Can universities make the Canadian economy grow?

One aspect that was only briefly mentioned here was the role that company research plays in the US and to some extent in the UK. I'm thinking of places like Bell Labs, like (I believe) the Welcome Trust and others. Australia has virtually no such companies and I believe that few exist in Canada. If there are no such organisations like these then governments have few choices in how innovation might be encouraged other than fund government-owned research bodies such as the CSIRO or fund university research.