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The federal Economic Update has committed $500 million to the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to boost its capacity to help fund research infrastructure through to 2010. The announcement should allay immediate concerns in the university research community but the new money falls far short of bringing CFI up to international levels of research infrastructure support.

The Univ of Waterloo’s (U of W) Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) is taking another step towards its goal of becoming a world-leading centre for quantum information with the appointment of David Fransen as its inaugural executive director.

RE$EARCH MONEY Conference

Canada’s domestic and foreign-based industrial R&D performers are examining their options for maintaining and expanding their operations in Canada in the face of a rapidly changing global environment.

The Alberta Ingenuity Fund (AIF) is one step closer to implementing a new model for provincial research institutes. The concept of dedicating portions of its endowment to specific research areas in conjunction with funding partners was given a boost last week when the Alberta government announced it would use $100 million from its surging oil and gas revenues to increase AIF’s endowment.

In what is described as its first major economic strategy in 11 years, the Liberal government has released a new plan aimed at raising Canada’s stubbornly low productivity and accelerate the commercialization of new technologies.

Canada’s corporate R&D spenders appear to be making a comeback. After two years of decline, the nation’s top performers registered a 3% increase in FY04 for a total of $11.3 billion. Of the 99 firms providing complete data, 62 increased spending in FY04 while spending at 35 firms declined and two remains the same.

Sponsored research income (SRI) at Canada’s Top 50 universities cracked $5 billion for the first time. The sector continues to enjoy healthy increases from nearly all its funding partners, pushing the FY04 total up 17.

Science and Engineering Research Canada (NSERC) has announced its annual Synergy Awards for Innovation, highlighting achievements in R&D collaboration between industry and universities. Six awards were presented at a gala event in Halifax on October 19.

A new report from Statistics Canada shows that income from university intellectual property (IP) reached $55.2 million in 2003, up 5.5% from $52.5 million in 2001. The same period also saw the number of disclosed or reported inventions rise 3% from 1,105 to 1,133, while 64 new spin-offs firms were created, bringing the total to 876.

Increases sought in all areas

Universities are seeking up to $1.9 billion over the next four years to maintain and build upon Canada’s reinvigorated university research base. Armed with freshly compiled data demonstrating the impact of investments in university research, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) is hoping that the productivity Budget promised by Finance minister Ralph Goodale will allow post-secondary institutions to tap into a bulging federal surplus now estimated at more than $10 billion.