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Quebec and France have agreed to create a bi-national institute aimed at developing large-scale joint projects for research and innovation in the maritime sector. The agreement was signed last week in Paris by French prime minister Manuel Valls and Quebec premier Philippe Couillard who was accompanied by Quebec chief scientist Dr Rémi Quirion.

In the lead-up to the federal Budget, Mitacs has released the results of a survey of that shows overwhelming support for its Accelerate graduate student internship program and an increase in R&D by current and past industrial partners.

A new report on Ontario’s life sciences (LS) sector says the province risks stalling over a decade of impressive growth unless it adopts a coordinated economic strategy. Produced by Life Sciences Ontario (LSO), the report quantifies the size and impact of the highly fragmented LS sector which includes 5,645 mainly small firms with revenues of $40.

Revolutionary change on a budget

Six years after releasing its last roadmap, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has unveiled an updated version it hopes will move the organization closer to achieving its key objectives despite stagnant levels of federal support.

Mitacs is opening its two key programs to not-for-profit (NFP) organizations for the first time, exponentially expanding the number of organizations that stand to gain from its support for internships and fellowships.

The Centre de recherche at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CRCHUS) has achieved a significant breakthrough in the production of technetium (Tc-99m) used for medical isotope procedures.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) announced its annual awards at a gala event at the Governor General’s residence on February 17th in Ottawa. The evening’s top prize, the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, went to Dr Axel Becke, a chemistry professor at Dalhousie University.

Critical lack of Series A financing

Buoyed by a projected GDP growth of 2.6% in 2015, the Government of British Columbia is forecasting a surplus of $284 million in 2015 on spending of $45.8 billion — standing virtually alone among the provinces, many of which are suffering from the collapse in commodity prices.

Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) has announced $51.9 million in funding to support pre-commercial R&D projects at 11 companies. The financing is drawn from its SD Tech Fund which was replenished in Budget 2013 with $325 million over eight years (R$, April 3/13).

For the first time in its history, the president of the National Research Council (NRC) will not chair the agency’s governing council in a move that’s designed to emulate the challenge function played by a growing number of corporate boards of directors.