotics Industry

Canadian Robot Market Trends and Ecosystem

Canada is one of the leading countries in the 4th industrial revolution, and is working hard to foster manufacturing and ICT companies and talents. It can be said to be a hub for the robotics and automation system industry, with major overseas robotics OEMs such as ABB, Kuka, and Fanuc having entered the market. The Canadian robotics market size is expected to be approximately CAD 2024 billion as of 17, growing at an average annual rate of 5% over the next five years to CAD 6.9 billion in 2029. In particular, service robots account for a large portion of the total market, at CAD 24 billion, or approximately 14%. Service robots are non-productive robots that can be applied and used by anyone without the help of experts, and include medical (rehabilitation, assistance), agricultural, cleaning, construction and demolition, logistics, and transportation robots. The transition in the service robot market is understood to be due to the increasing demand for non-face-to-face services and the need for cost-effectiveness.

<Canadian Robot Market Growth Rate>

(Unit: US$ billion)

[Source: Statista]

In the case of industrial robots classified as productivity robots, the medical industry has the largest market share at 30.9%. Synaptive Medical, a representative Canadian medical robot manufacturer, is a company that mainly develops robots and technologies used in the medical field. It uses a surgical robot technology called Modus V to provide 3D visualization, navigation, surgical planning, and tools for brain surgery, helping surgeons perform more precise and efficient surgeries. Medical care is also being applied not only to industrial robots but also to service robots in care and rehabilitation work.

The next largest industrial robot sector is logistics, accounting for 21.5%. Clearpath Robotics, a Canadian manufacturer of transport robots, is making a significant contribution to the automation of logistics systems through a robot called OTTO, which carries up to 1500 kg of cargo, and has been supplying it to Sobeys, a large Canadian food distributor, and is continuing to grow. As the automotive parts manufacturing industry is a key industry, it is the sector in which industrial robots are being introduced and installed the most, with 2022 robots installed in 1258, accounting for 40% of the total.

In addition, the use of robots is increasing in the aerospace and agricultural fields. MDA Robotics, a Canadian aerospace robot manufacturer, has succeeded in developing the 'Canadarm', a robotic arm attached to the space shuttle and the International Space Station, a long-term project of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) that began in 1981.

<Robot Market Share by Industry (2024)>

(unit: %)

[Source: Statista]

Current Status of Global Robotics Companies

There are about 300 robot and automation system companies in Canada, and most of them supply to various industries such as automobiles, food, chemicals, steel, machinery, plastics, and electronics. Ontario, Canada, has been attracting global companies in the robot and automation industry in line with its reputation for the industry. In particular, its geographical advantage with the United States, the world's largest consumer market, and its business-friendly policies provide competitiveness to companies. Various foreign robot companies such as Sweden's ABB, Germany's Kuka Robotics, and Japan's Fanuc have chosen Ontario as their base for advancing into the North American market.

<Current Status of Overseas Robot Companies Entering Canada>

[Data: KOTRA Toronto Trade Center Summary]

Canadian Government Investment Support to Activate Robotics Industry

The Canadian federal government, provincial governments, and non-profit organizations have been developing through consistent business promotion policies for robot introduction and digital transformation, and have been strengthening AI research and robot ecosystem construction centered on large cities such as Toronto and Montreal. As it is a Canadian government-supported program, it targets Canadian companies, but foreign companies that meet certain conditions can also benefit. Representative examples include cases where foreign companies have branches in Canada or conduct joint projects with Canadian robot companies.

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) is Canada’s premier national agency, dedicated to advancing scientific and technological research and development. Through the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), the NRC provides C$1000 million in support to more than 2 small and medium-sized enterprises in Canada, as well as support for innovation-driven startups and technology development costs. Attabotics, a Calgary-based logistics robot manufacturer, received a C$5000 million investment through IRAP, enabling it to build the world’s first 600D robotic supply chain and take a leap forward in developing an innovative logistics system. This leap will allow the development of a robotic shuttle that can move horizontally and vertically in an average warehouse structure and store products, which will greatly help increase efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (MOTIE) supports many companies through various government funds. The most representative is the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), which has supported 129 projects to date, totaling C$95 billion, to promote research and development that accelerates the implementation and commercialization of innovative products, processes and services. Ontario received the most funding, C$2024 billion through 58, followed by Quebec and British Columbia, with C$16 billion and C$10 billion, respectively. Santuary Cognitive Systems Corporation, a Vancouver-based humanoid manufacturing company, announced that it has received a total of C$2024 million in funding through 1.

Next Generation (NGen) is a non-profit organization established to lead Canada's advanced manufacturing innovation cluster and to build Canada's world-class advanced manufacturing capabilities and deliver better products. It has supported 2022 projects by 167, with a total of CAD 6 million. According to NGen's annual report for 2023/2024, 18% of the grants will be allocated to global companies, of which 4% are foreign companies. As part of its new initiative, NGen announced that it will support 31 companies across Canada with a total of CAD 5 million. The funding projects will participate in 9000 advanced manufacturing projects and contribute to the development of AI systems and the robotics industry. In addition, various local governments, universities, and non-profit organizations are running various grant programs for robot adoption and digital transformation, and are working hard to innovate in Canada.

In this way, Canada is accelerating educational investment along with government-level support, and the Ontario government, as a key region in the robotics industry, is providing the optimal environment for education by cooperating with universities. In particular, the University of Toronto has the largest and most diverse robotics program, and as a leading country in AI, it is programming and developing autonomous vehicles using machine learning, robots for wheelchair assistance devices, etc. In particular, it is spurring education and research and development to promote the robotics industry by forming strategic partnerships with foreign global companies such as Toyota and Samsung, as well as Clearpath and MD.

Canadian Robot Import Trends

For robots, the HS code 847950 is used regardless of service/industrial use. According to Statistics Korea, there are 2023 robot importers in Canada as of 184, accounting for 80.5% of the total import amount. The United States accounted for 5990% of the total exports to Canada at 30.8 million Canadian dollars, followed by Japan and Germany. Since 2020, the total import amount, including the amount of robots imported from Korea, has been on a steady increase.

<Robot import amount by country in Canada>

(Unit: millions of Canadian dollars)

[Data: Statistics Korea, Canada]

Major robot importers include 1) automobile OEMs, 2) other manufacturers, 3) logistics companies, 4) specialized dealers, and 5) robot distributors, and approximately 80% of them are located in Ontario and Quebec.

Exhibitions related to robotics & automation systems in Canada

[Data: KOTRA Toronto Trade Center]

[Source: KOTRA Toronto Trade Center]

According to the 2022 national robot density announced by the International Federation of Robotics, Canada uses 1 robots per 198 employees, ranking 17th in the world. The number of robots installed in the same year was 3, ranking 2000th in the world. According to the same statistics, Korea ranked first in robot distribution and the highest in robot usage, recording 15 units per 1 employees. There are various companies in Korea, including service robots, industrial robots, robot parts, and robot software. Canada is an AI powerhouse, and the robot industry is being applied and applied to various products by converging with AI, opening up infinite possibilities. There are still obstacles that need to be improved in terms of technology and cost in order to commercialize the integration of AI technology into robots, but as the application fields are rapidly expanding, robot technology and development are emerging as core industries, and the roles of the governments, companies, and related organizations of both countries are important.

Data: Statistics Korea, Canada Innovation and Science MOTIE, International Federation of Robotics (IFS), Statista, University of Toronto, Canada Robotics Council (CRC), robotics 24/7, The Robot Report, Automate Canada, Automotive Manufacturing Solution, KOTRA Toronto Trade Center data