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CMC Microsystems and PROMPT-Québec have signed an MOU that could lead to the establishment of the first regional node in a planned CMC Microsystems Prototype Network. The two organizations will immediately collaborate to develop a handful of pilot projects and an overall business plan which they will take to the federal and Québec governments for financing.

Observers of the venture capital industry say investment in Ontario is almost certain to decline if the provincial government follows through on its intention to eliminate its 15% tax credit for investments in labour-sponsored investment funds (LSIFs).

Recent speeches by senior government ministers have raised hopes that S&T will climb up the ladder of government priorities and capture a significant share of the growing Budget surplus. Presentations by Finance minister Ralph Goodale have stressed the importance of increasing productivity, while those delivered by Industry minister Dr David Emerson have zeroed in on what is required to enhance competitiveness and innovation.

The Battelle Memorial Institute is negotiating with at least four major Canadian research organizations as part of a planned expansion into Canada. Preliminary discussions are underway with the National Research Council (NRC) the Univ of Toronto, the Alberta Research Council and Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District, where the US contract research and research management giant is establishing an office.

The new commercialization strategy of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is beginning to take shape with six core programs in place and at least two in development. Building on the three themes of mobilizing research, building capacity and building partnerships, the agency has created programs to achieve each objective, emphasizing CIHR’s aspiration to become an outcomes-driven organization as opposed to one organized purely around disciplines (see chart).

Dr John Leggat, ADM S&T at National Defence, CEO of Defence R&D Canada and one of the federal S&T community’s most effective advocates for change, is leaving the public service. Leggat is ending a 38-career with the Defence department this month and will join Ottawa-based consulting firm CFN Consultants as an associate this September.

Environment Canada (EC) is consolidating its research activities under a newly created science branch and has appointed Dr Brian Gray as its first ADM. Gray comes to the department from Ducks Unlimited Canada under an executive interchange agreement between the two organizations and will assume his new duties August 15, the next scheduled meeting of senior management.

The Hamilton region’s quest to establish critical mass in materials technology R&D received a major boost with the decision by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to relocate its Materials Technology Laboratory (MTL) from Ottawa to a new research park near McMaster Univ.

Industrial R&D spending intentions for 2005 indicate a slight year-over-year improvement of 1.6% before inflation. But expenditures remain 3.3% below the record level achieved in 2001. The continuing industrial R&D slump is attributable in large part to depressed R&D outlays by communications equipment manufacturing and semiconductor and components manufacturing industries, which remain below 2001 levels.

More than $320 million over five years

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is set to launch a major new component to its emerging commercialization strategy with an agreement in principle to partner with the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) on a clinical trials research program.