Article Type: Generic

A new strategy and action plan for advanced cell therapy and regenerative medicine calls for $500 million in federal funding over 10 years and $1 billion from other sources to position Canada as the go-to nation for the next frontier in therapeutics and treatments.

In-house S&T could be on federal auditor’s radar

By Debbie Lawes

If the federal government has made a commitment on anything related to science or innovation, Julie Gelfand wants to know about it. The new Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development — part of the Auditor General’s (AG) office — took her fact-finding mission to the Canadian Science Policy Conference (CSPC) in Halifax October 17 to solicit ideas for what may become a series of science audits.

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has issued a new report calling for further actions to bolster US advanced manufacturing capacity. In Report to the President: Accelerating US Advanced Manufacturing, PCAST recommends additional investments in innovation, securing the talent pipeline and improving the business climate for innovative manufacturing firms.

The National Research Council (NRC)’s extensive partnership with a Toronto-based virtual start-up has resulted in the firm securing its second financing round from an all-Canadian venture capital syndicate.

RE$EARCH MONEY Conference 2015
Early-Bird Registration is now open for the 14th Annual RE$EARCH MONEY Conference.

Budget 2015: Canada’s Innovation Agenda — Building on our Natural Resources

Advantage will expand and deepen our analysis of implications of recent federal budgets for business innovation support.

Potentially three times bigger than SRED

By Debbie Lawes

A major overhaul of Canada’s Defence Procurement Strategy (DPS) is poised to inject billions of dollars into science, technology and innovation (STI) through a new policy tool that will see would-be contractors jostling to invest in R&D, manufacturing and other benefits that promote Canadian business innovation, competitiveness and exports.

Canada’s lagging innovation performance is not a problem of the federal government but of the business and intellectual communities and the situation is most pronounced in Atlantic Canada, says Nova Scotia business titan John Risley.

Liberal S&T critic Dr Ted Hsu will table a private member’s bill next week calling for the reinstatement of the Long-Form Census (LFC) although Cabinet has already decided to continue with the voluntary National Household Survey in 2016.

Pre-Budget submission

Mitacs is seeking support to dramatically increase the size and scope of its flagship Accelerate internship program and position the not-for-profit as a key mechanism for boosting Canadian productivity and economic growth.

Genome Canada is putting industry in the driver’s seat with its newest applied research program, committing $15 million that leverages an additional $41 million for a total of $56 million to support 12 industry-driven projects (see chart).