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A new report from the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity (ICP) contends that the hollowing out of the Canadian economy is illusory and that government policies to encourage the creation of national champions do not work.

In the days preceding the September 7 election call, the Conservative government made a flurry of S&T related announcements across Ontario and Quebec and into Manitoba, including $75 million from the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI) and an additional $80 million in Ford Motor Co’s Renaissance Project.

The ongoing collapse of the Ottawa telecom cluster may be the “canary in the coal mine” signaling imminent danger for all Canadian high-tech industries, says a new report authored by Dr Terry Matthews.

Industrial R&D is expected to inch up just 1% in 2008, dampening expectations that last year’s 2.7% gain was the beginning of a more substantial recovery and reflecting deepening weakness in Ontario’s manufacturing and services sectors.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has a new president, a proposed new governance structure and marching orders to develop a new Long-Term Space Plan. Dr Steve MacLean takes the reins at the CSA after an extended period of turmoil and strategic drift with a mandate from Industry minister Jim Prentice to make “sweeping changes” to revitalize the embattled agency.

$1.1 billion worth of research infrastructure

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has announced the winner of its Research Hospital Fund (RHF) more than five years after it was created to deal with a severe shortage of medical research space across the country.

Seven-year study funded by SSHRC

The biotechnology industry must change its outdated approach to managing intellectual property (IP) or face increasing legal gridlock and decreasing financial returns, according to a new Canadian study released September 9.

International S&T collaboration gaining traction

A modestly funded program designed to stimulate bilateral R&D collaboration between Canada and several other nations is opening up a huge range of possibilities that could prompt the federal government to move aggressively on its Global Innovation Strategy (GIS).

NAO targets commercialization funding gap

The National Angel Organization (NAO) is recommending the creation of a new credit for angel investors and an national angel co-investment fund as part of a package of initiatives to boost the single largest source of capital for seed and early-stage investments and overcome what it says is a $5-billion pre-commercialization funding gap.

The era of dramatic funding increases in higher education R&D appear to be over. Statistics Canada reports that the total investment in the sector increased just 1.1% in 2006-07 to $9.6 billion. Of the six sectors contributing to higher education R&D, all posted moderate increases over the previous year except for the federal government.