The fate of Canadian nuclear research appears to be hanging on an amorphous commitment to consider a fourth mandate for the restructured Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL), which is now moving to a government-owned, company-operated (GoCo) model.

The government’s re-engineering of the federal research enterprise is finally bearing fruit. First the National Research Council (NRC) and now Genome Canada are rolling out new programs that reflect the new emphasis on industry-relevant R&D (see pages 1 and 3).

As an innovative nation, Canada runs in the middle of the pack. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a country of our size and economic attributes. But as the value of the knowledge economy is increasingly recognized by established and emerging nations alike, we’re falling further behind the pacesetters.

The announcement of a reo-focused National Research Council (NRC) has certainly captured the attention of the media, propelling the 97-year-old institution to the top of news broadcasts and the front pages of newspapers nationwide.

Expect the federal government to make a big splash when it unveils the transformed National Research Council this spring as a key innovation engine and facilitator of increased productivity. The NRC has been restructuring itself for the past two years, and while some details have emerged, the government and the NRC itself have been tight-lipped about exactly how the organization will operate.

“Those are the facts”. It’s an oft-repeated phrase that’s routinely abused in the rough and tumble game of politics. Take the recent Budget. Much is devoted to the current government’s efforts in support of research and innovation.

So how is federal support for research and development and innovation (RAI) holding up as the Conservative government struggles to meet its deficit elimination targets? The release late last month of the FY13-14 main spending estimates provides at least part of the answer and there appears to be room for cautious optimism.

One of Canada’s key programs for the commercialization of research is about to get smaller. Federal austerity measures combined with strictly enforced rules on sustainability and governance have reduced the original slate of 11 Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) from 11 to four, with the program’s overall number shrinking from 22 to 15.

Two organizations are beginning to apply the wisdom of casting the innovation net broadly. Mitacs and the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) have both expanded their scope to incorporate previously under-utilized components of the innovation system, and for good reason.

Beyond the feel-good rhetoric, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is sitting at an uncertain crossroad. A recent report on aerospace and space concluded that the agency was “foundering” and on a path in which Canada’s space-based industry is being starved of the critical support it needs to thrive in a globally competitive environment (R$, December 6/12).