Prevent the glitch, stay out of the ditch! (Category: Robotics)

According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the world installed 541,000 new robots in 2024, bringing the global robot population to a whopping 4.3 million. That’s not a sci-fi movie—it’s real life. And with a projected 4% CAGR through 2027, the bots are just getting warmed up.

China alone installed 276,000 robots— The top 5 (China, Japan, USA, Korea, Germany) now account for 79% of all new installations.

Meanwhile in Canada: we’re 15th with 4,300 new robots—just 0.8% of the global total. But here’s the twist: we’re #3 in growth! A +37% jump from 2023. That’s right—we went from 2.8k to 4.3k robots. Not bad, eh?

Only India (+59%) and the UK (+51%) outpaced us. So yes, we’re still in the game—and Quebec is quietly becoming a robotics powerhouse.

https://ifr.org/downloads/press2018/Press_Conference_2024.pdf

Quebec’s Automation & Robotics Avengers (my personal selection, not an exhaustive list):

• Mecademic Robotics – Montreal (partnering with XVP Photonics)

• Kinova – Montreal (medical robotics)

• TOMA Robots – Riviere-du-Loup (Premier Tech Systems)

• ROBOTIQ – Levis (grippers & cobots)

• AGT Robotics – Trois-Rivières (welding automation)

And let’s not forget the growing army of automation & robotics integrators helping manufacturers fight the good fight against inefficiency and labor shortages.

But here’s the kicker:

Automation isn’t a luxury—it’s survival.

And while entrepreneurs are doing their part, the government needs to stop acting like a dial-up modem in a 5G world.

Yes, we have SR&ED tax credits and other programs, but the message is fuzzier than a low-res Zoom call. We need a clear, proactive game plan to support Canadian innovation—not just a polite nod and a PDF.

I really appreciate the work being done by Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen). As an industry-led, non-profit organization, NGen plays a key role in driving Canada’s Global Innovation Cluster for Advanced Manufacturing. This is a brilliant initiative supported by the Canadian government, and we need more programs like it. Its existence and impact deserve to be better known—especially here in Quebec, to accelerate innovation in SMEs, where there’s tremendous potential for collaboration and growth in advanced manufacturing.

Let’s make sure Canada—and Quebec—don’t just play catch-up. Let’s lead.

Have ideas or feedback? Drop me a line at nicholas@aheadcurve.co