Article Type: Generic

A 9.7% uptick in Canadian pharmaceutical R&D in 2015 raised the sector’s R&D-to-sales ratio 0.1% to 4.4%. That’s nowhere near the eight-year run of more than 10% between 1993 and 2000 but an encouraging sign that the long, slow decline of recent years may be at an end.

Canada on global physics research map

The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) has achieved “great success against its mandate and mission” and positioned Canada as a world leader in the field, according to a new evaluation by KPMG.

By Debbie Lawes

“Punitive” tax rules and a dearth of early stage investment capital are making it difficult for many tech start-ups to recruit top talent and grow into sustainable companies. The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) has been taking that message to senior bureaucrats and politicians as part of a lobbying campaign — the largest to date for the 14-year-old group — aimed at growing Canada’s funding ecosystem.

Fintech’s Wild West ways may be coming to an end in Canada. On August 26, the Department of Finance launched the country’s first-ever consultations of the financial sector, including the relatively new but rapidly growing fintech sector.

Higher education funding of R&D in Canada remains in the doldrums as a small 0.6% increase in FY14-15 failed to offset the cost of inflation. Total spending was 12,873.2 billion, up just $71.2 million from the year before.

The Ontario government is making key changes to two of its ministries to better support tech-based firms through their business cycle from research to the global marketplace. The changes impact the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science (MRIS) and the Ministry of Economic Development and Growth (MEDG) with the creation of two new branches led by veteran bureaucrats.

Align with new Innovation Agenda

Veteran S&T bureaucrat Iain Stewart has been named the National Research Council’s 14th president — an appointment that has elicited polarized reaction from members of Canada’s research and research policy communities.

Genome Canada has announced the results of its fifth Genomic Applications Partnership Program competition (GAPP) with five projects receiving $5.3 million with an additional $11.6 million from the private and public sector partners.

The embattled Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has agreed to modify its controversial new on-line peer review system. The move followed a terse directive from Health minister Jane Philpott to hold a July 13 emergency working meeting to address a tidal wave of dissent from thousands of health researchers across the country (R$, July 8/16).