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In 2017, the United States government will attempt to revive industrial jobs from the 20th century — and we in Canada might be tempted to follow suit.

Employment in manufacturing and resource extraction continues to decline even though a majority of the companies in the Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index still belong to those sectors.

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Yes, it’s frustrating that these companies represent so much of Canada’s economic value yet employ fewer and fewer people. But no, they cannot revive jobs that technology is automating out of existence.

Rather than resist innovation, Canada should lead it. We can build an innovation ecosystem that replaces the industrial jobs of the past with the high-tech jobs of the future. As a first step, we need to develop technologies that maximize the value of our natural resources.

Innovation in resource extraction and robotic manufacturing can amplify Canada’s strengths and turn us into a net exporter of technology. We must act quickly though because automation is imminent.