Article Type: Generic

The National Research Council (NRC) is entering the critical phase of its renewal project that will determine the structure and priorities of Canada’s premier R&D agency. Launched in February/05 after several abortive attempts to reinvent itself, the project has completed the essential groundwork and is now working to establish an operational plan for the next 10 years when the NRC will face an increasing competitive global knowledge environment.

Steep increases in funding from the federal and provincial governments helped boost R&D expenditures in the higher education sector 9.1% in FY03-04, compensating for marginal increases from the educational institutions and businesses and declines from foreign sources and the private non-profit sector.

Canada’s innovation agenda has a new captain but it’s not clear where it’s going to be steered. The Conservative Party has provided scant insight into how science and technology and R&D will factor into its agenda – a situation made more complicated by a strongly divided Parliament in which consensus will be essential to pass any major legislation or terminate existing initiatives.

Canada’s high performance computing (HPC) community has identified the first of several anticipated financial commitments as part of a long-term plan (LRP) to achieve increased and stable funding for a national system of HPC research facilities.

Strategy calls for two new NRC institutes

A powerful proponent of the Toronto region’s R&D community is thrusting research and innovation into the federal election campaign and is calling on the government to increase its investment in the area to a level commensurate with the amount of R&D it performs.

Increased funding for the higher education sector is helping to boost Canada’s gross expenditures on R&D (GERD) to a projected $26.3 billion in 2005, up 4% increase from 2004, and 5.3% from 2003. Canada’s impressive R&D performance after a period of stagnation in 2001 and 2002 does not translate into a higher GERD/GDP ratio, however, due to robust economic growth that outstripped greater R&D expenditures.

The Saskatchewan government has unveiled a $50-million public-private early-stage fund to help existing firms expand and make provincial start-ups more attractive to investors. The Saskatchewan Entrepreneurial Fund (SEF) is receiving $25 million over five years from the government’s Crown Investments Corp (CIC) and a matching amount from Sask Central, an organization representing the province’s credit unions.

The Office of the Auditor General (AG) has come out swinging against the leadership and governance of the Canadian Biotechnology Strategy (CBS) and criticized the way it deals with advice sought from external experts.

By Debbie Lawes

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has launched a new $10.5-million program designed to strengthen science and technology policies in developing countries, and leverage millions in additional dollars from research granting councils in Canada.

The federal and Ontario governments have collaborated once again to secure a major automotive investment for the province. DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc (DCCI) has committed $768 million, bringing this year’s new auto investments in Ontario to $5.